Debatable Lands Tour
Are you descended from a Border Reiver? Is your name Armstrong. Ballantine, Davidson, Dodd, Douglas, Elliot, Glendenning, Grahame, Johnstone, Kerr, Maxwell, Moffat, Nixon, Robson, Rutherford, Scott, Todd or one of the dozen or more other famous raiding families who rode the Borders. Then chances are that you are the descendant of a Reiver and this tour is a must see for you!
The border between Scotland and England was mostly agreed in 1237 however there were disputes over large sections until at least 1552 hence the term Debatable Lands. The term Reiver relates to Thieving & Retrieving which is what these families did, it was not a case of Scots against English but more feuding families. The union of the crown in 1603 largely saw an end to these skirmishes when King James VI of Scotland was crowned King James 1st of England.
Our Debatable Lands tour will encompass Hermitage Castle, Drumlanrig Tower (Hawick), Jedburgh for Lunch then free time for: (Abbey, Castle Jail or Mary Queen of Scots House), Crichton Castle.
We will be driving around the scenic borders with its rolling hills and peaceful towns and villages, only a glimpse of its dramatic castles gives you an insight into its turbulent and blood thirsty past.
Hermitage Castle is an awesome but eerie ruin and it is easy to imagine its bloodthirsty history, one of its past owners William De Soulis was reportedly a wizard who practiced the Black Arts and spread such a reign of terror on the locals that they rose up against him. It was reported that the only way to kill him was to boil him in lead, which, they duly did. It also had its romantic association with Mary Queen of Scots riding from Jedburgh to visit James Hepburn, 4th Earl of Bothwell, who was wounded (he was to become her third and final husband) find out why there is a link between Hermitage and Mary’s House in Jedburgh.
Drumlanrig Tower in Hawick has a very good visitor centre where you can learn more about the everyday life for the people of the debatable Lands.
We give you free time in Jedburgh were you can choose between The Foresters Restaurant and The Pheasant, you can then decide whether you want to visit Jedburgh Abbey (Left), built in 1138 by King David 1st of Scotland and lived in by Augustinian Canons. The Abbey took 100 years to build and was standing only about 40 years in peace before it was attacked numerous times by the English during the rough wooing.
Mary Queen of Scots House (Right), a Tower House typical of the region, now a museum with many artefacts said to belong to Mary Stewart.
The Castle Jail is a museum with exhibits on the life and times of the Borders. It was built in Victorian times to look like a castle and was the last Howard Reform Prison to be built. It is built on the site of the medieval castle which was destroyed in 1542 to save it being taken by the English.
Crichton Castle is situated halfway between Jedburgh and Edinburgh and is a stunning example of renaissance architecture.
An early owner of the Castle, William Crichton, was sheriff of Edinburgh and keeper of Edinburgh Castle. He invited the 6th Earl of Douglas and his younger brother to dinner at Edinburgh Castle and then had them both killed. In retribution the Douglas clan stormed Crichton castle and caused severe damage.
