【阿姗影记】 Photologue: 苏格兰城堡 Hermitage Castle, Scottish Borders

Hermitage, "the chief strength of Liddesdale", must be one of the most sinister-looking castles ever built.

A vast eerie fortress at the heart of many of the bloodiest events in the history of the Borders and the scene of many a death by drowning, burning. starvation and, of course, by the sword. Many dreadful deeds were perpetrated here, and hanging over the site is a sense of hidden menace and oppressive evil. It was to this castle that Mary Queen of Scots made her famous ride to visit her future husband, the Earl of Bothwell who had been seriously injured in an encounter with Little Jock Elliot whom Bothwell was trying to apprehend.

On the way to Hermitage Castle.

From Hermitage south along the valley of Hermitage Water to Newcastleton and beyond can be seen remnants of many old peles and castles. This is largely Elliot country but the castle has been, at times, associated with the De Soulis family and with the Douglas, Dacre, Hepburn and Scott clans. The Armstrong occupied it from time to time when it was not in use by the others. In the vicinity of Hermitage have been found the remains of buildings indicating that once a sizeable township was located here.

For 400 years the awesome ruin served as the "guardhouse of the bloodiest valley in Britain". It's history has sufficient intrigue, romance and violence to make the legend of the castle's builder fighting a giant wearing impregnable amour seem rather superfluous. The proximity of Hermitage Castle to the English border made it a particular prize for both countries. Even the building of it by the King's butler, Sir Nicholas de Soules in about 1240, almost brought the nations to the brink of war. It was disputed territory for much of its history. This can be seen in the great strength of the castle, which reflects both the wealth of its owners and its strategic position. It is the best of the medieval border castles to survive. Despite some re-building at the wall-heads in the 19th century, most of what we see is a caslte that has evolved and grown over half a millennium.

It stands actually in a smaller valley off the main dale, and even without its roof and with its interior in ruins, it retains a most grim and depressing atmosphere: visitors are not surprised to learn that one of its earliest owners, a lord named de Soulis, was reputedly a magician who had sold his soul to the Devil, and was punished for his crimes by being boiled alive in a great cauldron.

Hermitage Castle is a stone multi-towered castle, the bleak surroundings give it an extraordinary atmosphere. Fragments of the early castle lie at the centre of the building, round arched doorways, large ashlar blocks in the spiral stairs give its position away. Built up to become the main central keep, with towers added at each corner, it became the largest and strongest castle on the Border. The east and west sides of the towers are joined at the top, by an arched curtain, so that a wooden hoarding could encompass the castle.

This tower is rather mundanely referred to as the Kichen tower, in fact it was the main lordly residence of the 15th century castle. The central tower could not provide sufficient space for the earls of Douglas. A new tower was built at each of the angles of the castle to provide work rooms, storage space and domestic apartments. The south-east tower houses the well. The north-east tower is the castle's prison where many a border reiver will have suffered from his craft.

Little remains of this 13th C. chapel. Its foundations have been excavated, along with some window arches. This was most likely a private chapel associated with Hermitage Castle and an old wooden manor house which has subsequently been lost. The surrounding banks and ditches are part of the castle's defences.