Border Reivers were raiders along the Anglo-Scottish border (Border country), for nearly three hundred years from the late 13th century to the middle of the 16th century. They were English and Scottish, and raided both sides of the border impartially, forcing the inhabitants to live in a state of constant alert, and giving rise to the building of fortified houses, such as the bastle houses and Peel towers which are characteristic of this area and period. Smailholm is one of many surviving Peel towers. Things, People, Places named Raider or Raiders. ... Royal motto: Dieu et mon droit (French: God and my right) Englands location within the UK Official language English de facto Capital London de facto Largest city London Area  - Total Ranked 1st UK 130,395 km² Population  - Total (2001)  - Density Ranked 1st UK 49,138,831 377/km² Religion... Scotland (Alba in Scottish Gaelic) is a country in northwest Europe, occupying the northern third of the island of Great Britain. ... The Border country is the hilly area of Lowland Scotland on the border between Scotland and England. ... (12th century - 13th century - 14th century - other centuries) As a means of recording the passage of time, the 13th century was that century which lasted from 1201 to 1300. ... (15th century - 16th century - 17th century - more centuries) As a means of recording the passage of time, the 16th century was that century which lasted from 1501 to 1600. ... Royal motto: Dieu et mon droit (French: God and my right) Englands location within the UK Official language English de facto Capital London de facto Largest city London Area  - Total Ranked 1st UK 130,395 km² Population  - Total (2001)  - Density Ranked 1st UK 49,138,831 377/km² Religion... Scotland (Alba in Scottish Gaelic) is a country in northwest Europe, occupying the northern third of the island of Great Britain. ... Bastle houses are found along the Anglo-Scottish border, in the areas formerly plagued by border Reivers. ... Peel towers (spelt Pele towers in England) are small fortified keeps, built along the English and Scottish Borders, intended as watch towers where signal fires could be lit to warn of approaching danger. ...

The Border Reivers were mounted, and specialized in rustling livestock. They were considered the finest light cavalry in all of Europe, and after meeting one Reiver, Walter Scott of Buccleuch, had broken a prisoner out of Carlisle Castle, Queen Elizabeth I is quoted as having said that "with ten thousand such, James (VI) could shake any throne in Europe." Many Reivers served as mercenaries, both in the Low Countries or in Ireland; such service was often handed down to captured raiders as punishment in lieu of death. Many took part in the plantation of Ulster becoming the people know as Ulster-Scots (Scots-Irish in America). Italian cavalry officers practice their horsemanship in 1904 outside Rome. ... Italian cavalry officers practice their horsemanship in 1904 outside Rome. ... A satellite composite image of Europe Europe is geologically and geographically a peninsula, forming the westernmost part of Eurasia. ... Carlisle Castle is situated in the historic town of Carlisle, Cumbria in England. ... Elizabeth I Queen of England and Ireland Queen of France, nominal title Elizabeth I (September 7, 1533–March 24, 1603) was Queen of England and Queen of Ireland from November 17, 1558 until her death. ... James VI of Scotland and I of England (Charles James) (19 June 1566–27 March 1625) was a King who ruled over England, Scotland and Ireland, and was the first Sovereign to reign in the three realms simultaneously. ... Mercenary (disambiguation). ... The Low Countries are the countries on low-lying land around the delta of the Rhine and Meuse rivers— usually used in modern context to mean the Netherlands, Belgium and Luxembourg (an alternate modern term, more often used today, is Benelux). ... The Plantation of Ulster took place in the Irish province of Ulster during the early 17th century. ... Ulster-Scots is a term mainly used in Ireland and Britain (Scotch-Irish or Scots-Irishis commonly used in North America) primarily to refer to Presbyterian Scots, or their descendents, who migrated from the Scottish Lowlands to Ulster (the northern province of Ireland), largely across the 17th century. ... Ulster-Scots is a term mainly used in Ireland and Britain (Scotch-Irish or Scots-Irishis commonly used in North America) primarily to refer to Presbyterian Scots, or their descendents, who migrated from the Scottish Lowlands to Ulster (the northern province of Ireland), largely across the 17th century. ...

