inhabitants along the whole Border line from Berwick to the Solway, yet it
was only in the district known as Liddesdale where it attained, what we
might designate, its complete development as a thoroughly organized
system. This part of Roxburghshire is, to a certain extent, detached from
the rest of the county by reason of the fact that it lies south of the
range of hills which form the watershed between the Solway and the German
Ocean. This picturesque and interesting district, so famous in Border song
and story, is of a somewhat triangular shape, and at present forms one of
the largest parishes in the south of Scotland, measuring some twenty miles
by fourteen. It is bounded by England on the south, by Dumfriesshire on
the west, and by the parishes of Teviothead, Hobkirk, and Southdean on
the north. The upper, or northern, portion is mountainous and bleak. Some
of the hills along its boundaries are high and precipitous, the lofty
peaks of Millenwood Fell and Windhead attaining an elevation of close on
2000 feet. Tudhope hill, which forms a landmark for ships at sea, is 1830
feet high. The lower end of the district is less mountainous, but the
whole country is wild and bare, except in the valleys, which are clothed
in the richest green, and are sunny and sheltered.
Along the banks of the Hermitage and the Liddle--the latter stream giving
its name to the district--the keeps and peels of the Border reivers were
thickly and picturesquely planted. These towers, many of which have been
happily preserved, form one of the most striking features of the Border
landscape. As a general rule they were built in some situation of great
natural strength, on a precipice, or close to the banks of a stream, or
surrounded by woods and morasses, which made them difficult of access. The
position in which they were generally placed indicated at a glance the
pursuits and apprehensions of their inhabitants. It is said that when
James VI. approached the castle of Lochwood, the ancient seat of the
Johnstones, he exclaimed that "the man who built it must have been a knave
in his heart."
The principal part of these strongholds consisted of a large square tower,
called a "keep," having walls of immense thickness, which could be easily
defended against any sudden or desultory assault. The residencies of the
inferior Chiefs, called "peels" or "bastel-houses," were generally built
on a much smaller scale, and consisted merely of a high square tower,
surrounded by an outer wall, which served as a protection for cattle at
night. In these places the rooms were placed, one above the other, and
connected by a narrow stair, which was easily blocked up or defended, so
that it was possible for the garrison to hold out for a considerable
period, even after the lower storey had been taken possession of by the
enemy. In such circumstances the usual device was for the assailants to
heap together quantities of wetted straw, and set fire to it in order to
drive the defenders from storey to storey, and thus compel them to
surrender.
"In each village or town," says Sir Walter Scott, "were several small
towers having battlements projecting over the side walls, and usually an
advanced angle or two, with shot-holes for flanking the doorway, which was
always defended by a strong door of oak, studded with nails, and often by
an interior door of iron. These small peel-houses were ordinarily
inhabited by the principal feuars and their families. Upon the alarm of
approaching danger, the whole inhabitants thronged from their miserable
cottages, which were situated around, to garrison these places of
defence. It was then no easy matter for an hostile party to penetrate into
the village, for the men were habituated to the use of bow and fire-arms;
and the towers being generally so placed that the discharge from one
crossed that from another, it was impossible to assault any of them
individually."
In the middle of the sixteenth century there were no fewer than sixteen of
these bastel-houses in the village of Lessudden, a fact which shows that
the inhabitants of the Border were compelled to live under somewhat
peculiar conditions. To follow the ordinary occupations of life was, in
most cases, all but impossible.
One of the most important strongholds on the Borders was Hermitage, a
well-built castle, placed near the watershed, on the banks of a
swift-flowing mountain stream--the Hermitage water, which joins the Liddle
a little above the village of Newcastleton. This famous Border tower was
built and fortified by Walter, Earl of Menteith, in the beginning of the
thirteenth century. It was a royal fortress, built and maintained for the
defence of the Kingdom. Numerous interesting associations cluster around
its mouldering walls. It has, unhappily, been the scene of many a
blood-curdling tragedy. Could its massive walls only recount the deeds
which have been done under their shadow, they would many a strange tale
unfold. Hermitage was long associated with the name of Lord Soulis, a
fiend in human form, whose crimes have been painted in blackest hues, and
to whom tradition has ascribed almost every conceivable kind and degree of
wickedness. He seems, at least, to have been utterly destitute of the
divine quality of mercy.
