Billie Castle
Parish: Bunkle and Preston
County: Berwickshire
Grid reference: NT 8506 5964
Lat / long: 55.829809, -2.239984
Alternative names: Billy Castle; Bylie
Billie Castle is mentioned in a traditional Berwickshire song:
Bunkle, Billie and Blanerne
Three castles strong as airn
Built when Davy was a bairn;
They'll a' gang doon
Wi' Scotland's croon,
And ilke ane sall be a cairn.
The castles referred to are Bunkle Castle, Billie Castle and Blanerne Castle, and the Davy mentioned is David I, which suggested all the castles were in existence by the late 11th century.
Billie Castle was destroyed by the Earl of Hertford during the Rough Wooing in 1544, and is now a ruin.
