Buccleuch Castle

Buccleuch Castle has long vanished. The location of the site is just off the B711 near East Buccleuch Farm, and West Buccleuch House, on land overlooking the confluence of two minor burns with the Rankle Burn, which flows past generally northwards to join the Ettrick Burn.

The importance of the site lies not so much with the castle itself, but with the fact that it was the ancestral property of the Scott family, now Dukes of Buccleuch amongst many other titles. The earliest reference to the Scott family in association with Buccleuch is in the late 13th century, when Richard Scott of Rankilburn received a charter to them. They had previously been held by Nigel de Heriz (Herries), who was the kings Forester for Ettrick. This charter does not survive, but is referenced in a later one of 1415 by the fifth lord of Rankilburn, which was still the designation used by the lords. It is only in 1431 that the designation “of Rankilburn” was replaced by “of Buccleuch” indicating that the manor place was probably built between 1415 and 1431. Even then, in 1488 when David Scott had his lands erected into the free barony of Branxholme, Buccleuch is not mentioned, and Rankilburn is used. In February 1492, David Scott, styled as “of Branxholme” died at Buccleuch and instructed that he was to be buried in the traditional family burial place at Peebles – but it appears that subsequently the lairds of Buccleuch were buried at Rankilburn church, the site of which can be found at NT319120, over a mile upstream. However, after the Scotts moved to Branxholme, they chose to be buried at St Mary’s in Hawick. The importance of Buccleuch as a property clearly varied with time.

When David Scott died, he was succeeded by his son Walter, who died in 1504, and then by his grandson, another Walter, who was killed in 1552, and was active in the Wars of the Rough Wooing. In his time the castle of Branxholme was burned out in 1532, and was assaulted but did not fall in 1547. Some accounts say that Buccleuch was also destroyed by Hertford in 1544, but if so it was clearly rebuilt, and is shown on the east side of the Rankil Burn in all early maps. In the “Scotts of Buccleuch” by Sir William Fraser, it is stated that “The old mansion stood on a rising ground at the junction of the Rankilburn and the Buccleuch burn. To the north and south of the site, on either side of the burn, are haughs or level grounds for meadow hay. These are surrounded on every side by high sloping green hills. Part of the present farm-house of Easter Buccleuch, which was built about the. year 1832, and particularly the west end, stands on the site of the foundations of the old mansion. These foundations were extensive, and were trenched out to enlarge the garden in front of the present farm-house of Easter Buccleuch.”

By mid 1494, the “place and manor of Bukcleuch” had been subjected to a sacking by Simon Routledge in Trowis (near Hawick), his son Matthew and their accomplices. In a decree of 25th June, the Lords of Council ordered reparations to the tune of 1000 merks for goods that had been “spuilzit, distroyit, and taken” and for “the dampnage and seaithis sustenit be the birnyiug” of Buccleuch. The Routledges had taken horses, cattle, sheep, household furnishings and food including 80 stones of cheese and butter! One has to wonder how much damage was done to the manor as this does not equate to a thousand marks worth. From this point onwards, it is notable that the manor appears less often in records of the Scotts. In 1570, an army from England advanced into Teviotdale, and found that the tower at Branxholme had been burned by the Scotts, unable to counter such a force. They blew the tower up with gunpowder, and then advanced along the Teviot to burn “all the castles and towns which belonged to Buccleuch and his followers” – according to the English account this included fifty strongholds and three hundred villages. Although not mentioned, it is almost certain that Buccleuch was one of those placed sacked, and may then have been rebuilt on a lesser scale. It does not feature again in the records in any way, and seems to have declined in importance even more after the Union of the Crowns in 1603. The ultimate fate of the manor is unknown. In 1599 the lands were included into the new free barony of Branxholm, and in 1606 Sir Walter Scott was created the first Lord Scott of Buccleuch – which he had used as his territorial designation throughout his violent and turbulent career, but there was to be no new grand residence in the Ettrick hills. Instead the Buccleuch property appears to have been turned into a farm by 1718, the manorial buildings demolished in the early 19th century and used as a quarry for the new farm – and the new property of West Buccleuch was erected by 1718 as well. East Buccleuch is supposed to have a door rebate in situ for an inner and outer door, which is presumed to be 16th century, but on what grounds is not clear.

HES Canmore database entry