Selkirk Protocols Attitude to Strangers
Defence By Attack – Selkirk 1530 Most border towns did not have walls and so people were wary and frightened of any strangers. They could be the outlaws and swordsmen checking the place before plundering…
Reiver Truce Days and Locations
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,…
Reiver Routes
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…
Passport for English Man in Scotland
Permission to Pass in Scotland's Middle March A copy of a letter allowing an Englishman to pass through the Middle March of Scotland. Each town in Scotland had its legal representations recorded in a protocol…
Battle of Ancrum Moor
Ancrum Moor Battlefield The Battle of Ancrum Moor was fought on the 17th February 1545 between a motley English force under Sir Ralph Eure and Sir Brian Layton and a smaller but well-led Scottish force…
Thieves Road from Teviotdale to Liddesdale Roxburghshire
Thieves Road, Roxburghshire The Thieves Road, from Teviotdale to Liddesdale, Roxburghshire, Photograph taken, looking North, from NT473046 The “Thieves Road” is an old track from Teviotdale into Liddesdale by way of Swire Knowe. It can…
Walter Scott of Harden or Auld Wat of Harden a celebrated Reiver
Walter Scott of Harden Walter Scott of Harden or “Auld Wat” of Harden, a celebrated Reiver “Auld Wat” of Harden was a notorious Reiver in his day. He famously remarked, as he passed a haystack…
Muckle-Moud Meg Sculpture Thornylee Picnic Site Tweeddale Scottish Borders
Muckle-Mou'd Meg Sculpture Muckle-Mou'd Meg Sculpture, Thornylee Picnic Site,Tweeddale The sculpture was carved from a single piece of local elm provided by the Forestry Commission by Rob Taylor, a local sculptor based in Ancrum in…
Millholm Cross Liddesdale Newcastleton Roxburghshire Scottish Borders
Laird of Mangerton’s Millholm Cross Millholm Cross, Liddesdale, Newcastleton, Roxburghshire, Scottish Borders The Millholm Cross stands in Liddesdale across the river and opposite Mangerton Tower, the stronghold of the Armstrong chiefs. It was erected about…
Kinmont Willie Armstrong Violent Life and Grave Morton Kirkyard, Dumfriesshire
In 1580 the condition between Scotland and England had deteriorated; raids were increasing and threatening the general peace. Various measures were introduced to improve matters. Fewer men were turning up for musters. The English Queen…
The Horse Statue in Hawick Roxburghshire
Hawick; Equestrian Statue Equestrian Statue known as “The Horse” in Hawick, Roxburghshire The equestrian monument on an island in Hawick's busy main street is known locally as “The Horse”. The monument is by the Edinburgh…
Flodden Memorial or Fletcher Memorial, Selkirk
Thomas Clapperton’s Flodden Memorial or Fletcher Memorial, Selkirk Flodden Memorial or Fletcher Memorial by Thomas Clapperton, Victoria Hall, Selkirk, Selkirkshire, Scottish Borders The sculptor Thomas Clapperton (1879-1962) was born in Galashiels, the son of a…
Memorial to Johnnie Armstrong and his men at Carlenrig, Teviothead, Roxburghshire, Scottish Borders
Johnnie Armstrong's Grave Memorial to Johnnie Armstrong and his men at Carlenrig, Teviothead, Roxburghshire, Scottish Borders Carlenrig is high in Teviotdale; the churchyard there is reputed to be the burial place of the most famous…
The East March of Scotland
The East March of Scotland Map of the Scottish East March, Boundaries and Generalities. The Scottish East March was the county of Berwickshire; the frontier was with the English East March. The northern boundary of…
