Ladiesstaine Ro: Ellotts (The Gatehouse Record of the Aglionby Platt)

Also known as, or recorded in historical documents as; Ladiesfaine; Larriston; Haggishaugh; Haggys haugh

In the civil parish of Castleton.
In the historic county of Roxburghshire, Scotland.
Modern Authority of Scottish Borders, Scotland.
1974 county of Borders, Scotland.

OS Map Grid Reference: NY546945
Latitude 55.24285° Longitude -2.71497°

The given map reference is suggested as the probable location of Ladiesstaine Ro: Ellotts shown on the Aglionby Platt.

There are no visible remains.

The likely form(s) of this building in 1590 are;

Tower House (gentry)
Pele House ('bastle').

Reproduced by permission of the National Library of Scotland

Description

(Approx NY 547 944) The strong fort of Robert Elliot stood on the left bank of Liddel Water and adjacent to the house of Haggishaugh (marked on Stobie's map of Roxburghshire, 1770, at Larriston). When its foundations were dug up about sixty years ago, the workmen discovered what had been a large oven also an 18 lb cannon-ball. A map in the British Museum dated 1590 marks a tower symbol in this area, with the name "Robert Elliot, Ladiestane". All the Border Elliots are descended from this Robert Elliot. (cf NY59SW 7 and NY59SW 8 ). (A Jeffrey 1864)
The published site for Larriston Tower is at NY 5555 9370, beside Larriston Burn (see NY59SE 1). Dr Robson (Hawick Museum) does not dispute this location, although he states a form of tower may have existed at or near Haggishaugh whose site is believed to be occupied by the present 18th century Larriston House. There is no external sign that this house incorporates earlier material, and enquiries there proved negative. Visited by OS (JRL) 31 July 1979
At NY 54679438 are the buried footings of a small rectangular building. Possibly the site of Ladieston Tower found by dowsing. Information from letter from A Elliott, Providence Cottage, Bishop Auckland, Durham. Footings of Haggishaugh Hall found by dowsing on the lawn of Larriston House (NY 5453 9442), August 1989. Information from letter and plan from A Elliott, Providence Cottage, Bishop Auckland, Durham 21 November 1989. (Canmore)

Comments

There is much confabulation and confusion between this site and Prickinghaugh, a confusion not help by the inclusion in the Canmore record of the utter hokum that is dowsing!
The 1590 map probably records fortified house of border reviers but was probably made by someone with only general knowledge of the local geography and who was probably working from second-hand accounts. It shows two houses called 'Pickeringhaw' and 'Ladiesstaine Ro: Ellotts' on opposite banks of the Liddel Water.
The Pont map of 1608 (published in Blaeu in 1654) shows habitations (not just towers) and, while Pont probably understood the geography somewhat better is still a rough map. It shows, with a somewhat large symbol than usual, a place called 'Prickinghauch' north of the Liddel Water and opposite a 'N. Laristoun' and further upstream a 'Zaristounn'.
The Roy map of c. 1750 shows two residences, close to each other, on the south side of the Liddel Water, the downstream site is unnamed the upstream site is labelled 'Hagygs haugh'.
The Liddel Water does sit in a 'U' shaped valley and has changed course within that valley over time. I suspect that in the C16/C17 the course of the Liddel Water was between the two sites.
On this bases I suggest this was the 'Ladiesstaine Ro: Ellotts' site. This could well have been a rectangular pele-house of some form. However I am, in no way, agreeing with of confirming the form and location suggested by dowsing done by an individual called Elliot with the bias that that family connection suggests.
The finds reported by Jeffrey relate to the Prickinghaugh (Breaken Tower) site which he, in my view, erroneously equated with the 'Ladiesstaine Ro: Ellotts' site.

Sources of information, references and further reading

Canmore (The online National Monument Record for Scotland) Number 68008.

Books
- Jeffrey, Alexander, 1864, The History and Antiquities of Roxburghshire Vol. 4 p. 233 online copy
Periodical Articles
- Ellis, H., 1829, 'Copy of a manuscript tract addressed to Lord Burghley, illustrative of the Border topography of Scotland, AD 1590, with a platt or map of the Borders taken in the same year' Archaeologia Vol. 22 p. 161-71 online copy
Maps (Early maps)
- 1590, A Platt of the opposete Borders of Scotland to ye west marches of England (The Aglionby Platt) British Library online Gallery and Old Cumbria Gazetteer
  Blaeu, J., 1654, 'Lidalia vel Lidisdalia regio, Lidisdail' in Theatrum Orbis Terrerum, sive Atlas Novus, Vol.5; Scotice et Hibernia (Amsterdam) Map online copy
  Roy Military Survey of Scotland 1747-55 British Library Maps C.9.b 6/1c online copy

Most of the sites or buildings recorded in this web site are NOT open to the public and permission to visit a site must always be sought from the landowner or tenant.
It is an offence to disturb a Scheduled Monument without consent. It is a destruction of everyone's heritage to remove archaeological evidence from ANY site without proper recording and reporting.
Don't use metal detectors on historic sites without authorisation.

The information on this web page may be derived from information compiled by and/or copyright of Historic England, RCAHMS (or its successor Historic Environment Scotland), County Historic Environment Records and other individuals and organisations. All the sources given should be consulted to identify the original copyright holder and permission obtained from them before use of the information on this site for commercial purposes.
The author and compiler of Gatehouse does not receive any income from the site and funds it himself. The information within this site is provided freely for educational purposes only.

The bibliography owes much to various bibliographies produced by John Kenyon for the Council for British Archaeology, the Castle Studies Group and others.

Suggestions for finding online and/or hard copies of bibliographical sources can be seen at this link.
Minor archaeological investigations, such as watching brief reports, and some other 'grey' literature is most likely to be held by H.E.R.s but is often poorly referenced and is unlikely to be recorded here, or elsewhere, but some suggestions can be found here.

The possible site or monument is represented on maps as a point location. This is a guide only. It should be noted that OS grid references defines an area, not a point location. In practice this means the actual center of the site or monument may often, but not always, be to the North East of the point shown. Locations derived from OS grid references and from latitude longitiude may differ by a small distance.
Further information on mapping and location can be seen at this link.

Please help to make this as useful a resource as possible by contacting Gatehouse if you see errors, can add information or have suggestions for improvements in functality and design.
Help is acknowledged.

Data >	Canmore
Maps >	Streetmap	NLS maps	Where's the path	Geology
Air Photos >	Bing Maps	Google Maps	Getmapping	Flashearth
Photos >	Geograph	Flickr	Panoramio

The Gatehouse website record of

Ladiesstaine Ro: Ellotts (Larriston Tower)

a location shown on a 1590 map of the West Marches of Scotland (The Aglionby Platt)