A Kerr-handed castle Ferniehirst Castle, Roxburghshire A seat of Lord Ralph Kerr

FERNIEHIRST CASTLE overlooks the Jed Water to the south of Jedburgh in the Borders and once commanded the road from Edinburgh to Otter-burn and Newcastle, a key invasion and marauding route. In its early days, it witnessed all the violence to be expected of a frontier fortress, but, today, it is a scene of tranquillity and peace, a monument to the cultural and economic blessings brought by the Union of the Crowns and their two ancient kingdoms. A succession of three castles has been recorded on this hillside site since the 15th century, but the spot may have been first occupied as a forward stronghold, north of Hadrian’s Wall, by the Romans.

The medieval castle was founded by the Kerrs, a Borders clan reputedly descended from Vikings and recorded in Jedburgh Forest from the 12th century. By the 15th century, the family had two main branches, the Kerrs of Cessford (continued through the female line in the Duke of Roxburghe) and the Kerrs ‘of Ferniehirst’, so described by 1470, who are represented today in a direct male-line descent by the Marquess of Lothian as their