to enforce them corresponded in any degree with the good intentions of
those who framed them, there would have been a considerable change
produced in the affairs of the Border. But the truth is these so-called
statutes were but little better than mere "pious opinions," reflecting
credit on those responsible for them, but producing no impression, or next
to none, on the country. Not many years after the passing of these Acts we
find the Estates busy at work again passing measure after measure for the
quieting of the disordered subjects on the Borders, for the staunching of
theft and slaughter, and the punishment of "wicked thieves and limmers."
Things had gone from bad to worse. Every man's hand was against his
neighbour. Clan rose against clan; the Scotts and the Kerrs, the Maxwells
and Johnstones, were constantly embroiled in petty warfare, the results
of which, however, were sometimes most disastrous. "The broken
men"--Graemes, Armstrongs, Bells, and other inhabitants of the Debateable
land--finding it either unsafe or inconvenient to commit such frequent
"herschips" on the English border, betook themselves with all their
accustomed enthusiasm to the plundering of their Scottish neighbours. They
are described as "delighting in all mischief, and maist unnaturally and
cruelly wasting and destroying, harrying and slaying, their own
neighbours." The Privy Council at last determined to deal with these
matters, and arranged to sit on the first day of every month in the year
for this purpose. Trial and injunction was to be taken of the diligence
done in the execution of things directed the month preceding, and of
things necessary and expedient to be put in execution during the next
month to come, and that a special register be kept of all that shall
happen to be done and directed in matters concerning the quietness and
good rule of the Borders. But to make assurance doubly sure it was also
ordained at the same time that all landlords and bailies of the lands,
should find sufficient caution and surety, under pain of rebellion, to
bring all persons guilty of "reife, theft, receipt of theft, depredations,
open and avowed fire-raisings, upon deadly feud, protected and maintained
by their masters," before "our sovereign lord's Justice," to underlie the
law for the same. Failing their doing so, the landlords and bailies were
bound to satisfy the party skaithed, and to refund, content, and pay to
them their "herschips and skaithes." And further, the chief of the clan,
in the bounds where "broken men" dwell, and to which "broken men" repair
in their passing to steal and reive, or returning therefrom, shall be
bound to make the like stay and arrestment, and publication as the
landlords or bailies, and be subject to the like redress, criminal and
civil, in case of their failure and negligence. In addition to the
foregoing ordinances, it was resolved that all Captains, Chiefs, and
Chieftains of the clans, dwelling on the lands of divers landlords, shall
enter pledges for those over whom they exercise authority, upon fifteen
days' notice, before his Highness and his secret Council, said pledges to
be placed as his Highness shall deem convenient--"for the good rule in
time coming, according to the conditions above written whereunto the
landlords and bailies are subject; under the pain of the execution of the
said pledges to the death, and no redress made by the persons offended for
whom the pledges lie."
We also learn from another Act of Parliament, passed at the same time,
that all pledges received for the good rule and quietness of the Border
shall be placed on the north side of the water of Forth, without exception
or dispensation; and the pledges for the good rule of the Highlands and
Isles, to be placed on the south side of the same water of Forth.
But one of the most extraordinary Acts passed by this Parliament was an
Act forbidding the Scottish Borderers to marry the daughters of the
"broken men" or thieves of England, as it was declared this was "not only
a hindrance to his Majesty's service and obedience, but also to the common
peace and quietness betwixt both the Realms." It was therefore statute and
ordained "that nane of the subjects presume to take upon hand to marrie
with onie English woman, dwelling in the opposite Marches, without his
Highness' express licence, had and obtained to that effect, under the
great Seal; under the paine of death, and confiscation of all his goods
moveable; and this be a special point of dittay in time cumming."
