Anniversary Address. 23 



tombstone of Stonegarthside, although in Cumberland, belong- 

 ing to the Armstrongs, supports the local version. 



The party from Hermitage, with the exception of those 

 who had gone to Biccarton junction, got back to Castleton 

 about the same time, but as the Dumfries train left at 3.45, 

 most of them had to hurry away before dinner. They had 

 explored the ruins of the castle, the old chapel, and burying 

 ground, in which grows an ancient ash tree, which, after 

 having been blown down by the wind, has thrown out fresh 

 roots from the procumbent trunk and still maintains its 

 vitality. Hard by is the grassy mound, 9 feet long, said to 

 mark the grave of Lord Soulis' enemy, the Cout of Keeldar, 

 nefariously slain by him in the pool below, which also passes 

 by his name. 



The castle, which has been greatly enlarged and indeed 

 rebuilt at different periods, consists of a square keep, to which 

 four massive towers have been subsequently added. Under 

 one of these is shown the dungeon in which the gallant Sir 

 Alex. Ramsay was starved to death, by his old companion in 

 arms, Sir William Douglas the knight of Liddelsdale. In the 

 opposite angle is the kitchen and a fine large oven for baking, 

 similar to those still in use in the south of England. Two 

 sides of the exterior present the extraordinary appearance of 

 large and handsome blind arches from 12 to 15 feet high, 

 which, so far from strengthening the defence, would have 

 only afforded cover for the assailants to mine or break through 

 the wall. 



It appears, however, that these are of very recent construc- 

 tion, and have been made in the course of the repairs, which 

 the late Duke of Buccleugh, with a praise-worthy anxiety for 

 the preservation of the ruin, caused to be executed about the 

 beginning of the century. A sketch by Williams,* made 

 before 1802, shows the condition of the ruin as it then existed; 

 and another by William Scott, jun.,f made some years later, 



* Border Min., Vol. I., frontispiece. There is also a view of the castle from a 

 sketch by H. Weber at the same period, in the Border Antiquities. 



t William Scott, mason, New Castleton, author of Border Exploits, p. 357. 