The Reivers also served both English and Scottish kings as soldiers; Flodden Field and Solway Moss were battles where Border light cavalry played an important part. While they were, as mentioned, excellent light cavalry, they were difficult to control, and there were always questions about how loyal they were. Many Borderers had relatives on the other side of the Border, despite laws forbidding international marriage, and at the time, they were described as being English or Scottish, whichever happened to be more advantageous. Western side of the battlefield, looking south-south-east from the monument erected in 1910 (marked red in the key below). ... When Henry VIII broke from the Catholic Church, he asked James V of Scotland, his nephew, to do the same. ... The Border country is the hilly area of Lowland Scotland on the border between Scotland and England. ...

In the unsettled conditions of the late-medieval Anglo-Scottish Border, a special body of law, known as Border Law, grew up to deal with the situation. Under Border Law, a person who had been raided had the right to mount a counter-raid, even across the border, to recover his goods, and any person meeting this counter-raid was required to ride along and offer such help as he could, on pain of being considered complicit with the raiders. Both Borders were divided into "Marches," under a "March Warden," and the respective kingdoms' March Wardens would meet at appointed times along the border itself to settle claims against people on their side of the border by people from the other kingdom. These occasions, known as "Days of Truce," were much like fairs, with entertainment and much socializing, and the threat of violence to spice things up---many reivers resisted being taken by force. The Middle Ages formed the middle period in a traditional schematic division of European history into three ages: the classical civilization of Antiquity, the Middle Ages, and modern times, beginning with the Renaissance. ...

The reivers' activities, although usually within a day's ride of the Border, extended both north and south of their main haunts. English raiders were reported to have hit the outskirts of Edinburgh, and Scottish raids were known as far south as Yorkshire. The true reivers didn't care which side of the border they raided, so long as the people they hit had no powerful protectors and no connection to their own kin. Many reivers collected tribute from more peaceful folk to spare them from attack; this was called "blackmail" or "black rent," and this is where the term "blackmail" entered the English language. Edinburghs location in Scotland Edinburgh viewed from Arthurs Seat. ... Yorkshire as a traditional county. ... Blackmail is threatening to reveal substantially true information about a person to the public, a family member, or associates unless a monetary demand is met. ...

By the death of Elizabeth I, things had come to such a pitch along the Border that the English government looked into re-fortifying and rebuilding Hadrian's Wall. Upon his accession to the English throne, James VI of Scotland (who became James I of England) moved hard against the reivers, abolishing Border Law and the very term "Borders" in favor of "Middle Shires," and dealing out stern justice to many known reivers, who could no longer duck into the other kingdom until things cooled down. By the end of James VI/I's reign, the Borders were fairly peaceful; such surviving thieves as existed did not have the infrastructure behind them that their ancestors would have had. Hadrians Wall (in Latin: Vallum Hadriani) was a stone and turf fortification, built by the Romans across the width of Great Britain to prevent military raids by the Pictish tribes of Scotland to the north, to improve economic stability and provide peaceful conditions in the south, to define the... James VI of Scotland and I of England (Charles James) (19 June 1566–27 March 1625) was a King who ruled over England, Scotland and Ireland, and was the first Sovereign to reign in the three realms simultaneously. ... For information on the fictional Shire of J. R. R. Tolkiens The Lord of the Rings, see Shire (Middle-earth) A shire is an administrative area of Great Britain. ...

Long after they were gone, the reivers were romanticized by writers such as Sir Walter Scott, although he got some things wrong---the term "moss-trooper" more correctly refers to one of the robbers that existed after the real reivers had been put down. Many of their poems and songs were collected in the "Border Ballads." Sir Walter Scott (August 14, 1771 - September 21, 1832) was a prolific Scottish historical novelist and poet popular throughout Europe. ... Moss-troopers were bandits that operated in Scotland during and after the time of the English Commonwealth. ...

See also

• Border country
• Scottish Borders
• Reive
• Roxburgh Reivers Orienteering Club

The Border country is the hilly area of Lowland Scotland on the border between Scotland and England. ... Scottish Borders (Na Crìochan na h-Alba in Gaelic) is one of 32 unitary council regions in Scotland. ... Reive is a Scots word meaning to plunder or to rob, also spelt Reave in English, which comes from the Old English reafian. ... About Roxburgh Reivers Roxburgh Reivers is a small orienteering club based in the Scottish Borders. ...

References

• George MacDonald Fraser The Steel Bonnets, 1971. HarperCollins ISBN 0002727463

George MacDonald Fraser (born 1926 in Carlisle, England) is a writer of Scottish descent. ...

External links

• In Search of the Border Reivers
• The Border Reivers