Ormiston was built in 1735 on the model of an English village by one of the initiators of the Agricultural Revolution, John Cockburn of Ormiston (1685-1758), using strict guidelines for its appearance. He put housing for artisans and cottage industries (spinning and weaving) around the original 'mill hamlet'.

' John Cockburn of Ormiston (1685-1758), the pioneer of Scottish agriculture, here founded a farmers' club in 1736, the first it is thought of its kind in the kingdom. In the ten years before he had also established a brewery and distillery, a linen factory, and a bleachfield, the second most likely in Scotland.

When he did not achieve the expected return on his investment he sold it to the Earl of Hopetoun in 1747; the linen trade became a failure and by 1811 the distillery shut down. A brewery and one of Scotland's first bleachfields were built here as well. Ormiston later became a mining village.

COCKBURN'S GHOST

Penkaet Castle, nr Tranent, Lothian
Penkaet Castle, or Fountainhall House, is haunted by the ghost of John Cockburn, who once owned the property some centuries ago and who murdered a man there; Alexander Hamilton, a beggar who was hanged for witchcraft, and a haunted bed that was once occupied by King Charles I. Sir Andrew Lauder, who at one time owned the property, was said to have been absolutely terrified when, as a child, he saw an apparition near one of the fireplaces in an upper room.
The manifestations associated with a bed, once used by Charles I, seem to have started in 1923 when the four-poster, upon which there is a reproduction of King Charles' death mask, was moved into the house after it had been presented to the then owner, Professor Holbourn, by some of his students.  

In 1924 a visitor was shown into the room and the bedclothes were found in a disarranged state as if the bed had been slept in. The housekeeper was not at all disturbed about the matter for, although she had only just left the room a short while previously, when the bed had been perfectly tidy, she had seen this happen many times before with that particular bed in the short time that it has been at Penkaet. Repeatedly, even though precautions were taken to ensure that nobody could enter the room, the bedclothes on the bed were found as if the bed had been slept in. Noises, comparable with somebody moving about the room, using the bed and moving furniture, and even of a person falling out of bed, were heard coming from the room although at the time the room was locked and unused. On one occasion, when a lady visitor was asleep in the bed at night, worried occupants of the house raced to the room to help her as they thought that they had just heard her fall out of bed, only to find her still sleeping peacefully in the bed.
Many years ago, Alexander Hamilton, a local beggar who practised wizardry, called at Penkaet and was turned away empty-handed. In revenge the spiteful Hamilton is said to have returned to Penkaet at the dead of night and bound the gates with blue thread, an act of witchcraft. Two days later Lady Ormiston, the lady of the house, and her eldest daughter, were both dead as a result of a mysterious illness. But Hamilton did not escape and was brought to trial and confessed to being responsible for the two deaths and other felonies and was hanged at Castle Hill, Edinburgh. On certain nights of the year Hamilton's ghost returns to Penkaet, his shadowy form being seen hanging around the gates to repeat his wicked deed, but it no longer has any effect.
The apparition of a small man dressed in a cloak has been seen emerging from a cupboard and walking the whole length of the room before disappearing through a wall. This is thought to be the ghost of John Cockburn, a previous owner who murdered a man called Deton there. However, in spite of his brutal deed he is known as "Gentleman John" because whenever the occupants hear sounds that can be attributed to him they call out "stop it John" and the ghost kindly obliges.