Tales from Hermitage Castle
Wizards, Giants, a Red Dwarf and Mary Queen of Scots
High in the Hills on the Scottish/English Borderline a ruined stone tower holds the key to many legends from this part of Southern Scotland
Hermitage Castle is a grim reminder of the days of the Border Reivers when dark deeds were done and clan feuds could lead to reprisal and counter reprisal. Sometimes full scale cross border warfare ravaged the Scottish Borders and places of safety were essential. One of the strongest of these places was the Keep of Liddesdale, Hermitage Castle. If its walls could only speak this eerie ruin would have many a tale to tell of bygone shenanigans between clans and countries on this lonely frontier. There are some tales and legends associated with the tower and these are as remarkable as the ruins themselves.
The De Soulis family was one of the first to rule here and one of them even plotted to remove King Robert the Bruce from the throne. One of his ancestors is alleged to have been a great wizard who held sway here through his black arts. He had a henchman called red cap and nasty piece of work he was too. They used to waylay young maidens for the wizard’s diabolic rites. The magician could not be killed by metal weapons so they boiled him wrapped in sheets of lead on top of nearby Ninestane Rigg. Nobody seems to know what happened to red cap and some people say he haunts the castle to this day.
Another Hermitage legend relates the story of the Cout O’ Keilder. The Cout was a Northumbrian giant who wore magical armour that made him impervious to the blows of his enemies. He terrorised the people around here until they found a way to knock him from his horse into the nearby river where they held him under with their lances until he drowned. His grave lies close to the river and if its size is anything to go by the Cout was a giant indeed. Nearby is a chapel that was used by the local clans’ folk during those bloodthirsty olden days and according to many accounts there would have been many times when prayers for deliverance from their enemies would have been needed.
It was within these walls that Sir William Douglas, known as the Flower of Chivalry, committed one of his more ungallant deeds. Capturing his rival and one time friend, the patriot Sir Alexander Ramsay, Douglas had him slowly starved to death in the castle dungeons. Legend has it that he can still be heard in the night pleading to be fed. Not all was doom and gloom at Hermitage and it became the scene of a romantic love story concerning Mary Queen of Scots. Mary’s lover and soon to be husband James Hepburn, Earl of Bothwell, was seriously injured in a fight with a border outlaw called Jock O’ the Park.
On hearing of Bothwell’s wounding the queen dashed on horseback for Hermitage. Being still married to Lord Darnley she could not stay and returned to Jedburgh the same day in a journey of over 40miles. The queen fell ill with a fever herself after her jaunt to Hermitage but survived to face Elizabeth of England’s axe many years later. Bothwell died in captivity in Scandanavia. The ruins of Hermitage can be visited throughout the summer season and who knows red cap might still be there yet. So watch out