These enactments were doubtless well meant, and under ordinary
circumstances might have been expected to bring about beneficial results;
but unfortunately they were treated with callous indifference. No
improvement was effected. The "broken men" were not to be intimidated by
such measures. They laughed at Parliament, and scorned the laws. This is
brought out in the most conclusive manner in the records of the State
Paper Office, as we shall have occasion to point out in succeeding
chapters. But proof of another kind lies ready to hand. An Act of
Parliament was passed in 1593, just six years after those already noticed,
in which complaint is made of the rebellious contempt of his Highness'
subjects who, without regard of their dutiful obedience, pass daily to the
horn, "for not finding of law surety;" and "for not subscribing of
assurances in matter of feud," and for "dinging and stricking his
Majesty's messengers," in execution of their offices. Notice is also taken
of some who nightly and daily reive, foray, and commit open theft and
oppression: "for remead whereof, our said Sovereign Lord, ordains the Acts
and laws made before to be put to execution, and ratifies and approves the
same in all points." It was further ordained that no respite or remission
was to be granted at any time hereafter to any person or persons that pass
to the horn for "theft, reif, slauchter, burning or heir-shippe, while the
party skaithed be first satisfied; and gif ony respite or remission shall
happen to be granted, before the partie grieved be first satisfied, the
samin shall be null and of nane avail, be way of exception or reply,
without any further declaritour; except the saidis remissiones and
respittes be granted, for pacifying of the broken Countries and
Borders."[17]
These may be regarded as fair samples of the long list of measures passed
at different times by the Scottish Parliament for the regulation of
Border affairs during the reign of the Jameses. In reading them one is
forcibly reminded of a remark made by one of the English wardens, that
"things were very tickle on the Scottish Border." No respect was paid to
the law, either by the Chiefs or their clansmen. In the preface to Cary's
Memoirs, these Scottish Borderers are described as "equalling the Caffirs
in the trade of stealing, and the Hottentots in ignorance and brutality."
This savage indictment is borne out by Sir William Bowes who, in a letter
to Burghley in the year 1593--nearly forty years after the
Reformation--thus writes:--"The opposite wardens and officers being always
Borderers bred and dwelling there, also cherish favourites and strengthen
themselves by the worst disposed, to support their factions. And as they
are often changed by the King for their misdemeanours, the new man always
refuses to answer for attempts before his time. Cessford the warden cannot
answer for the whole Middle March, but must seek to Fernihirst for one
part, and Buccleuch for Teviotdale.
"_Execrable murders are constantly committed_, whereof 4 new complaints
were made to the lords in the few days they were here, and 3 others this
month in Atholstonmoor. The gentlemen of the Middle March recount out of
their memories nearly 200 Englishmen, miserably murdered by the Scots,
since the tenth year of her Majesty's reign, for which no redress hath at
all been made.... I have presumed to testify this much to your lordship
more tediously than I should; yet will be ready to do more particularly,
if you direct me. Praying you to receive from some other, equally heedful
of truth--and in meantime trusting you will cover my name from undeserved
offence--I pray God to make you an instrument under our gracious sovereign
to cure the aforesaid gangrene thus noisomely molesting the foot of this
kingdom."[18]
This "gangrene" was of long standing, and as we shall find was not to be
easily eradicated.
But while poverty,--largely due to circumstances over which the people had
no control,--and lawlessness,--the result of the inherent weakness of the
central government,--had much to do in creating that condition of affairs
on the Borders which we have briefly described, there were other and
perhaps more potent causes which demand consideration. Foremost among
these was the almost entire absence of the restraints and sanctions of
religion. In one of the Acts of Parliament already noticed it is
significantly declared that one of the principal causes of the lawlessness
of the Borders was that "they had neither the fear of God nor man." To
those familiar with certain phases of Border history this may appear
somewhat anomalous. At an early period in the religious life of Scotland
this district was brought under the influence of the Evangel by St. Aidan
and St. Cuthbert. That the work of these missionaries was signally
successful, is shown in the large number of churches planted all over the
Borderland. After the time of Queen Margaret, whose influence in certain
directions was almost marvellously potent, the great religious houses of
the Borders rose in rapid succession, such as Melrose, Kelso, and
Jedburgh, each a centre and source of religious and social wellbeing. The
moral life of the people, notwithstanding the existence of such beneficent
institutions, may have been of an indifferent character; but what the
state of matters might have been, had those places, and what they
represented, never been in existence at all, it is impossible to conceive.
