Unlawful Games 59- Item, if any person or persons suffer hereafter any unlawful games to be played at or within his house or garden shall forfeit for every time. And the player at the same games [fined] 6 shillings, 8 pence according to the statute of Henry VIII, 33 except such as be licenced by…

Curwen reivers of Workington steal the gates of Carlaverock Castle etc. The Curwens have been listed among the reiving families of the 16th century, and records show how forces were raised and armed to fight against the Scots. The Feudal Tenancy was based on Military Service. Each household providing an armed man or men, numbers…

A STORY ABOUT THE REIVER KINMONT WILLY Text from the story telling of Peter Shaw, at Carlisle Castle.  Click here for violent life and grave slab (Click here for Audio version )  [Click for song ] Kinmont Willy was a famous Armstrong reiver who commanded 300 men. He lived north of Carlisle and was a…

SIR WALTER SCOTT'S LINKS WITH CARLISLE Had it not been for Scott's collecting and reworking of many of the border ballads, much of the tradition, character and mythology of the Reiver story would be lost. His biography is intimately linked with Carlisle and the border. Sir Walter Scott was a novelist, poet and editor of…

Hazelslack Tower Cumbria The substantial remains of this interesting little L-shaped Border tower-house stand about a mile east of Arnside in Cumbria. The tall tower of four storeys is roughly built from limestone rubble and may date from the late 14th or 15th century. The walls are only three feet thick apart from the massive…

Arnside Tower. Arnside Tower, Arnside, Cumbria, drawing from a 1986 sketchbook by Pete Armstrong. Arnside Tower stands about a mile from the town of Arnside on the River Kent, near the northern end of Morecambe Bay. The road to Silverdale passes by the foot of the hill on which it stands. Built in 1375 in…

The Church in Cumbria hammered by the Scots! From the time of the early church to the time of the union between England and Scotland in 1603, there was trouble from Scottish invaders. Until 1157 Scotland laid claim to Cumbria and occupied it on a number of occasions and Cumbria was not even recorded in…

Reiver Days of Truce and Locations The Wardens of opposing Marches agreed upon a day and place of meeting usually on the frontier but sometimes elsewhere. In the west, Dumfries and Carlisle were convenient venues, particularly in the winter. Notice was then given throughout the Wardenry for bills of complaint to be prepared. Copies of…

Reiving Routes The following text is from text in the Callendar of Border Papers and dates from the 16th century. It gives an impression of the routes that Reivers may have taken on their raids to steal cattle and any other goods that were available. A ‘Raider’s Line’ is given as from Carham on the…

Record of Theft, Damage, Injury and Cost of Raids by Reivers These are some of the complaints made by victims of raids by Scottish and English Reivers at the end of the 16th century. The complaints were made to Justices of the Peace in Cumberland. The victims hoped that the Wardens of the Marches would…

Rules to Defend Border Towns - Carlisle Scotland and England feared theft and invasion from each other. Towns were where the wealth resided, thus invaders and thieves sought to strip towns of their valuables. Towns were also where power and authority resided and an invading army would seek to crush any opposition by taking over…

Solway Moss, The Battle Of, 1542 The Battle of Solway Moss, 1542; Thomas Wharton's “prickers” rout the Scots Painting of The Battle of Solway Moss, by Rick Scollins, c.1986. The illustrator Richard Scollins specialised in military subjects. His painting of “The Battle of Solway Moss” is among his best work; the history of the Anglo-Scottish…

Tomb And Effigy Of Sir Richard Lowther Tomb with effigy of Sir Richard Lowther, Lord Warden of the Marches in Lowther Church, Cumbria The inscription above Sir Richard Lowther's tomb runs thus; “Sr.Rich:Lowther Knig.Succeeded Hen: Lod:Scroope in ye Office of Lo:Warden of ye West Marches.” Lord Scroope died in office in June 1592 and, until…

Thomas, Lord Dacre's Tomb At Lanercost Priory Tomb of Thomas, Lord Dacre (1467-1525) at Lanercost Priory The tomb of Thomas Lord Dacre, of Flodden fame, who died in 1525 stands in the Chapel of St. Catherine in the South Transept of the Church of Lanercost Priory. This part of the church stands open to the…

Edward I Monument Solway - Firth Fording Places Solway Firth Fords; Edward I Monument and sites of former Solway crossings King Edward I, “The Hammer of the Scots”, died on the Solway in 1307 while attempting to again subject his troublesome northern neighbours to his iron will. The fords over the Solway in those days…

Sir Richard Salkeld, Captain Of Carlisle Effigy from the Tomb of Sir Richard Salkeld, Captain of Carlisle d.1500 The effigy of Sir Richard Salkeld of Corby Castle, who died in 1500 and his wife Jane Vaux, daughter of Roland Vaux of Triermain Castle is preserved in Wetheral Church. The alabaster effigies have been neglected in…

Sir Humphry Dacre Tomb At Lanercost Priory Tomb of Sir Humphry Dacre, Lord Warden of the West March d.1485 The tomb of Sir Humphry Dacre, Lord Warden of the English West March who died in 1485 stands in the Chapel in the North Transept of the Church of Lanercost Priory. This part of the church…

Richie Graham’s Blackmail Blackmail: A Protection Racket on the Borders in 16th century The Grahams on both sides of the Esk elevated the extraction of blackmail or protection money to a full-time profession. Charges laid against Richie Graham of Brackenhill in 1596 were that he extorted rent (or protection money) from more than sixty tenants…

Map of the West March of England, Boundaries and Generalities. The English West March was the counties of Cumberland and Westmorland though the latter was too far from the frontier to be important in border affairs. The twenty mile land frontier by 1558 ran by way of the river Sark along the Scotch Dyke to…

Scots' Dike earthwork marking Scotland / England frontier of 16th century Debateable Land The double ditch and embankment of the Scots' Dike are still identifiable in parts, though now little more than a low mound with traces of a ditch on each side. The remains run for four miles through a narrow plantation and terminate…