A charcoal drawing of what the castle probably looked like

The story about the Anglo-Scot border is not covered extensively by English or Welsh history books I am exposed to, but we learned in World History that Roman General Hadrian built a wall coast to coast across England to stop the vicious border people from raiding England.

Many authors aside from historians wrote about border people, usually in terms of romance stapled with old legends of ancient heroes.

Some of those comments are provided herein by Researcher, Linda Merle

EXURPTS: by Linda Merle

The classic book on the border Reivers is the "Steel Bonnets". I got "The Illustrated Border Ballads" book by John Marsden. FANTASTIC photos. It has one of an old stone in the wall of Mangerton Tower. Some info: Seme Armstrong, Lord of Mangerton, marryed John Foster's daughter of Kyrsope Foot and hath by her issue -- from Thomas Musgraves "Report on the Border Riders", July 1583."

Shepherd Poet James Hogg around 1830 wrote about the border wars:

"Lock the Door, Lariston, lion of Liddesdale, Lock the door Lariston, Lowther comes on, The Armstrongs are flying, their widows are crying, Castletown's burning and Oliver's gone.....";

"Lock the door, Lariston, high on the wather gleam See how the Saxon plumes bob on the sky, Yeoman and carbinier, Billman and halberdier; Fierce is the foray and far is the cry."

Etc...the poet is James Hogg the shepherd-poet of the border country, 1830's.

Scott wrote of them in "Redgauntlet": "Ye ken the place they call the beef-stand, where the Annandalle loons used to put their stolen cattle in there? Ye must have seen it as ye came this way; it looks as though four hills were laying their heads together, to shut out the daylight from the dark, a hollow space between them. A deep, black, blackguard looking abyss of a hole it is...."

In the "Border Papers" for 1893: "The inhabitants of Tyndale against William Elliot of Lawreston, Martin Elliot of Bradley, Laird of Mangerton, and William Armstrong called Kynmott and 1000 horsemen for taking 1005 head of nolt, 1000 sheep and goats, 24 horses and meares, burning an onset and mill, and taking insight worth 300 pounds stering, done 6th October, 1593" (P 17).

Some detail -- and photos of the location of the Battle of Otterburn 1388. It produced the earliest balladry. Froissart tells us in his Chronicles: "In threescore year before there was not assembled together in Scotland such a number of good men, numbered were twelve hundred spears and forty thousand men beside with their archers....They said they would never again into their own houses till they had been into England and done such deeds there that it be spoken of for twenty year after. And they assigned a day to meet at church called Zedon. You can view that same churchyard in the book where they stacked the English dead.

I don't know why they say it is "bleak" -------- it looks beautiful to me, but then my ancestors are from that area so I may be partial.

I was reading Scott's Rob Roy last week -- it was hysterical. I hadn't caught before that the name of the highland widow who operates that awful "inn" was surnamed McAlpin!

Different sources of history disagree on just how many reiver clans there were, but it seems certain that they numbered in excess of one hundred. Where they all originated from is far from clear. Some names seem derived from Vikings, others look to be Norman and still others seem related to Anglo-Saxon English.

This list of reiver names was provided by Richard Bradley. According to Richard, original spelling and punctuation remains as found. Those of you listers who count the Scots-Irish plantationers among your ancestors may find something to laugh about here.

Non corrected original 1600s style spelling

"A Note of the gentlemen and surnames of the Marches of England and Scotland, dated July, 1583:"

EAST MARCHE: ENGLAND, gentlemen:- Forsters, Selbies, Graies, Strowders,
Swiners, Mustains; surnames - Johnsons, Vardes, Ourdes, Wallises, Stories, Flukes,
Armstrongs, Dunnes.

SCOTLAND SIDE:, gentlemen - Humes, Trotters, Bromfields, Dixons, Craws, Crinstons.
MIDDLE MARCHE: ENGLAND, gentelmen - Ogeles, Fenickes, Hernes, Withringtons, Medfords, Shafters, Ridlies, Carnabies. Surnames - Ridesdale-Halls, Hedleys, Milburns, Andersons, Potts, Reades, Dunnes, Tindale-Charletons, Dodds, Millborns, Stapletons, Robsons, Yaroes.

SCOTLAND SIDE: gentlemen; East Tividale - Carrs, Yongs, Pringles, Burnes, Tattes, Davisons, Gillcries; Liddesdale-Rudderfords, Carrs, Dowglasses, Trombles, S(c)ottes,  Piles, Robsons, Halls, Olivers, Ladlers, Armestongs, Elwoods (Elliots), Nixons, Crosers, Turners, Fosters.

WEST MARCHE: ENGLAND, gentlemen - Musgraves, Loders, Curwenes, Sawfelde; Surnames - Greames, Rutlitches, Armestrongs, Fosters, Nixons, Tailors, Stories.

SCOTLAND SIDE: Maxwells, Johnsons, Urwins, Grames, Bells, Carlills, Battison, Litles, Carruders."

More Border Clanns

Added by Linda Merle:

To the west march Add:

BELLs, CARLISLES, CARRUTHERS, BEATTIE, ELLIOT, HENDERSON, OLIVER, LAIDLAW, ROBSON, HAIR, CROSERS, KERR.

Middle March: TURNBULL, ELLIOT, DOUGLASS, RUTHEFORD, CHRICHTON, HOGGS, HAYS, TELFERS. He has TWEEDIE up near Hangshaw...

English side of the west marches:

GRAHAMs, STOREY, FORSTER, NOBLE, ROUTLEDGES, MUSGRAVE, MILBURN, BELL , DACRE, CARELTON, SALKELD, RIDLEY, OGLES, WOODRINGTON, FENWICK, DOBBS.

Some riding clans eventually took an oath to the British Crown. As their reward, their lands were protected. Some heads of households were named, "Wardens" of the Marches. Hated Warden Dacre was one of those traitors who's families did not survive.

---

The riding clans caused so much trouble for so many people that their Bishop put a curse upon them . This curse, sometimes called the, Mother of all Curses was pronounced upon the riding clans by the Archbishop of Glasgow.

You have to read it to believe it. Boy was he pissed. GOTO THE BISHOP'S CURSE

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