Hermitage Castle

A History of Violence

Hermitage’s history is a catalog of brutality:

The Borderlands: A lawless zone: Hermitage Castle sits in Liddesdale, in the Scottish Borders. For centuries, this was disputed territory between Scotland and England. Raids, murders, and cattle theft were routine. The Reivers (border raiders) made their living through violence. Hermitage controlled this violent land.

Strategic Importance: Why it mattered: Hermitage commanded a key route between the nations. Control of the castle meant control of the borderlands. It changed hands repeatedly during the medieval period, and each change brought bloodshed. The castle was built for war and saw plenty of it.

The De Soulis Family: Early lords: The castle came to the Soulis family around 1275. Nicholas de Soulis was executed for treason in 1320. William de Soulis—the most infamous—came later. The family’s tenure was marked by darkness. They set the pattern for what followed.

Centuries of Conflict: Ongoing violence: The castle was captured and recaptured repeatedly. Scottish and English forces fought over it. The Douglas family held it for much of the late medieval period. The Hepburns (Earls of Bothwell) followed. Every generation added its deaths.

Lord Soulis: The Wicked Lord

William de Soulis is central to Hermitage’s evil reputation:

Who He Was: The historical figure: Lord of Liddesdale in the early 14th century. He was a powerful and feared border lord. Historically, he conspired against Robert the Bruce. He was arrested and imprisoned for treason. He died in prison—that’s the historical record.

The Legend: The darker version: Local tradition tells a very different story. Soulis was said to practice black magic. He made a pact with a demon called Robin Redcap. In exchange for power, he committed terrible acts. The demon protected him from harm.

Robin Redcap: The familiar demon: Redcaps are goblins who haunt ruined castles in border folklore. They murder travelers and dye their caps in the blood. Soulis’s Robin Redcap was particularly powerful. It advised Soulis and protected him. It could only be banished by specific means.

The Crimes: What he allegedly did: Soulis kidnapped children from the surrounding villages. He used them in his magical rites. He murdered anyone who opposed him. His cruelty was legendary. The people lived in terror.

The Prophecy: Why he seemed unstoppable: Soulis was protected by a charm. He could not be harmed by “forged steel or bound by iron.” He could not be hurt on Scottish soil. These protections made him seem invincible. The villagers despaired.

The Punishment: How they killed him: Finally, the people took matters into their own hands. They captured Soulis (the legend varies on how). They wrapped him in sheets of lead (not forged steel). They boiled him alive in a great cauldron. At Nine Stane Rig, a stone circle nearby (not Scottish “soil”), the villagers found the loopholes in his protection.

The Legacy: What remains: Soulis’s ghost is said to walk the castle. Every seven years, he returns to the ruins. With Robin Redcap at his side. The evil he practiced left a permanent stain. The castle has never been clean since.

Mary, Queen of Scots

Her visit added to the castle’s dark reputation:

The Context: 1566: Mary was Queen of Scotland, caught between factions. James Hepburn, Earl of Bothwell, was her ally (and possibly more). Bothwell held Hermitage Castle. In October 1566, Bothwell was wounded fighting border raiders. Mary decided to visit him.

The Journey: A desperate ride: Mary rode from Jedburgh, where she was holding court. The round trip was about fifty miles. She rode through dangerous territory. She visited Bothwell at the castle. She rode back the same day.

The Illness: What followed: Within days of the visit, Mary fell gravely ill. She developed a fever and became delirious. For two weeks, she was close to death. She survived, but the experience marked her. Many attributed her illness to the castle.

Interpretations: What happened: The practical explanation: exhaustion, exposure, possible infection. The supernatural explanation: contact with the castle’s evil. Mary herself later said she wished she had died then. Given what followed in her life, that’s understandable. Her connection to Hermitage became part of its legend.

Bothwell: The man she visited: Bothwell would later be implicated in her husband’s murder. Mary would marry him, then be forced to abdicate. He fled Scotland and died insane in a Danish prison. His connection to Hermitage seems fitting. The castle touched everyone who came to it.

The Haunting

Hermitage’s paranormal activity is intense:

The Atmosphere: What visitors feel: Visitors describe oppression—a weight on the chest. They report difficulty breathing, overwhelming anxiety, the sensation of being watched, and an urgent desire to leave.

Visual Phenomena: What is seen: Soulis’s ghost, particularly every seventh year. A tall figure in the ruins. Lights in the windows when the castle is empty. Shadow figures moving through the walls. Something that might be Robin Redcap.

Auditory Phenomena: What is heard: Screams from the dungeons. Chains rattling. A sound like boiling liquid. Whispers in unintelligible languages. Silence—an unnatural absence of sound.

Animal Behavior: Natural reactions: Dogs refuse to approach. Horses become agitated near the castle. Birds do not sing in the vicinity. Wildlife avoids the area. Even insects seem absent.

Physical Effects: What the body experiences: Cold spots throughout the ruins. Nausea and dizziness. Headaches. Marks on the skin (some visitors report scratches). Lasting unease that persists after leaving.

The Castle Today

Hermitage remains a powerful presence:

The Structure: What survives: The castle is a ruin, but largely intact. The massive stone walls still stand. The layout is visible—towers, halls, dungeons. It’s managed by Historic Environment Scotland. Open to visitors during daylight hours.

The Location: Remote and isolated: Far from any village. Reached by a single-track road. In the middle of bleak moorland. The isolation is part of the experience. You feel very alone at Hermitage.

Visitor Experiences: Modern accounts: Many visitors describe intense experiences. Even skeptics admit the atmosphere is unusual. Photographs sometimes show unexplained shapes. The castle’s reputation draws paranormal investigators. Results are consistently unsettling.

Historic Scotland’s Position: Official acknowledgment: The organization doesn’t officially endorse ghost claims. But they don’t dismiss them either. The castle’s dark history is part of the interpretation. Visitors are told about Soulis and Mary. The haunting is part of the experience.

Entering Hermitage

You see it from a distance first, across the moor—a dark mass against the sky, too square and too deliberate to be natural, but somehow looking as if it grew from the earth rather than being built. As you approach, the silence grows. The birds stop singing. The wind seems to still. The castle waits.

When you enter, the temperature drops. Not just the natural chill of stone walls, but something else—something that feels intentional, as if the cold is reaching for you. The walls are massive, close to two meters thick in places, and they lean inward in a way that makes the space feel compressed, shrinking, dangerous.

Soulis walked these halls seven hundred years ago. He conducted his rituals here. He made his pacts. The children he took never left. And when the villagers finally boiled him alive at the stone circle, wrapped in lead sheets, screaming and cursing them, his spirit came home. It never left.

Mary came here too, in desperation, riding fifty miles to see a man she loved or needed or couldn’t abandon. She nearly died afterward. Whether the castle cursed her or merely weakened her, the visit became part of the legend. Another tragedy absorbed by the stones.

Hermitage Castle does not welcome visitors. It tolerates them. It watches them. And when they leave—because everyone leaves, because no one stays here after dark—it returns to its silent waiting. For seven hundred years it has waited. It will wait seven hundred more.

Some places are haunted by events. Hermitage is haunted by evil itself—a concentration of cruelty and darkness so intense that the building has become its vessel. The stones remember. The stones hold what was done here. And the stones are not finished.

Visit if you dare. Walk the ruins. Read the plaques explaining the history. Take your photographs.

But notice the silence. Notice the cold. Notice the way your instincts scream at you to leave.

And then leave. Leave before dark. Leave before you understand why.

Sources

• Wikipedia search: “Hermitage Castle”
• Historic England — Listed Buildings — Register of historic sites