Ranulf de Soules [a] was a Norman knight who came to Scotland with David I and served as his cupbearer.
This castle,[4] the earthworks of which remain, therefore was probably built around 1115–1118, although apparently the first written mention of it was in an 1165 charter that William the Lion granted to the Canons of Jedburgh Abbey.
It is not to be confused with nearby Hermitage Castle, a later structure, or with Liddel Strength that was built in the same region, but just within England, by Turgot de Rossedale, from a Yorkshire family.
Ranulf de Soulis witnessed a number of David's, and later Malcolm IV's and William's charters.
He was succeeded as Lord of Liddesdale by his nephew, who was also named Ranulf and who was the son of his brother, William.