"The axe he bears, it hacks and tears;
'Tis form'd of an earth-fast flint;
No armour of knight, tho' ever so wight,
Can bear its deadly dint.
No danger he fears, for a charm'd sword he wears,
Of adderstone the hilt;
No Tynedale knight had ever such might,
But his heart-blood was spilt."
He invited the young laird of Mangerton to a feast, and treacherously
murdered him. The "Cout of Keeldar," also, was drowned by the retainers of
Lord Soulis in a pool near the castle, being held down in the water by the
spears of his murderers.
"And now young Keeldar reach'd the stream,
Above the foamy linn;
The Border lances round him gleam,
And force the warrior in.
The holly floated to the side,
And the leaf on the rowan pale;
Alas! no spell could charm the tide,
Nor the lance of Liddesdale.
Swift was the Cout o' Keeldar's course
Along the lily lee;
But home came never hound nor horse,
And never home came he.
Where weeps the birch with branches green,
Without the holy ground,
Between two old gray stones is seen
The warrior's ridgy mound.
And the hunters bold, of Keeldar's train,
Within yon castle's wall,
In a deadly sleep must aye remain,
Till the ruin'd towers down fall.
Each in his hunter's garb array'd,
Each holds his bugle horn;
Their keen hounds at their feet are laid
That ne'er shall wake the morn."
Tradition says that, when the people complained to the King of the
atrocities committed by Lord Soulis, he said to them in a fit of
irritation--"Go, boil Lord Soulis and ye list, but let me hear no more of
him." No sooner said than done--
"On a circle of stones they placed the pot,
On a circle of stones but barely nine;
They heated it red and fiery hot,
Till the burnish'd brass did glimmer and shine.
They roll'd him up in a sheet of lead,
A sheet of lead for a funeral pall;
They plunged him in the cauldron red,
And melted him, lead, and bones and all.
At the Skelfhill, the cauldron still
The men of Liddesdale can show;
And on the spot where they boil'd the pot
The spreat and the deer-hair ne'er shall grow."
At a place called the "Nine Stane Rig" there may still be seen a circle of
stones where it is supposed this gruesome tragedy was enacted. The
"cauldron red," in which Lord Soulis was boiled, is now in the possession
of the Duke of Buccleuch. The Nine Stane Rig derived its name from an old
Druidical circle of upright stones, nine of which remained to a late
period. Two of these are particularly pointed out as those that supported
the iron bar upon which the fatal cauldron was suspended.
The castle of Hermitage ultimately passed into the possession of the
Douglasses, and became the principal stronghold of the "Black Knight of
Liddisdale," a natural son of the good Lord James Douglas, the trusted
friend and companion of Bruce. In the year 1342 it was the scene of the
following terrible tragedy:
Sir Alexander Ramsay of Dalhousie, a brave and patriotic Scottish baron,
who had specially distinguished himself in the wars with England, was
appointed governor of the castle of Roxburgh and Sheriff of Teviotdale.
Douglas, who had formerly held the office of Sheriff, was enraged when he
heard what had occurred, and vowed revenge against Ramsay, his old
companion in arms. He came suddenly upon him with a strong party of his
vassals while he was holding his court in the church of Hawick. Ramsay,
suspecting no harm, invited Douglas to take a seat beside him. The
ferocious warrior, drawing his sword, rushed upon his victim, wounded him,
threw him across his horse, and carried him off to the remote and
inaccessible castle of Hermitage. There he was thrown into a dungeon, and
left to perish of hunger. It is said that his miserable existence was
prolonged for seventeen days by some particles of corn which fell from a
granary above his prison. Tytler, in commenting on this abominable crime,
justly remarks:--"It is a melancholy reflection that a fate so horrid
befell one of the bravest and most popular leaders of the Scottish nation,
and that the deed not only passed unrevenged, but that its perpetrator
received a speedy pardon, and was rewarded by the office which led to the
murder."
In later times Hermitage is chiefly associated with the names of Bothwell
and Buccleuch. It is still in the possession of the latter noble family,
and is one of the most interesting of all the old Border castles.
In the olden time Liddesdale was chiefly inhabited by two numerous and
powerful families--the Armstrongs and the Elliots. The laird of Mangerton
was the head of the former, and the laird of Redheugh of the latter. Both
families were, almost without exception, notorious freebooters. Reiving
was the business of their lives. They were inspired, if not with a noble,
at least with an overmastering enthusiasm for their nefarious calling.
