266 REPOET OF THE MEETINGS FOR 1898 



tion, round which so many associations of history and romance 

 have gathered, to make the excursion memorable to those who 

 took part in it. Hermitage Oastle stands on a low knoll close to 

 the stream. The first impression, as one approaches, is of 

 massive, sullen strength, and this is deepened by closer examin- 

 ation. Its ground plan is a four-walled keep, the walls parallel 

 to the stream being considerably longer, and at each corner of 

 the keep a square tower has been placed. The walls rise in 

 severely straight lines till within a few feet of the top, where a 

 projection runs round, supported b}-^ corbels but without machi- 

 colations. This projecting top contributes much to the heavy 

 appearance of the building. The exterior is in excellent 

 preservation. The New Statistical Account of Scotland (published 

 in 1841) speaks of the walls having "lately been put into 

 nearly a complete state of repair." Certainly they have been 

 carefully cemented and in parts rebuilt. In Scott's " Beauties 

 of the Border,"* published in 1821, there is a plate showing a 

 great rent in the east wall from top to bottom. This and a 

 similar rent in the west wall, have been ingeniously repaired by 

 building narrow and lofty arches which, though altering the 

 external appearance, have kept the walls intact. The reddish 

 stone shows little sign of decay. The interior is quite broken 

 down, though the divisions of the rooms and of the successive 

 storeys are visible, especially in the corner towers. In the 

 south west corner was the kitchen, and there the oven is 

 still in shape. 



Tradition points to an apartment in the north-west tower as the 

 place of Sir Alexander Ramsay's imprisonment and cruel death. 

 The corner towers may have been added to the original keep, 

 but the building itself shows no traces of altered design or var- 

 ious architecture. For its size, it is singularly uniform, and its 

 general aspect is one of stern simplicity. In the days before 

 powder and shot were invented, its great size and massive 

 strength must have made it impregnable alike to sudden 

 attack and long siege. It suits well with its grim traditions 



* William Scott, Janr., was a native of Newcastleton, and was a 

 schoolmaster at Burnmouth. He published also at an earlier date 

 a book called " Border Exploits." 



