~ History ~

1541 ~ Cuthbert Braun is granted land by his younger brother, the abbot of Sweetheart Abbey. He builds himself a defensive Pele Tower and barmkin.

1580 ~ John Braun builds Abbots Tower on the site of his Pele Tower from stone taken from the nearby abbey where his uncle had been abbot, before the Crown is able to conclude its intentions to take the abbey into Crown ownership.

1588 ~ Gilbert Braun a well-known Jesuit who, as an active member of the Society of Jesus, a zealous Roman Catholic order of priests, founded to do missionary work against the Reformation, becomes priest at the Abbey.

He is supported and protected by the most powerful family in the area, the Maxwell family. Despite repeated orders to arrest Braun, the Maxwell's stand by their man and their Catholic beliefs.

John, Lord Maxwell, works as a double agent for King James IV of Scotland and the Duke of Parma in the lead up to the Spanish Armada, to overthrow the Protestant Queen Elizabeth I of England.

Upon his return to Scotland he is arrested as a traitor.

The Braun's close association with the Maxwell's, and the Counter Reformation cause, leaves them open to attack by their enemies and with the loss of protection from the Maxwell's, they soon find themselves fighting against huge debts caused by their enemies.

1589 ~ John, Lord Maxwell is released on the bond of £100,000. He is later reappointed to his influential position as Warden of the March.

1593 ~ An ongoing feud with the Johnston's of Annandale leads to a fight at Dryfe Sands near Lockerbie which results in Lord Maxwell's murder.

1613 ~ Lord Maxwell's son and heir, the 9th Lord Maxwell, is executed for the revenge killing of Sir James Johnstone.

1627 ~ The Braun's are forced to sell Abbot's Tower and their estates. Their Tower is abandoned soon after.