Border Reivers

At one time in the ancient past in Nicholforest, theft, raids and murder were everyday occurrences. There was no law in what was called the debatable land and Border people had to be very tough. The land was dominated by the sword and even priests carried weapons.

  No one living in this area would have felt safe in a time when families were fighting families. Both in England and Scotland, people had to survive in this harsh and hostile environment. At night, there was no shelter strong enough to keep out the marauding men on horseback. Imagine families in their homes listening to the thunder of hooves getting closer and closer. Father’s and sons ready to fight to protect their families and all hoping the riders would pass them by without disturbing their peace.

  The Bishop of Ross described border inhabitants of the 16th century as people who were basically a law unto themselves. They “assumed to themselves the greatest habits of license.” In times of war, they would be reduced to extreme poverty because of daily attacks by their enemy. In times of peace, they entirely neglected to tend their lands. Why bother growing anything if this might be completely destroyed through new hostilities? They would therefore “seek their subsistence” through robberies or by plundering and as this was life as they knew it, they did not concern themselves much about whether it was from the Scottish or English side of the Border that they raided.

  There was fighting (or feuds) between families on the same side of the Border and across the border. Marriage across the Border could result in the death penalty but such unions did occur … regularly. This provided a dual nationality. Armstrongs, Elliots and Johnstons could be found among the English and the Scots and a Border Official, Thomas Musgrave, described the Reivers as “People what will be Scottishe when they will and English at their pleasure.”
  Inhabitants could be actively occupied in a number of feuds involving families from either side of the border. When a man was killed, all his relatives would get drawn into a feud with the family who had committed the murder. Most feuds were English against English or Scots against Scots. Some did cross over the border but it was feared that such feuds might lead to a full-scale war between England and Scotland.
  There were truce days called along the Border when Wardens of both sides met to redress their grievances. Kershopefoot was one such place, where, on truce days, villagers from both sides of the Border would meet to take part in the trading.

  There was also pattern to the reiving, depending upon the season. In the autumn, for instance, when the nights were long, cattle was stolen, houses raided and people killed. In the spring and summer, there wasn’t as much reiving going on because crops were being sown and cattle and sheep raised. Reivers moved about a lot, their dwellings, “makeshift,” and could be erected within hours. Houses were made of clay and stones and turf sods with roofs of thatch and turf.
  Reivers plotted their raids very carefully, preparing themselves for all possibilities. Their objective was clear: to raid, plunder, and destroy if necessary and to return home with loot and skin intact. Both sides of the Border had a network of beacons situated on towers and hillside, which gave warning of approaching raiders. The Reivers were at their most vulnerable when returning home from a raid, laden with loot and driving herds of cattle and sheep. They never returned the way they’d come and there were forty passes into the English Middle March.