Cavers, home of the Balliols and later of the Black Douglases

**cessna152towser** · 18th March 09, 02:18 PM

Puffer wrote:-

I Have 2 ???

1. The LOCATION of the "Castle" ???
2. Any idea of who was in possession of the LAND ( Estate) in 1600-1620s ???

1. I am sworn to secrecy as to the precise location. It is well known however that it is located somewhere within the extensive Cavers estate in Roxburghshire in the south of Scotland. I was unable to find the correct location mapped on the internet (though I did find one or two websites which wrongly located it). Indeed I would NEVER have found this if the present owner of the ruins had not agreed to take me there. Getting there involved walking among the trees along a path which was not clearly defined and the site is entirely surrounded by pine plantation.
2. According to this site
http://haygenealogy.com/hay/scotland...gedouglas.html
Cavers would have belonged to Sir James or Sir William Douglas, 8th or 9th of Cavers around those dates.
Bear in mind there were other branches of the black Douglas family by the 1600's, and that other black Douglases also lived at Drumlanrig's Tower in Hawick and at Drumlanrig Castle near Dumfries.
See these threads:-
http://www.xmarksthescot.com/forum/d...ght=drumlanrig
http://www.xmarksthescot.com/forum/d...ght=drumlanrig

**Laird O'the Cowcaddens** · 18th March 09, 02:38 PM

Terrific presentation, thanks for the opportunity to gaze once again at the physical past and the images of imagination they evoke.

**Sheep In Wolf's Clothing** · 18th March 09, 03:37 PM

Wow what a wonderful picture essay. Thanks Alex!!
Sara

**meinfs** · 18th March 09, 08:47 PM

Great pictures... I thought that fallen log was carved with the croc features... Maybe somebody did?

**socalferg** · 18th March 09, 11:01 PM

Great pics and info. Thanks for sharing.

**SFCRick** · 19th March 09, 02:19 AM

Fantastic pics & a wonderful history lesson

**McClef** · 19th March 09, 03:41 AM

Fascinating hidden history there.

**Phil** · 19th March 09, 03:44 AM

Great photos, Alex. Thanks for posting them. I wonder if they would have got away with blowing the place up nowadays?

**Jack Daw** · 19th March 09, 05:38 AM

Even BETTER pics! Fascinating!

**cessna152towser** · 19th March 09, 05:44 AM

I wonder if they would have got away with blowing the place up nowadays?

Perhaps not, as it is Grade B listed as a structure of historic value.
The present owner bought it to safeguard it from further destruction. It would be too big a project for him to attempt to restore and would probably need public funding. His reason for being secretive about the exact location is that if it became widely known, some of the artefacts might get stolen, lessening any future hope of restoration.