They were strongly of opinion that all property was common by the law of
nature, and that the greatest thief was the man who had the presumption
to call anything his own! Might was right.
"They may take who have the power,
And they may keep who can."
It was, no doubt, a simple rule, but the consequences resulting from its
application were not always of an agreeable description.
It is said that the original name of the Armstrongs was _Fairbairn_, and
that the change of name was brought about by a curious incident. The King
on one occasion asked a Fairbairn to help him to mount his horse.
Stretching out his arm, he caught the King by the thigh, and lifted him
into his saddle. From henceforth he was known by the name of _Armstrong_.
The name "Elliot" has undergone considerable changes. It is spelled in
some of the older documents in at least seventy or eighty different ways,
the most common being Ellwood, Elwald, Elwand, Hellwodd, Halliot, Allat,
Elliot. It is remarkable that in many districts in the south of Scotland
the name is still pronounced "Allat," though this is one of the older
forms in which it appears.
The Elliots and Armstrongs and other inhabitants of Liddesdale attained an
unenviable notoriety. The picture which Maitland has drawn of these
"Liddesdale Limmers" may be here and there too highly coloured; yet those
who are most familiar with the facts of Border history will be the first
to admit that it is, on the whole, a fairly accurate description. It is
entitled, "A Complaynt against the Thieves of Liddesdale"--
"Of Liddesdale the common thieves,
Sae pertly steals now and reives,
That nane may keep
Horse, nolt, nor sheep
For their mischieves.
They plainly through the country rides,
I trow the mickle devil them guides,
Where they onset
Ay in their gait,
There is no yett,
Nor door them bides.
They leave richt nocht wherever they gae;
There can nae thing be hid them frae;
For gif men wald
Their houses hald,
Then wax they bald
To burn and slay.
They thieves hae near hand herrit hail,
Ettrick Forest and Lauderdale;
Now are they gane
To Lothiane,
And spares nane
That they will wail.
Bot common taking of blackmail,
They that had flesh, and bread, and ale,
Now are sae wrackit,
Made bare and naikit,
Fain to be slaikit,
With water caill.
They thieves that steals and turses[67] hame,
Ilk ane o' them has ane to-name,
Will i' the Laws,
Hab o' the Shaws,
To mak bare wa's
They think nae shame.
They spulyie puir men o' their packs,
They leave them nocht on bed or balks,[68]
Baith hen and cock,
With reel and rock,
The Laird's jock,
All with him taks.
They leave not spindle, spoon, nor speit,
Bed, blanket, bolster, sark, nor sheet,
John o' the Park
Rypes kist and ark;
For all sic wark
He is richt meet.
He is weel kenned, Jock o' the Syde--
A greater thief did never ride;
He never tires
For to break byres;
O'er muir and mires,
Ower guid ane guid.
Of stouth though now they come guid speed,
That nother of God or man has dread;
Yet or I dee,
Some shall them see
Hing on a tree,
While they be dead."
It is evident from this graphic account that these "Liddesdale limmers"
were not particular as to their booty. They carried off everything that
came to hand, on the principle, perhaps, that if they had no particular
use for some of the things they appropriated, they were at least leaving
their enemies poorer than when they found them. We read of one John Foster
of Heathpool, servant to Sir John Foster, complaining of John Elliot of
the Heughehouse, Clement Croser, "Martin's Clemye," John Croser, "Eddie's
John," Gib Foster of Fowlesheiles, &c., to the number of thirty, "who
stole six oxen, 6 kye, 4 young nowte, ane horse, a nag, a sword, a steil
cap, a dagger and knives, 2 spears, 2 dublets, 2 pair of breeches, a
cloke, a jerkyne, a woman's kertle and a pair of sleaves, 9 kerchers, 7
railes, 7 partlettes, 5 pair of line(n) sheitis, 2 coverlettes; 2 lynne
sheits; a purs and 6/- in monie; a woman's purs and 2 silke rybbons; a
windinge clothe; a feather bed; a cawdron, a panne, 4 bond of hempe, a
pair of wool cards, 4 children's coates, &c., &c."[69]
The list of goods here "appropriated" by John Elliot and his friends is an
interesting one, as it shows "that all was fish that came to their
net"--not even the "winding cloth" being discarded when ransacking the
house. We also find an account of one Robert Rutherford of Todlaw
producing a "remission for art and part of the theft of certain cuschies
of silk, sheits, fustiane, linen cloths, scarfs, fustiane, scarfs, and
other clothes, furth of the Kirk of Jedworthe--Robert Turnbull of
Blindhalche becoming surety to satisfy parties."[70] Sacrilege was of
frequent occurrence. We also find the following entry in
Pitcairn:--"Remission to Edward Tayt, for the thiftwise breking of the
Kirk of Hendirland, and takin away of certaine guids, gold and silver, fra
Sir Wilzeame Jurdane." This happened in the year 1493, which points to the
fact that at that date the church of Henderland, which stood on the
rounded eminence near Henderland farm house, where "Perys and Marjorie
Cockburn" have found their last resting place, was then in existence. This
place of worship must have disappeared about the time of the Reformation.
