Border reivers
Many Borderers migrated as families to America, where their values are thought to have contributed significantly to the region's social structure and political ideologies, with echoes of their influence persisting even today.
The traditional narrative places the Battle of Carham in 1018 as a pivotal moment when Scottish forces secured control over Lothian, marking a fundamental shift in the northern boundary of England.
[13] Contemporary evidence suggests the gradual establishment of Scottish authority over the Borders, marked by the consolidation of continuous royal control around the same time as the Norman Conquest, West Lothian and Midlothian likely dates between Máel Coluim III’s accession in 1058 and the death of his son Edgar in 1107.
However, there are strong indications that the area north of the Tyne remained outside Norman control until at least 1090s,[26]with evidence suggesting the persistence of an independent Anglian polity or organised resistance until the early 12th century.
[33] Land ownership and governance in the Anglo-Scottish border region during the 12th and 13th centuries were shaped by a highly mixed population, but the ruling elite was predominantly composed of Norman, Flemish, and Breton incomers.
[35] The integration of these groups under predominantly Norman, Flemish, and Breton lords across the border introduced a dual identity and a new layer of governance that often clashed with local traditions, further complicating loyalties and creating a fragmented political landscape.
[38] The Wars of Scottish Independence played a key role in this transformation of the Borders, fostering and forcing a growing sense of national belonging that extended across social, cultural and linguistic groups.
[24] The pervasive tradition of cattle raiding and endemic violence in the Border region appears to have roots that extend deep into its history, suggesting that such practices have long been an intrinsic part of the area's cultural and social fabric.
This distinction aligns with the historical role of the Borders as a cultural and geographical transitional zone and is consistent with the region's heritage, tracing back to the Brythonic-speaking kingdoms of Gododdin and Rheged.
[69] Laws of the Marches, or Leges Marchiarum, first formally codified in 1249, offers a significant insight into the long-standing legal and social structures designed to manage the unique challenges of the Anglo-Scottish Border.
The term was first recorded in 1313, when Richard de Kellawe, then Bishop of Durham, requested to be excused from levying any money from the goods of the parson of Whickham, citing the damage caused by "Schavadours and plunderers."
[5] Following the defeat of Edward Balliol at the Battle of Halidon Hill in 1333, the Kingdom of England expanded its territory to include much of southern Scotland, and deprioritised the governance and defence of the traditional Anglo-Scottish Border region.
However, this miscalculation left the original border region increasingly lawless, as local governance systems were abandoned, and the territory to the north remained de facto under Scottish resistance and control.
[7] It was during this time we see the emergence of English border magnates like the Nevilles, Cliffords, and Dacres, as well as an emergent lower gentry such as the Musgraves, Herons, Scropes, and later still, the Eures, Mitfords, Ogles, and Moresbys, who would come to fill key positions along the English Borders, including Sheriff, Justice of the Peace, March Wardens, Keepers of Tynedale and Redesdale, Captains of Berwick and Carlisle, and other vital military and administrative roles responsible for the defence and governance of this volatile frontier region.
The Percys first rebelled against King Henry IV during the early 15th century, joining forces with Owain Glyndŵr and Edmund Mortimer in the Tripartite Indenture, a plan to divide England and Wales between them.
[88] In 1495, the pretender to the English crown, Perkin Warbeck became a guest of James IV and raids resumed on both sides of the Border with renewed intensity, disrupting the fragile peace established earlier.
[13] A particularly notable intra-national warfare episode occurred during just preceding the death of Henry VII in 1509, when a dispute over harbour dues between the municipality of Newcastle and the Prior of Tynemouth escalated into outright violence.
[95] Sometime between 1500,[91] 1501,[91] 1503,[96][91] 1508,[91][11] 1509[97]or 1511,[87] John "the Bastard" Heron, the illegitimate son of a minor Border lord, murdered Robert Ker of Caverton (of the Cessford branch),[98] Warden of the Middle March,[87] a prominent Scottish noble and close ally of King James IV.
[87] On the 18th August, Catherine of Aragon, Queen of England, signed an official pardon for John "the Bastard" Heron, for his murder of Robert Ker of Cessford, a Scottish Warden of the Middle March.
[102] Heron later played a crucial role in the battle, guiding the English army under the Earl of Surrey to a strategic position north of the Scottish forces and reportedly witnessing the burning of his family’s castle en route.
[11][102] The heyday of the Border Reivers began in the aftermath of the Battle of Flodden in 1513, as the devastation of Scotland’s leadership and the instability of the Anglo-Scottish Borderlands led to an era of intensified raiding and lawlessness.
[87] Dacre, reportedly acting under the direction of Cardinal Wolsey and King Henry VIII, paid Scottish surnames to conduct raids into Scotland while simultaneously entertaining factions opposed to the Angus regency.
[124][125][126] This period was bookended im 1530 by the coming of age of James V, who sought to assert royal authority over the Borders by imprisoning, and in some cases executing, leading figures he perceived as threats to his kingdom.
[140] The conflict known as the Rough Wooing — lasting from 1542 to 1551 — refers to Henry VIII's military and diplomatic campaign aimed at coercing the leading Scottish nobility into agreeing to a marriage between his infant son Edward and the young Mary, Queen of Scots.
[174][5][175] On the English side of the Border, it was not uncommon for tenancy agreements to stipulate that, rather than providing labor or agricultural produce, tenants were required to contribute military service, offering their fighting strength in lieu of traditional rents.
[183] The Borderers had an extensive knowledge of the terrain, including hidden routes and river fords, which allowed them to navigate the region efficiently and evade pursuit even in rough weather.
At the Battle of Pinkie Cleugh in 1547, an observer (William Patten) noticed Scottish and English borderers chatting with each other, then putting on a spirited show of combat once they knew they had been spotted.
These names may have reflected an alternative sexuality - as we understand it today or held layered meanings tied to identity, humor, or camaraderie within the close-knit, often male-dominated culture of the Border Reivers.
Author George MacDonald Fraser wryly observed or imagined Border traits and names among controversial people in modern American history: Presidents Lyndon B. Johnson and Richard Nixon, among others.
Names of Reiver families are set into the paving of a walkway which connects Tullie House Museum to Carlisle Castle under a main road, and part of the bishop's curse is displayed on a 14-ton granite boulder.
