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The Border Reivers |
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The country to the north and south of the border between England and Scotland was for centuries the battlefield between the two nations. The border country and its people suffered terribly as a consequence. Borderers were robbed and killed by both the English and Scottish armies, crops were burned and property was destroyed. Historians agree that these conditions bred the Reiver. Borderers learned to live by their own rules in order to survive; to take what they needed with disregard for laws and rules and to value kinship over nationalism. In peacetime, these attitudes prevailed. Leslie, Bishop of Ross , gave an account of 16th Century Reiver life, writing “For as, in times of war, they are readily reduced to extreme poverty by the almost daily inroads of the enemy, so, on the restoration of peace, they entirely neglect to cultivate their lands…(and)…seek their subsistence by robberies…”Law and Order?
The Borders were divided into six Marches for administrative purposes, each with an appointed Warden to administer justice and uphold the law. There were 3 Marches on each side of the border: the East, Middle and West Marches. The Scottish Middle and part of the West Marches made up what would now be regarded as the Borders. The Marches had their own laws, separate from either London or Edinburgh; for example, the ‘Hot Trod’ gave anyone who had their livestock stolen the right of pursuit to retrieve their goods. Also, complaints were dealt with on ‘Truce Days,’ when large numbers of men from both sides of the border presented their disputes to be ruled on by the Wardens. Very often, these days ended in fighting.
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The word ‘reive’ means to rob or plunder. Livestock was the main focus of the raids, although anything portable and of value could be stolen. Border Reivers were not outlaws in the fugitive sense of the word; some may have lived separate from the main community, but most did not. They were often either farmers or land holders, but reiving was not limited to any particular social class. Many nobles, including some of the March Wardens, were themselves some of the most notorious raiders. Reiving was simply an integral part of Border life. Bishop Leslie tells us that there was “… a persuasion that all property is common by law of nature, and is therefore liable to be appropriated by them in their necessity.”
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