[2] Its later name change apparently recalls the legend of the three-headed giant The Red Ettin known in tales and ballads.

The date of the broch is uncertain but it has been speculated that it was built between the two main periods of Roman occupation in Scotland: some time in the 2nd century AD.

Excavations at Torwoodlee Broch, also in the Scottish Borders, has shown that it was built and demolished during this period.

[4] The cell on the south side has the remains of a stone stairway at its north end which presumably rose to the wallhead.

These included a stone spindle whorl, a piece of a jet ring, an amber bead, bones, an oyster shell, and a fragment of a glass bracelet.

[4] Two copper ingots, one of which is now in the National Museum, were apparently found with a metal detector inside the broch in 1976.