This vast, eerie castle dating from the end of the 1300s is set in a lonely spot beside beautiful Hermitage Water, and has a history filled with intrigue, murders, trysts, torture, and treason. One of its earliest owners was the wicked Baron de Soulis who was clearly disliked because he is said to have been boiled to death in a big cauldron at Nine Stane Rig stone circle, approximately two miles north-east of the castle. The Scots and English fought for occupation of the castle throughout the 1400s but, by 1540, it was firmly in the hands of the Scottish crown. Today it is managed by Historic Scotland.