The lands of Aikwood were granted, in 1517, on behalf of the infant King James V, to Maister Michael Scott, namesake of the thirteenth century scholar on whom the legends of wizardry are founded. Previously, Aikwood has been one of the forest steadings in the Royal Forest of Ettrick: the outright grant may indicate that Michael Scott had performed some special service.
There are records of him signing documents at Aikwood throughout the 1520s, but it is not until a Charter of Novodamus in 1541 that we find a reference to "unam honestam mansionem cum turre" - as good a description of the tower now as it was then. It is likely that it was constructed in the aftermath of James v's 1535 decree that all owners of land in the south of Scotland should construct such a defensive tower in the current "troublous times"
The descendants of Michael Scott and Isabella Ker owned the tower until the late 1620's: the marriage stone of 1602 records the union of Robert Scott and Elspeth Murray. Their son Andrew, was the last of the Scotts of Aikwood.
Aikwood then passed first to Walter Murray of Elibank and then to his brother in law William Scott of Harden: he who, according to legend married "Muckle-mou'd Meg" of Elibank to avoid her father's gallows after an unsuccessful cattle raid. From this union was descended Sir Walter Scott, through their third son.
It was however William Scott's eldest son, (another William) a supporter of the covenanting side during the civil wars that ravaged Scotland in the 17th Century, who inherited Aikwood. It remained the property of the Scotts of Harden (the family of the present Lord Polwarth) for three hundred years.
At the time the name "Oakwood" began to be used in preference to the older "Aikwood". The barony of Oakwood comprised almost all the lands of the Ettrick Valley.
When the tower was abandoned as a dwelling house is not clear. The earliest graffiti is dated 1766. A plan of 1814 shows proposed alterations to a beautiful little farmhouse on the site of what became the byres: in it the tower is referred to as "the auld tower" and use of the vaults as milkhouse and pantry are annotated. James Hogg and Walter Scott, writing in the same period, refer to its dereliction. In 1835 substantial repair work was carried out.
Since the nineteenth century the tower was used mainly for agricultural purposes: the brick archway that now forms the kitchen window dates from this period, as does the hatch between the kitchen and the Hall. About a hundred years ago, Simon Linton, the tenant farmer, restored one room in an attempt to live in the tower, but dampness drove him out after one winter.
After the second world war, the tower and farm - the last of the Harden properties in Ettrick - were sold to the Duke of Buccleuch. In 1989, the present Duke made possible the realisation of a dream of Borders M.P. Sir David Steel (now Lord Steel of Aikwood) by conveying to him the tower, byres and adjacent garden ground. The regeneration of Aikwood was about to begin.
The roof, upstairs floors, and every window in the tower had to be completely renewed, and electricity and water installed for the first time. All the stone work was repointed and much of it required repair. The large chimney had been in danger of collapse, so too was the exceptional "joggled lintel" of the Great Hall, with its masons' marks. Here as elsewhere, old plaster -covered with hundreds of signatures- had to be completely stripped and renewed. Kitchen, bathrooms, and all the conveniences of modern living were installed. Gradually, painstakingly, and superbly, a home was recreated in this fine building.
The restoration of Aikwood, which has received five architectural awards including the Europa Nostra, was carried out almost entirely by firms from Selkirk. It began in September 1990, and was completed in the summer of 1992, in time for the marriage of the Steels' only daughter Catriona.