It was a true instinct which led the people to regard the Abbey of
Haddington as the "Lamp of the Lothians." And the same designation might
have been applied with equal appropriateness to every Abbey in the
country. Those places for many generations represented all that was
highest and best in the thought and life of Mediaevalism. Here law and
order were supreme. Round those religious houses industrial, orderly
communities sprang up, whose influence was felt throughout the length and
breadth of the land. The Monasteries may deserve all that was said of
them in later times, but, throughout a considerable period of their
history, their influence was almost wholly beneficial. Scotland owes much
to them, and there is no reason why the fact should not be generously
recognised. It is no doubt true that, for some considerable time before
the Reformation, those great institutions had sadly degenerated. "Jeshurun
waxed fat and kicked." The time came when they had, perforce, to yield to
those disintegrating processes which usually herald the advent of reform.
The old order changeth. The new wine of a democratic Protestantism, in
which the claims of the individual, his right to think for himself, and
form his own judgments, are prominent ingredients, agreed but
indifferently with the old bottles of an earlier Faith and Polity. And so
the Monasteries disappeared.
But it was long ere the new light of the Reformation made itself
practically felt on the Borders. When the influences which had hitherto
been so potent ceased to operate, a condition of religious and moral chaos
supervened. Hundreds of churches were left without ministers. Whole
districts practically lapsed into barbarism. For at least fifty years
after the Reformation, the Scottish Borders were to all intents and
purposes out-with the influence of the Church. Even as late as the
Covenanting period their condition had not greatly improved. "We learn,"
says Sir Walter Scott, "from a curious passage in the life of Richard
Cameron, a fanatical preacher during what is called the time of
'persecution,' that some of the Borderers retained till a late period
their indifference about religious matters. After having been licensed at
Haughead, in Teviotdale, he was, according to his biographer, sent first
to preach in Annandale. 'He said, How can I go there? I know what sort of
people they are.' But Mr Welch said, 'Go your way, Ritchie, and set the
fire of hell to their tails.' He went, and the first day he preached on
the text--_How shall I put thee among the children, &c._ In the
application he said, 'Put you among the children! the offspring of thieves
and robbers! we have all heard of Annandale thieves.' Some of them got a
merciful cast that day, and told afterwards that it was the first field
meeting they had ever attended, and that they went out of mere curiosity,
to see a minister preach in a tent, and people sit on the ground."[19]
During the period of religious decadence, prior to the Reformation, a
remarkable custom, not unknown elsewhere, prevailed on the Borders. Owing
to the scarcity of clergymen, especially in the Vales of Ewes, Esk, and
Liddle, the rites of the church were only intermittently celebrated, a
circumstance which gave rise to what was known as _Hand-fasting_. Loving
couples who met at fairs and other places of public resort agreed to live
together for a certain period, and if, when the _book-a-bosom_ man, as the
itinerant clergyman was called, came to pay his yearly visit to the
district, they were still disposed to remain in wedlock they received the
blessing of the church; but if it should happen that either party was
dissatisfied, then the union might be terminated, on the express
condition, however, that the one desiring to withdraw should become
responsible for the maintenance of the child, or children, which may have
been born to them. "The connection so formed was binding for one year
only, at the expiration of which time either party was at liberty to
withdraw from the engagement, or in the event of both being satisfied the
'hand-fasting' was renewed for life. The custom is mentioned by several
authors, and was by no means confined to the lower classes, John Lord
Maxwell and a sister of the Earl of Angus being thus contracted in January
1577."[20]
IV.
RAIDS AND FORAYS.
"Then forward bound both horse and hound,
And rattle o'er the vale;
As the wintry breeze through leafless trees
Drives on the pattering hail.
"Behind their course the English fells
In deepening blue retire;
Till soon before them boldly swells
The muir of dun Redswire."
LEYDEN.
To give anything like an adequate account of the various raids and forays,
on the one side of the Border and the other, would fill many volumes.
These raids, as we have already noticed, began at an early period, and
were carried on almost without intermission for at least three hundred
years. The Armstrongs and Elliots in Liddesdale, and many of the other
noted clans in Merse and Teviotdale, were "always riding." As an English
warden remarks in one of his despatches to the Government:--"They lie
still never a night"--a statement which may be accepted as literally true.
