Horsburgh

Horsburgh or Horsbrugh Castle is one of a number that stood alongside the River Tweed.

I walked the six miles to Innerleithen this morning, and took a detour to look at the Castle.   It stands on a very high and steep mound beside the river.   At least, that was the way I went.  At the top I discovered that the other side of the mound was a gentle stroll down.

in 1230, a Symon of Horsbroc or Simon de Horsbroc witnessed a charter at Melrose Abbey, the first sign of the Horsbrugh family.  In the the 14th century crown rents from Horsbrugh seem to have been paid to the Douglas family of Dalkeith, but by 1479 Alexander Horsbrugh of the Ilk is recorded as the owner of Horsbrugh Castle.     After a long history as one of the homes of this family, at the centre of many skirmishes, political and otherwise, between Scotland and her neighbours, the Castle fell into disrepair, then became ruins, in the 19th century.