There is no castle in Scotland, more brutal and forbidding in appearance than Hermitage. Combine this with the bleak landscape in this remote border region, and the effect is enough to send shivers down your spine. Hermitage Castle is the archetypal border castle, and during the Middle Ages it changed hands several times between the Scots and the English. The first structure on this site was built in the 14th century and was an oblong erected around a small courtyard. It was rebuilt a few decades later by the Douglas lairds when it became a very large tower house. In 1492 the Douglas family exchanged Hermitage for Bothwell Castle on the Clyde and in due course the notorious Earl of Bothwell gained possession of Hermitage Castle. At that time that he was acting as lieutenant on the borders for Mary Queen of Scots, whom he later married. Needless to say, Mary's ghost has been seen in the castle but the ghostly screams which are said to be heard from time to time are attributed to an earlier owner who dabbled in witchcraft. A legend also tells of a neighbouring chief who sent a group of goodwill ambassadors to Hermitage Castle to propose cessation of their long feud. It is said that the lord promptly put the men into a small room without food or water, starving them to death. The ghosts of these men are also said to stalk the ruins.