Caerlaverock castle

“The lands of Holmains, Mouswald, and surrounding tower houses existed within the same Border world as Caerlaverock itself. Families such as the Carruthers’, Johnstones, Irvings, Bells, and Maxwells all occupied this shifting frontier society where kinship and conflict frequently existed side by side. Alliances formed through marriage one decade could collapse into bloodshed the next. The Borders were not governed only by crowns and parliaments. They were governed by families. In the sixteenth century, Caerlaverock stood near the center of some of the most volatile rivalries in southern Scotland.”