At some point or other along the Border line, invasions either on the
part of the Scots or English were constantly occurring. In this respect,
more especially during the reign of Queen Elizabeth, the Scots were
perhaps the principal offenders. But as a general rule their invasions,
though frequent, were on a comparatively small scale, partaking rather of
the nature of forays than of raids. They would hurriedly cross the Border
of an evening, drive together as many cattle or sheep as they could find,
and then hasten back with all possible speed to their own country.
Sometimes, if they were compelled to go a considerable distance inland,
they would hide during the day in some quiet glen, within the enemy's
territory, and then sally forth as soon as the moon lent her kindly aid,
and accomplish with the utmost expedition the task which had brought them
thither. It is said that these incursions were marked with the desire of
spoil rather than of slaughter, a statement which may be true so far as
forays generally are concerned, but which certainly does not apply to the
more important raids. These latter incursions were marked with every
element of ferocity and bloodshed. In some of the raids conducted by
Cessford and Buccleuch, in the 15th century, in Redesdale and Tynedale,
many lives were sacrificed, and all who offered resistance were put to the
sword. Hertford, Wharton, and others, in their raids upon the Scottish
Border seemed often more intent on shedding blood than securing booty.
The statement that these incursions were marked with a desire of spoil
rather than bloodshed must therefore be accepted _cum grano salis_.
It would seem that the season of year most favourable to reiving was
between Michaelmas and Martinmas. The reason of this is not difficult to
discover. The reivers in their expeditions hardly ever went on foot. They
rode small hackneys--hardy, well-built animals--on which they cantered
over hill and dale, moor and meadow, a circumstance which gained for them
the name of _hobylers_. In the late autumn the moors and mosses were drier
than at any other season of the year, which made riding, in certain
districts especially, a much more easy and expeditious undertaking. Then
the winter supply had to be secured. The beef tub required replenishing,
and as the "mart" was rarely ever fed at home it had to be sought for
elsewhere. It was a case of all hands to work, and every available horse
or rider was brought into requisition.
Leslie has given a graphic description of the methods adopted by the
Border reivers to secure their booty. Everything was gone about in the
most orderly and deliberate manner. He says that the reivers never told
their beads with so much devotion as when they were setting out on a
marauding expedition, and expected a good booty as a recompense of their
devotion! "They sally out of their own borders in troops, through
unfrequented ways and many intricate windings. In the day time they
refresh themselves and their horses in lurking places they had pitched on
before, till they arrive in the dark at those places they have a design
upon. As soon as they have seized upon their booty, they, in like manner,
return home in the night; through blind ways and fetching many a compass.
The more skilful any captain is to pass through these wild deserts,
crooked turnings, and deep precipices, in the thickest mists and darkness,
his reputation is the greater, and he is looked upon as a man of an
excellent head, and they are so very cunning, that they seldom have their
booty taken from them, unless sometimes, when by the help of bloodhounds,
following them exactly upon the track, they may chance to fall into the
hands of their adversaries. When being taken they have so much persuasive
eloquence, and so many smooth and insinuating words at command, that if
they do not move their judges, nay and even their adversaries, to have
mercy, yet they incite them to admiration and compassion."
Such a skilful "Captain," as is here referred to, was the famous Hobbie
Noble, who terminated his adventurous career in "Merrie Carlisle," where
so many famous freebooters, at one time or other, have paid the last
penalty of the law. Speaking of himself, he says:--
"But will ye stay till the day gae down,
Until the night come o'er the ground,
And I'll be a guide worth ony twa
That may in Liddisdale be found!
"Though the night be dark as pick and tar,
I'll guide ye o'er yon hill sae hie;
And bring ye a' in safety back,
If ye'll be true and follow me."
But the skill of the leader of the foray was not always sufficient to
bring his followers safely back to their homes and families. When the
bloodhounds were put on the track it was often a matter of the greatest
difficulty for the thieves to elude their pursuers.
