The Border Reivers

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LAWLESS CLANS  

Feuds were often fought and raids were made, not in the name of England or Scotland, but in the names of Armstrong, Robson, Charlton, Elliott or Dodd, or in the names of other Border surnames, that are still common in the region today. Indeed it was a common occurance for English families to side with Scottish families in border feuds, especially as some of the reiver surnames, like Armstrong, Hall and Graham were to be found on both sides of the border.

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MURDEROUS ROBSONS?

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There is a well known tradition that the Robsons of North Tynedale once made a foray into the Scottish valley of Liddesdale and stole a large flock of sheep belonging to the Graham family, which they brought back into Northumberland. Later it was discovered that the Graham sheep were infected with scab, which spread like wild fire through the Robson's flock. The Robsons were so angry that they returned to Liddesdale in another raid, where they caught seven members of the Graham family and hung them until they were dead. They left a note to the effect that;

Such tales as this were typical of the border country many centuries ago, though it is not always easy to separate the fact from the fiction, since these stories were often constructed by people who may not have even visited the borderlands.

Border Reivers and their way of life, were certainly feared by outsiders in days gone by and the Border Country had a certain element of mystique and danger about it. Even in the nearby walled town of Newcastle-upon-Tyne, there were rules forbidding the apprenticeship of North Tynedale and Redesdale men to certain Newcastle trades, for fear that there might be trouble.

Fears may well have been justified for one Newcastle man writing of the Tynedale and Redesdale folk in 1649 records that;

"They come down from their dales into the low countries and carry away horses and cattle so cunningly that it will be hard for any to get them or their cattle except that they be aquainted with some master thief, who for safety money may help them to their stolen goods, or decieve them."

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RAIDERS BEYOND CONTROL ?

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The Union of the Crowns in 1603 largely brought about an end to Border Reiving activity, though mosstroopers and horse thieves were still active in the borders throughout the seventeenth century. It did not help that thieving activities were sometimes supported by the very men who were supposed to be keeping the Border Reivers under control. Indeed in 1701 a horse thief confessed that;

As stabilty, Law and order were brought to the Border region following the acssession of James I to the throne in 1603, the activities of the Border Reivers gradually came to an end. Many of the reiver's descendants became keelmen on Tyneside, or Northumberland and Durham pitmen. Some emigrated to Australia and America and of course the first man on the moon was an Armstrong, descended from the Border Reivers of that name.

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CELTIC, VIKING OR ANGLO-SAXON CLANS ?

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It is often said that the Border Reivers are the descendants of war hungry Vikings or Celtic tribesmen. It is also sometimes thought that the Border Reivers are just another group of Scottish clans who have spilled over into England. What is the truth?

Falstone, a village on the North Tyne near the dam of the Kielder Reservoir is historically associated with the Robson family of Border Reivers, who once lived in this part of the dale. It has been suggested that the Robsons were descended from an Anglo-Saxon called Hroethbert (Robert), who lived in the Falstone area thirteen centuries ago. The theory was put forward after an Anglo-Saxon runic cross was found in the Falstone area dedicated to this Hroethbert. The suggestion has not been proved.

The surnames of the Border Reivers do however seem to have been Anglo-Saxon, rather than Scots-Celtic in origin as unlike most of the famous clans of the Scottish Highlands, they all lack that Celtic element Mac, (the Gaelic word meaning son of), which occurs in names like McDonald and McDougal.

It therefore seems probable that the Border Reivers on both sides of the border were largely Anglo-Saxon by origin. This has a simple explanation; the boundaries of the old Anglo-Saxon kingdom of Northumbria, stretched far to the north of the modern Scottish border, towards Edinburgh and the Lothians.

Some people have suggested that the Border folk were largely descended from Norse-Viking warriors, but there is very little evidence of Viking settlement in Northumberland, where both local place names and local dialect are of a highly Anglo-Saxon (Old Germanic) nature. Cumbria on the western side of the Pennines is however a different case. Here the local dialect is noticeably different and many local place names are of Norse origin (as in Yorkshire - the old Viking kingdom of Jorvik).

Many place names with typically Norse-Viking endings like `Thwaite' (meadow) and `By' (village) are extremely common in Cumbria and yet virtually absent from Northumberland. Some features in Cumbria also have completely different names to those of Northumberland. Thus in Cumbria shepherd's huts were called `Scales', streams are called `Becks' and waterfalls are called `Forces' all words of Viking origin. In Northumberland the equivelant names are Anglo-Saxon (old Northumbrian ), thus we have Shiels, Burns, and Linns.

The best example of a Northumbrian `Linn' is the Hareshaw Linn- its Anglo-Saxon name means Grey-Wood waterfall. This is situated in the Dene (wooded valley) of the Hareshaw Burn, to the north of Bellingham;

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THE BORDER BALLADS

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The Border Reivers way of life does bear remarkable similarities with both the early Celtic inhabitants of Britain and the Anglo-Saxon warriors who later settled here from their homelands in northern Germany and Denmark in the 6th century A.D. Perhaps the most striking similarity was the Border Reiver's capacity, despite his violent nature, to produce the famous border ballads which, like the old Anglo-Saxon warrior poems, tended to glorify a life of war, raiding and revenge. Sometimes however, the ballads could be of a rather sad and pittiful nature, like the `Border Widow's Lament', a tune best sung to the accompaniment of the Northumbrian Pipes;

George M Trevelyan the great British historian, (a Northumbrian) superbly summed up the nature of the Border Reivers and their ballads when he wrote;

Many of the Border Ballads still survive today, due to the avid collecting of the famous Border poet, Sir Walter Scott (1771-1832), himself the descendant of a famous border clan.

Above: Black Middens Bastle House, North Tynedale. Picture David Simpson

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A LIST OF BORDER REIVER SURNAMES