Hidden Histories Of The Scottish Borders

Roxburgh Castle is one of the most strategically important, and now most overlooked, medieval fortresses in Scotland. Perched above the meeting of the Rivers Tweed and Teviot, its commanding position gave it control of the lower Tweed valley and Teviotdale, making it a key military stronghold in the Wars of Scottish Independence and the long centuries of Anglo-Scottish border warfare.For more than 300 years, Roxburgh Castle was fought over, besieged, captured and recaptured as the crowns of Scotland and England battled for dominance. Its repeated changes of hands reflect the relentless struggle for control of the eastern approaches to Scotland.Although only fragmentary ruins survive today, Roxburgh Castle remains rich in hidden history. Its broken walls and earthworks still tell a story of warfare, royal ambition and the turbulent past of the Scottish Borders.For more information and photographs, please see the website https://thistleandtime.scot

The turbulent history of the Scottish Borders is filled with warfare, feuds and survival — and no story captures it better than that of the Border Reivers. In this special extended episode, we explore the rise of the Border Reivers, the notorious riding families who dominated the Anglo-Scottish frontier for centuries. Shaped by relentless conflict between Scotland and England, they built an economy based on livestock raiding, ransom and blackmail, leaving their mark on every Peel tower, castle and ruin across the Borders.Told from a distinctly Scottish Borders perspective, this episode uncovers the origins, power struggles and lasting legacy of these infamous reiving families, whose influence defined one of the most lawless and dramatic chapters in Scottish history.Music credits:Undertow | Snowfall | I Walk With Ghosts | All the above music tracks by Scott Buckleyhttps://soundcloud.com/scottbuckleyMusic promoted by https://www.free-stock-music.comCreative Commons / Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0)https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/For further information on places visited in this podcast series, please see https://thistleandtime.scot

It's a ruin today, but Posso Tower, close to the Manor Water, was home to the Bairds, and then the Naesmyths. Records are sparse, but they quietly negotiated the Border Reiver era and the Rough Wooing. Then, during the Marian Civil War, Sir Michael Naesyth fought at Langside for Mary, Queen of Scots. The hidden history of Posso Tower will tell you what happened next.

This is the story of Branxholme Castle and the family who built it. It was the seat of the Scott family. Infamous Border Reivers, raiders, feud-leaders, and warlords. Yet they also served the Scottish Crown as Wardens of the Marches. Nowhere was their authority more clearly expressed than at Branxholme itself.

It witnessed the Border Reivers and the Rough Wooing, and its laird was charged with murder.  Whitslaid Tower was one of several strongholds held by the influential Lauder family, who played a significant role in local Border politics for around 300 years.

Smailholm Tower’s outstanding views over the surrounding countryside gave it a much-needed defensive advantage at a time when border violence was normal.Smailholm was raided frequently during the Rough Wooing, and attacked during the Bishop’s Wars. But it was also an inspiration for Scotland’s famous writer, Walter Scott.

It is one of the most visually dramatic castles along the Anglo-Scottish border, and stuffed with history. It literally towers above the visitor, evoking awe and amazement that such a structure was built without modern technology. It changed hands between the Scottish and English many times. It is also a place where a queen rode, where a sheriff starved to death, and perhaps also where ghosts now roam.

Corsbie Tower is a lonely-looking 16th-century ruin in the Scottish Borders. Its broken walls are a window into the lawless nature of southern Scotland in the 1500s. This was the era of the Reivers, families of thieves whose loyalty was to kin rather than country.

This is the story of Mangerton Tower, ancestral seat of the Armstrongs. A place that, although now a broken ruin, once stood at the epicentre of some of the most dramatic and violent episodes in Border history.

Clinging to a sheer headland where the North Sea crashes against the cliffs, the scant ruins of Fast Castle are a place where history, legend, and geography collide.Once a stronghold of the Home family, Fast Castle is a dramatic reminder of the border’s turbulent past.

Today it's a romantic ruin, but the story of Elibank Castle is fascinating. Built in the final decades of the Border Reivers era, and home to the powerful Murray family, this castle gives us murder, feud, and the story of Muckle-Mouthed Meg.

The ruin of Cardrona Tower sits high on a hillside, surrounded by forest, overlooking the River Tweed. Its stones are broken, its stairway collapsed, and its courtyard long overgrown. Yet here, in this quiet clearing, lies a doorway into one of the most volatile centuries the Borders ever knew.

This fortress was constructed in the 1450s by the Kerrs of Cessford. Notorious and influential Border Reivers, the castle was their main stronghold in a network of fortified houses. Today, Cessford Castle is silent — a broken giant of red stone. But in the 15th and 16th centuries, these walls were alive with politics, treachery… and war. 

Dryhope Tower is a significant ruined tower house located in the valley of the Yarrow Water, near to St Mary’s Loch. To the casual visitor, it is a picturesque ruin, but look a little deeper, and Dryhope Tower hides a turbulent history and some romantic border folklore.

This now-restored, historic 16th-century tower house looks out over Teviotdale and beyond from its lofty position, high up on Minto Crags. With commanding views and an unusual name, it has survived centuries of border conflicts, different owners, and periods of neglect.

Wallace's Tower is a ruined 16th-century tower house, situated near the small village of Roxburgh next to the River Teviot. Sitting alone in a field, its crumbling and overgrown walls conceal a brief history filled with violence and intrigue.

Rhymer’s Tower is the ruin of a 16th-century Border peel tower situated in the village of Earlston. Very little remains today, but it has a story to tell, one where history and folklore are forever bound together.

The story of Littledean Tower, built in the 16th century, attacked by an English Army, and home to notorious Border Reivers.

The story of Fulton Tower, rebuilt from the ashes of one of the darkest campaigns in Scotland's history, the Rough Wooing. Today, Fulton Tower is a lonely ruin, standing in a field some 4.5 miles southwest of Jedburgh. But it was most likely built in the late 1500s after an earlier tower house was destroyed by English forces led by the Earl of Hertford.