This project is under reconstruction 23 Sept 2015
Is a STRONG part of 'Border Reivers' Territory

Liddesdale, the valley of the Liddel Water, in the County of Roxburgh, southern Scotland, extends in a south-westerly direction from the vicinity of Peel Fell to the River Esk, a distance of 21 miles (34 km). The Waverley route of the North British Railway runs down the dale, and the Catrail, or Picts' Dyke, crosses its head.

Liddesdale was also an historic district of Scotland, bordering Teviotdale to the east, Annandale to the west and Tweeddale to the north, with the English county of Cumberland across the border to the south. The area which was in the Sheriffdom of Roxburgh and later became part of the County of Roxburgh, one of the counties of Scotland. The main reorganisation took place during the Local Government (Scotland) Act 1889, this Act established a uniform system of county councils and town councils in Scotland and restructured many of Scotland’s counties. (See: History of local government in the United Kingdom)

Liddesdale is sometimes considered to form the northern end of the Maiden Way Roman road.^[1]

At one period the points of vantage on the river and its affluents were occupied with freebooters' peel towers, but many of them have disappeared and the remainder are in decay. Larriston Tower belonged to the Elliots, Mangerton, now little more than a site, to the Armstrongs and Park to "Little Jock Elliot", the outlaw who nearly killed Bothwell in an encounter in 1566. Hollows Tower, Johnnie Armstrong's peel, is in good condition; it is on the A7, about six and a half kilometres south of Langholm.

The chief point of interest in the valley, however, is Hermitage Castle, a massive H-shaped fortress of enormous strength, one of the oldest surviving castles in Scotland. It stands on a hill overlooking Hermitage Water, a tributary of the Liddel. It was built in 1244 by Nicholas de Soulis, and was captured by the English in David II's reign. It was retaken by Sir William Douglas, who received a grant of it from the king. In 1492 Archibald Douglas, 5th Earl of Angus, exchanged it for Bothwell Castle on the Clyde with Patrick Hepburn, 1st Earl of Bothwell. It finally passed to the Duke of Buccleuch, under whose care further ruin has been arrested. It was here that Sir Alexander Ramsay of Dalhousie was starved to death by Sir William Douglas in 1342, and that James Hepburn, 4th Earl of Bothwell, was visited by Mary, Queen of Scots, after the assault referred to previously.

To the east of the castle is Ninestane Rig, a hill 943 ft (287 m) high, four miles (6 km) long and one mile (1.6 km) broad. Here it is said that William de Soulis, hated for oppression and cruelty, was (in 1320) boiled by his own vassals in a copper cauldron, which was supported on two of the nine stones which composed the "Druidical" circle that gave the ridge its name. Only five of the stones remain.

James Telfer (1802–1862), the writer of ballads, who was born in the parish of Southdean (pronounced Soudan), was for several years schoolmaster of Saughtree, near the head of the valley. The castle of the lairds of Liddesdale stood near the junction of Hermitage Water and the Liddel, and around it grew up the village of Newcastleton.

Original information provided by previous admin...
Liddesdale DNA/mtDNA Study: Our worldwide aim is to collect Y-DNA results from males with surnames believed to be Liddesdale-derived and also to support a mtDNA study for related females. This Study is administered by Team Liddell et al and is specific only to Team members and the general public who reside outside the USA. Our intent is to trace specific family lines and provide genealogically-valuable insight into kinships both within related lines and across our nearly 80 similar surnames apparently derived from the ancient Scotland border region Liddesdale. Males with surnames from our cluster or similar and females can participate outside the USA starting with the 12-marker Y-DNA and basic mtDNA tests, or with the 37-marker and mtDNAPlus. The 25-marker Y-DNA test and the female equivalent mtDNA test is not accepted into either Study administered by the Team. Questions? Contact: James Wallace Liddell at teamliddell@yahoo.com The Team has no dues or assessments, does not copyright its materials and offers nothing for sale. It and its members do not receive any type of benefits, financial or otherwise, from this Study. The only difference between the Team Liddell et al DNA/mtDNA Study and the Liddesdale one discussed here are the types of tests that are available for purchase in each. This Study, the Liddesdale one, emphasizes the lowest-cost tests available for both genders from FamilyTreeDNA and is available only to non-USA residents, whereas the Team Study emphasizes only the top-level ones. The top-level FTDNA tests are available in the Liddesdale Study as a voluntary option at the election of the non-USA test participants. All other features and services remain the same in each Study. The Liddesdale Study is a result of the Team's realizing after seven months of effort that non-USA retirees frequently balk at the higher-cost top level tests offered by FamilyTreeDNA and, thus, decided to answer this sometime financial need by allow non-USA resident to begin with the lower-cost tests and then, if they wish, to advanace to the top-level tests while remaining in the Liddesdale Study. These basic tests are still very useful to the participant and the Team, for they identify the ultimate ethnic group and geographic origin (sometimes as early as during the last Major Ice Age some 10,000 years ago), a solid indication if two or more family lines are related, and can assist in filling gaps in documentation for family genealogists of two different lines interested in each other's data. They cannot, however, identify the era in which a most recent common ancestor lived--which is one of the major purposes for the higher-cost tests. As assured in the Team Liddell et al Study to all test participants, their privacy and security are absolutely guaranteed in all regards at all times.