These items of information, curious though they may appear, must not be
regarded as abnormal instances of the rapacity of the Liddesdale thieves,
or "limmers"--to use the designation of an old Act of the Scottish
Parliament. They simply denote ordinary incidents of Border reiving.
"Kist" and "ark" were made to yield up their treasures. "Insight gear"
included everything to be found within the four walls of the house. The
very children were sometimes carried off! When the thieves had completed
their task those whom they had plundered were occasionally left in a state
of absolute destitution. They might congratulate themselves when they
were able to keep their clothes on their backs! Some, indeed, were not so
fortunate; and, after an encounter with the thieves, were compelled to
face the rigour of a severe climate with an exceedingly primitive outfit.
It is interesting to find that the clan system prevailed on the Borders,
especially in the south-west portion of the district. In Liddesdale, in
the district known as the Debateable land, and along the shores of the
Solway, the inhabitants were grouped into clans, many of them numerous and
powerful. According to Skene, "the word clan signifies children or
descendants, and the clan name thus implies that the members of it are, or
were supposed to be, descended from a common ancestor or eponymus, and
they were distinguished from each other by their patronymics, the use of
surnames in the proper sense of the term being unknown among them. These
patronymics, in the case of the _Caenncine_, or chief, and the
_Ceanntighs_, or heads of the smaller septs, indicated their descent from
the founder of the race or sept; those of the members of it who were of
the kin of the Chief or Chieftain showed the personal relation; while the
commonality of the clan simply used a derivative form of the name of the
clan, implying merely that they belonged to it."[71]
This form of government, so essentially patriarchal in its nature, is at
once the most simple and universal. It is derived from the most primitive
idea of authority exercised by a father over his family. Among nations of
a Celtic origin this system was universal. Indeed, it is generally held
that it is a system peculiar to Celtic tribes. How it came to be
established on the Borders is a question which is not easily solved. Sir
Walter Scott is of opinion that the system was originally derived from the
inhabitants of the western portion of Valentia, who remained unsubdued by
the Saxons, and by those of Reged, and the modern Cumberland. He says that
the system was not so universal on the eastern part of the Marches, or on
the opposite Borders of England. There were many families of distinction
who exercised the same feudal and territorial authority that was possessed
by other landlords throughout England. But in the dales of Rede and Tyne,
as well as in the neighbouring county of Cumberland, the ancient custom of
clanship prevailed, and consequently the inhabitants of those districts
acted less under the direction of their landlords than under that of the
principal men of their name.[72]
It is important that this fact should be kept steadily in mind, as the
mode of government, of living, and of making war, adopted by the Borderers
on both sides, seems to have been in great measure the consequence of the
prevailing system of clanship.
It is the simplest of all possible systems of government. The Chief was
not only the legislator and captain and father of the tribe, but it was to
him that each individual of the name looked up for advice, subsistance,
protection, and revenge.
