Buckholm is a farm near to the A7, in the

Scottish Borders The Scottish Borders is one of 32 council areas of Scotland. It is bordered by West Lothian, Edinburgh, Midlothian, and East Lothian to the north, the North Sea to the east, Dumfries and Galloway to the south-west, South Lanarkshire to the we ...

Galashiels Galashiels (; , ) is a town in the Scottish Borders with a population of around 12,600. Its name is often colloquially shortened to "Gala". The town is a major commercial centre for the Borders region with extensive history in the textile in ...

area of

Scotland Scotland is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It contains nearly one-third of the United Kingdom's land area, consisting of the northern part of the island of Great Britain and more than 790 adjac ...

. Places nearby include Abbotsford, the

Bow Castle Broch Bow Castle is the remains of an iron-age broch near the Gala Water, in the Scottish Borders area of Scotland, in the parish of Stow. It is a scheduled monument. Description Bow Castle () stands on level ground on the edge of a steep slope southw ...

Clovenfords Clovenfords is a village in the Scottish Borders area of Scotland, north of the hamlet of Caddonfoot and west of the town Galashiels. The village sits on undulating grasslands and surrounding rolling hills. The 2011 census gave it a population ...

Darnick Darnick is a village near Melrose in the Scottish Borders area of Scotland, in the former Roxburghshire. The name was first recorded in 1124, and has changed from Dernewic, Dernwick and Darnwick to the present Darnick. was built in c. 1425, ...

Eildon Eildon is the largest committee area of the Scottish Borders Council, with a population of 34,892 at the census in 2001. It also contains the three Eildon Hills, tallest in the Scottish Borders. Places in Eildon References See also * Subd ...

, the

Gala Water The Gala Water ( Lowland Scots: Gala Watter; Scottish Gaelic An Geal Ath) is a river in the Scottish Borders area of Scotland and a tributary of the River Tweed. It is sometimes known as the "Gala", which nickname is also shared with Galashiels, ...

, the Lugate Water, and Stow. Buckholm Tower was built in 1582 by the Pringle family and is at the foot of Buckholm Hill.

Folklore

The ruin of Buckholm tower is home to a legend dating back to the 18th century:Haunting Buckholm Tower
/ref> According to the tale, the local

laird Laird () is a Scottish word for minor lord (or landlord) and is a designation that applies to an owner of a large, long-established Scotland, Scottish estate. In the traditional Scottish order of precedence, a laird ranked below a Baronage of ...

, James Pringle was an evil man, who hunted

covenanter Covenanters were members of a 17th-century Scottish religious and political movement, who supported a Presbyterian Church of Scotland and the primacy of its leaders in religious affairs. It originated in disputes with James VI and his son C ...

s with hounds. He mistreated his wife and son so badly that they eventually left him, and he became infamous amongst the locals for his cruelty towards women in particular. Because he was known to be a government supporter he was called upon one day by the local

Dragoon Dragoons were originally a class of mounted infantry, who used horses for mobility, but dismounted to fight on foot. From the early 17th century onward, dragoons were increasingly also employed as conventional cavalry and trained for combat wi ...

s to help derail an illegal assembly of Covenanters. Knowing the area, Pringle was able to deduce the group's location, but they had received some prior warning, and had dispersed, all except two men, a father and son. The father had been thrown from his horse and his son had stayed to tend to him. Pringle was ready to kill the men on sight, but the Captain of the Dragoons suggested that the men may have some valuable information and so James Pringle was asked to house them in the dungeon of Buckholm Tower for the night while the Dragoons went back to town to update their commanders, promising that someone would come to escort the prisoners the next day. After the Dragoons left, Pringle dined alone, drinking heavily, and becoming more and more wrathful as a result. Eventually he got up and headed for the dungeon, as he got there, he was met with several of his servants, many of whom had been disturbed by cries of distress from within. The father had taken a turn for the worse, and needed help badly, so his son repeatedly cried out for help. Pringle entered the dungeon and beat them both, the servants heard screams and then a dragging noise, which then quieted. The laird reappeared, intent on returning to his drink but was interrupted by a knocking on the front door. When the servants answered they saw the man's wife had come to find her husband and son. With a furious cry Pringle grabbed the woman and dragged her to the dungeon. She screamed at what she saw there, her husband and on bloodied from the beating, their carcasses hanging from hooks in the ceiling. Pringle screamed at her, calling her an old witch, and she drew herself up, cursing the laird for what he had done. Ever after that Pringle was convinced he was cursed, having many instances of believing he was being chased by hounds, after riding his horse or while sleeping in the tower. He dies a painful death shortly afterwards and on the anniversary of his death every year, spectral figures of the laird and dogs appeared outside the tower, him running for his life. "The Rev Henry Davidson (1714-1749) is reported to have performed an exorcism and ‘cast out the Deil of Buckholm’ and put an end to his ‘nightly wanderings’."

References

External links

RCAHMS record of Old BuckholmCANMORE/RCAHMS record of Buckholm MillSCRAN image: Buckholm Tower, Barnmkin Gateway
* ttps://www.geograph.org.uk/photo/206859 Geograph image of Buckholm Towerbr>Geograph image of Buckholm HillThe Clan Pringle Association
{{authority control Villages in the Scottish Borders