Annan
There’s not much left of Annan castle, save
a grassy motte on the east bank of the river near the aptly named Bruce Street.
For it was home to the Bruce clan before a
flood changed the course of the river and eroded part of the mound, which saw
the Lords of Annandale relocate to Lochmaben castle.
But Annan is a smart red sandstone town with
plenty of history and Lord Maxwell met with Lord Herries there to come up with
a solution for dealing with the English Grahams. This was in 1584. In a
pre-emptive retaliation, Lord Scrope’s deputy struck terror with a number of
heinous murders committed by his officers and soldiers brought over from
Berwick that the Scots complained were ‘acts of public hostility’ rather than
attempts to apprehend thieves.
Annan’s proximity to the Border made it a
target for attack and seven years later John Storey of Stagmire and Tom Storey
of Howend, along with Tom’s Willie, alias Willie’s John, Fargy the Plump and Black
Jock’s John, lifted 40 horses, took 16 prisoners for ransom and had their
horses and armour, purses, gold and silver away, killed Thomas Brown and
mutilated John Brown while a raid led by John Graham of West Linton in 1597 saw
30 kye and oxen taken along with 24 prisoners.
