The Steel Bonnets. George Fraser MacDonald

      Within the towns conditions were somewhat different; Carlisle and Berwick were sophisticated by the standards of the rural communities, and on paper differed from southern towns only in that they were garrisoned and heavily defended. On the Scottish side, towns like Dumfries, Annan, Jedburgh, and Kelso were strong, organised communities, usually walled and fortified, run by their own councillors, and often containing houses of some strength. They were sturdily independent folk, quick to resent interference by rural potentates; Jedburgh especially, which carried on a feud with the Kerrs of Ferniehurst, was noted for the toughness of its inhabitants.

The standard of living was generally higher in the towns, as one would expect. A man in the Berwick garrison, in 1597, when times were hard and inflation had increased rapidly,⁹ got a daily ration of a twelve-ounce loaf, three pints of beer, one-and-a-half pounds of beef, three-quarters of a pound of cheese, and a quarter of a pound of butter—this was a considerable reduction in what his ration had been some years earlier.

      What is interesting about the Berwick garrison’s rations is that they do not seem to have been markedly better off than the civilians—at least they could not afford the strong beer which apparently found a ready civil market. Nor was their food always considered satisfactory; John Carey bluntly told Burghley on one occasion that it was not fit for a horse.

1. Sheep-raising in the sixteenth century was primarily for wool production, not for mutton, but Border wool was considered of poor quality. The demand for mutton increased gradually from Elizabeth’s reign onwards.

2. The better classes in the towns brewed ale, which was their “usual drink”.

3. The garrison of the fortress of Roxburgh laid in 1800 loaves among the winter’s victuals in 1548.

4. A left-handed person is still called ker-handed, car-handed, or corry-fisted in the Scottish Borderland.

5. There were many Walter Scotts of Branxholm and Buccleuch, the principal ones being that Walter Scott who fought at Flodden and Ancrum, was briefly Middle March Warden, and was murdered by the Kerrs in 1552; and his grandson, the “Bold Buccleuch” (1565–1611), a noted reiver who was also Keeper of Liddesdale from 1594–1603, and who is famous for his rescue of Kinmont Willie Armstrong from Carlisle in 1596. When Buccleuch is mentioned in this text it means the grandson, unless otherwise stated.

6. Henry and Thomas Scrope (or Scroop) were respectively 9th and 10th Lords Scrope of Bolton. Henry (1534–1592) was English West March Warden from 1563 until his death; his son, Thomas (1567?–1600) held the office from 1592 to 1603. Henry was an able Warden, Thomas much less so (he was the unlucky victim of the Kinmont raid). To avoid confusion, they are referred to in the text as old Scrope and young Scrope where necessary.

7. He also noted that Scottish gentlemen wore little extra adornment by way of lace, and tended to follow French fashion as to cut. Married gentle-women wore “close upper bodices after the German fashion with large whalebone sleeves after the French; short cloaks like the Germans, French hoods and large falling bands about their necks. The unmarried of all sorts go bare-headed and wear short cloaks like the virgins of Germany. The lower sort of citizens’ wives and the women of the country wore cloaks made of a coarse stuff of two or three colours in checker work vulgarly called pladden”.

8. de Ayala, in 1498, thought Scotswomen had the handsomest headdresses in the world, but omitted to describe them.

9. Wheat had doubled in price, and meat and butter gone up by 30%.

       VII

       The riding surnames

      It is significant that in the sixteenth-century Borderland the words “road” and “raid” were synonymous. So were “raiding” and “riding”—when the Armstrongs, for example, were described as “ever riding”, it meant simply that they never ceased from foraying. So when one speaks of the riding surnames, the phrase covers those families who were the principal reivers.

      Any list of them must be selective, and what follows is not a comprehensive roll, but a brief and general guide to the main riding tribes, with some of the smaller surnames added because they are of particular interest. It should be remembered that the names are not chosen for national or political importance, but for their prominence in the limited sphere of frontier reiving; thus the Douglases and Percies, famous families who were active in the early days of Border warfare, are omitted, because they were hardly riding families, while the Burns and Storeys, comparatively unimportant in any national sense, are included because they were active forayers.

      Similarly, the personalities mentioned have been chosen only for their Border interest—e.g. Richie of Brackenhill is not a shining light in the roll of the whole Graham family, which includes people like Montrose and Claverhouse, but he was a Borderer and they were not.

      In listing twenty-one tribes I have simply given their names, with some of their alternative spellings where appropriate; then their main areas of occupation (it will be noted that some of them lived on both sides of the frontier) and principal Border branches; a short comment; a selection of some noteworthy individuals, and a final line indicating the status and numbers of the family in the Border country today.

      ARMSTRONG

      (Armstrang)

Principally Scottish, but probably of Cumbrian origin, Liddesdale, DL¹, Eskdale, Annandale, EWM, SEM. Chief branches, Mangerton, Whithaugh, Calfhills, etc.

      The name means literally what it says (cf. Fortinbras), and the Armstrongs were the most feared and dangerous riding clan on the whole frontier. As Satchells put it:

      On the Border was the Armstrongs, able men,

       Somewhat unruly, and very ill to tame.

      In Johnnie Armstrong’s day (c. 1528) they could put 3000 men into the saddle, and probably did more damage by foray than any other two families combined, both in England and Scotland. Frequently allied themselves with England.

      Notables: Johnnie Armstrong, Kinmont Willie Armstrong, Sim the Laird (c. 1528), Ill Will Armstrong, Sandie (his son), Old Sim of Mangerton, the Laird’s Jock (c. 1587), Dick of Dryhope, Jock of the Side (c. 1570), Lance of Whithaugh, et al., et al.

      Still numerous in Cumberland.

      BELL

      English and Scottish. Gilsland, SWM, Annandale.

      A “great surname” of the West March, active in raiding and feud, and particularly hostile to the Grahams. One theory about the name is that it originally signified good looks.

      Notables: Willie Redcloak, Christopher Bell.

      Very common today.

      BURN

      (Bourne)

      Scottish. East Teviotdale.

      A