Hermitage Castle

Hermitage Castle – Open from Easter to the end of September

If you drive down the road from Hawick you will pass near to a massive ruin of Hermitage castle which is well worth a visit. Begun in the 14th century, it saw many a Border skirmish and still has a foreboding presence today. In 1566, Mary, Queen of Scots, made a wild ride to Hermitage from Jedburgh to see her lover, the Earl of Bothwell, a journey that nearly killed her.

“I ride on my fleet-footed gray,
My sword is hanging down by my knee
My name is little Jock Elliot
And wha dar meddle wi me?”

‘ Who would dare quarrel with me?’ could sum up the attitude of all the Border Reivers of 400 years ago. Elliots, Armstrongs, Croziers, Nixons, Scotts continually fought with each other and their English counterparts during a “protracted period of anarchy and bloodshed almost unparalleled in history”.

This is the heritage into which you walk when you enter the Liddesdale Valley.