Just had a quick visit to Fatlips this time so didn't get many photos but there are some lovely views from the top!
Fatlips Castle is a well known pele tower in Roxburghshire on the Minto Crags - be ready for a bit of a steep walk up to the tower!
"A number of possible origins for the name "Fatlips Castle" applied to the Minto Crags Borders peel (pele) tower. We have heard the following and favor none above the others.
- There was once a goat nicknamed Fatlips on the dunion which warned of the approaching English by bleating loudly.
- A local Elliot recounted to us that in the early 18th century the family had a child with Down syndrome who lived out of sight in the tower. The servants who cared for the child used the name Fatlips Castle. This seems improbable as the Elliot family themselves would surely not have used the name Fatlips which appears on their mid-18th century documents.
- It is said that one of the pleasures of a visit to Fatlips used to be that "every gentleman, by indefeasible privilege, kisses one of the ladies on entering the ruin.”(Chambers, Robert (1828). The Picture of Scotland I. William Tait. p. 328n.)
- Fatlips is the name given to a legendary spirit dwelling in Dryburgh Abbey in Berwickshire, Scotland by a hermit woman who took up residence in the ruins of the abbey. She claimed that Fatlips stamped the moisture away from the ground where she slept with his heavy iron boots. This gave rise to the notion that Fatlips lived in medieval ruins. The Borders Magazine of October 1927 contains a more details account of this version.
Whatever the origin of the name, being unusual, Fatlips adds an aura of mystery and Castle adds an air or importance." (from fatlipscastle.com)
Fatlips used to be open to the public, it is now locked but you can get the key from the Garage in Denholm. There is a £10 deposit for the key £5 of which is returnable with £5 going towards the upkeep of the castle.
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