"The russet bloodhound wont, near Annand's stream,
To trace the sly thief with avenging foot
Close as an evil conscience."
These useful animals were kept at different points along the Border, and
as they rendered most important services, we are not surprised to learn
that a good sleuth-hound often sold as high as a hundred crowns.
It may be interesting, before proceeding to give an account of some of the
more famous raids, to glance briefly at the manner in which the raiders
were armed and accoutred for the fray. Froissart has given the following
account of the Scottish Borderers, and Scottish soldiers generally, as
they appeared towards the close of the fourteenth century. "The Scots," he
says, "are bold, hardy, and much inured to war. When they make their
invasions into England, they march from twenty to four-and-twenty leagues
without halting, as well by night as by day; for they are all on
horseback, except the camp followers, who are on foot. The knights and
esquires are mounted on large bay horses, the common people on little
Galloways. They bring no carriages with them, on account of the mountains
they have to pass in Northumberland; neither do they carry with them any
provisions of bread and wine, for the habits of sobriety are such in time
of war that they will live a long time on flesh half sodden, without
bread, and drink the river water without wine. They have therefore no
occasion for pots or pans, for they dress the flesh of their cattle in the
skins after they have taken them off; and being sure to find plenty of
them in the country which they invade, they carry none with them. Under
the flaps of his saddle each man carries a broad plate of metal, behind
the saddle a little bag of oatmeal. When they have eaten too much of the
sodden flesh, and their stomach appears weak and empty, they place this
plate over the fire, mix with water their oatmeal, and when the plate is
heated they put a little of the paste upon it and make a thin cake like a
cracknel or biscuit, which they eat to warm their stomachs; it is
therefore no wonder they perform a longer day's march than other soldiers.
In this manner the Scots entered England, destroying and burning
everything as they passed. They seized more cattle than they knew what to
do with. Their army consisted of four thousand men at arms, knights, and
esquires, well mounted, besides twenty thousand men, bold and hardy, armed
after the manner of their country, and mounted upon little hackneys that
are never tied up or dressed, but are turned immediately after the day's
march to pasture on the heath or in the field."[21]
It may be said that this description--which, it may be remarked, is as
graphic in outline as it is minute in detail--applies rather to the
regular army than to those undisciplined marauding bands which infested
the Borders, and to which the name "reivers" or "mosstroopers" is usually
assigned. This is no doubt true. At the same time, it must not be
forgotten that many of the more important raids were undertaken by large
bodies of troops, numbering sometimes three or four thousand men. This
much at least is certain that the Border reiver was always well mounted,
and well armed with lance or spear, which, on occasion, he could use with
much dexterity and skill. With a steel cap on his head, a jack slung over
his shoulders, a pistol or hagbut at his belt, he was ever ready for the
fray, and prepared to give or take the hardest blows. He was naturally
fond of fighting. Like Dandie Dinmont's terriers he never could get enough
of it, and must have found life peculiarly irksome when he was compelled
to desist from his favourite pastime. He lived in the saddle, and was as
unaccustomed to the ordinary occupations of the world as the wild Arab of
the desert.
Even to enumerate the raids and forays on the one side or the other, of
which some record has been left either in the Histories of the two
Kingdoms, or in the archives of the State Paper Office, would be an almost
endless task, and moreover would serve no really useful purpose. The
details of the "burnings," "herschips," and "slaughters," which were the
necessary concomitants of these invasions, are much the same in all cases.
It is a dreary tale of theft and oppression, bloodshed and murder. The
following incidents may be taken as fairly illustrative examples.
During the reign of Henry VIII. the relations between the two kingdoms
were often of a most unsatisfactory and unsettled character. This was due
to a variety of causes, partly political and partly religious. The same
difficulties cropped up in the subsequent reigns of Edward, Mary, and
Elizabeth, and the consequence was that war clouds were ever hanging, dark
and threatening, on the horizon. The mutual antagonism between the two
countries fostered the raiding tendencies of both kingdoms. The Scots were
intent on despoiling their more wealthy neighbours, and the English never
missed an opportunity of humiliating and crippling their ancient foes.