In "Skene's Acts of Parliament" a Roll of the Border clans is given, from
which it would appear that there were SEVENTEEN distinct septs, or
families, mostly in the south-western portion of the Scottish Borders. The
_Middle March_ was inhabited by Elliots, Armstrongs, Nicksons, and
Crosiers. The _West March_ by Scotts, Beatisons, Littles, Thomsones,
Glendinnings, Irvinges, Belles, Carrutherses, Grahams, Johnstones,
Jardines, Moffettes, and Latimers. These clans are described as having
"Captaines, Chieftaines, quhome on they depend, oft-times against the
willes of their Landislordes." "Ilk ane o' them," according to Maitland,
had a to-name, or _nickname_, as it is commonly called now-a-days. This
was a matter of necessity, as otherwise it would have been exceedingly
difficult to distinguish the different members of the sept. These to-names
are often suggestive and amusing, as most of them are based on some
physical or moral peculiarity. In the year 1583 Thomas Musgrave sent an
interesting letter to Burghley, Chancellor to Queen Elizabeth, in which he
gives a list of the Armstrongs and Elliots. "I understand," he says, "that
your lordship is not well acquainted with the names of the waters, and
the dwelling places of the riders and ill-doers both of England and
Scotland.... May it please, therefore, your lordship to understand, that
the ryver Lyddal is a fayre ryver, and hath her course doun by Lyddisdall,
so as the dale hath the name of the ryver.... I shall therefore set downe
the Ellottes of the head of Lyddall as my skyll will afforde, that your
lordship may know the better when their deeds shall come in question. The
Ellotes of Lyddisdall:--Robin Ellot of the Redheugh, Chiefe of the
Ellottes; Will Ellot of Harskarth his brother; Gebbe Ellot his brother;
Adam Ellot of the Shaws; Arche Ellot called Fyre the brayes; Gybbe Ellot
of the Shawes; Gorth Simson; Martin Ellot called Rytchis Martin. All these
are Robin Ellotes brethren, or his men that are daly at his commandement.
The grayne of the Ellotes called the Barneheedes:--Joke Ellot called Halfe
loges. The grayne of the Ellottes of the Bark:--Sims Johne Ellot of the
Park; Will Ellot, gray Willie; Hobbe Ellot called Scotes Hobbe; Johne
Ellot of the Park; Jem Ellote called gray Wills Jeme; Hobbe Ellot called
Hobbs Hobbe. The grayne of Martin Ellot of Bradley:--Gowan Ellot called
the Clarke; Hobbe Ellot his brother; Arche Ellot his brother; Joke Ellot
called Copshawe; John Ellot of Thornesope; Will Ellot of the Steele; Dand
Ellot of the Brandley; John Ellot of the same; Seme Ellot of Hardin. All
theise Ellots and manie more of them are at Robin Ellot's commandment and
dwell betwixt the Armstrongs in Lyddisdall and Whethough town--fewe of
them marryed with Englishe women." Then follows a long list of the
"Armstrongs of Mangerton," and of the "Howse of Whetaughe Towre." Some of
the names in the list are amusingly suggestive--"Seme Armestronge lord of
Mangerton marryed John Foster's daughter of Kyrshopefoot; Joke Armestronge
called the "lord's Joke" dwelleth under Dennyshill besides Kyrsope in
Denisborne, and married Anton Armestrong's daughter of Wylyare in
Gilsland; Johne Armestronge called "the lordes Johne," marryet Rytche
Grayme's sister.... Thomas Armestrong called "the lordes Tome."... Runyon
Armestrong called "the lordes Runyon."... Thom Armestronge Sims Thom,
marryed Wat Storyes daughter of Eske, called Wat of the Hare ends."[73]
We also read of "Thomas Abye," "Gawins Will," "Red Andrew," "Bangtale,"
"Ould Hector of Harlaw," "Stowlugs," "Cokespoole," "Skinabake," "Carhand,"
"Hob the Tailor," "Redneb," &c.
Among the Elliots we find such to-names as "Long John," "John the Child,"
"John Cull the spade," "Bessie's Wife's Riche," "Robin the Bastard of
Glenvoren," &c. One of the family of Nixon was known as "Ill Drooned
Geordie," a name which seems to indicate that the person who bore it had
had at one time or another a narrow escape from what perhaps was his
righteous doom. "Wynking Will,"[74] "Wry-Crag," "David the Leddy," and
"Hob the King," are sufficiently explicit.
These are a fair sample of the _to-names_ by which the thieves of
Liddesdale were distinguished. It must be admitted, however, that many of
them are not quite so respectable as those given, and would hardly admit
of reproduction in a modern book. The men to whom they were assigned must
have been regarded, one would naturally suppose, as utterly disreputable
characters, even by those who associated with them in the invidious
calling to which they were devoted.