Reivers – Explore The Borders

Blood feuds, ruthless vendettas, protection rackets, cattle rustling…and no we are not talking about the mafia or the Wild West.

Welcome to the badlands of the Northumberland and Scottish Borders where the legendary Border Reivers brand of lawlessness held sway for almost 300 years.

These were the men who bequeathed bereavement and blackmail to the English language, whose power was built around family allegiances and whose brand of doing business asked for no quarter – and rarely received it.

Reiving – or stealing – was pursued enthusiastically as a means of stocking up the larder for the winter months and raids south to England or north into Scotland followed old drover trails and ancient tracks that criss-cross the wild border uplands.

Mounted on sure-footed horses bred for stamina, they perfected smash and grab tactics perfected during Scotland’s wars of independence in the 1200 and 1300s.

Famous Scottish reiver family names include Maxwell, Johnstone, Scott, Kerr, Hume, Pringle, Douglas, Armstrong, Turnbull, Elliot…and on the English side Musgrave, Charlton and Dodd.

They were resident in Marches (West, East and Middle) on either side of the border, not surprisingly dubbed the Debateable Lands.

The power of the reivers reached its peak in 1580 and over the next 20 years until the death of Elizabeth 1, recorded its most savage period.

James Vl of Scotland united the two kingdoms on the death of Elizabeth and vowed to break the power of the reivers. Soon after taking the throne in London he mounted a concerted campaign to destroy the reivers and stamp his own authority across the borderlands.

What he failed to do was eradicate the tales that became folklore and gave the Border Reivers legendary status that survives to this day.

The reivers legacy and their strongholds are still very much alive in the Borders and their descendants, now happily engaged in more peaceful pursuits, are still very much part of Borders life.

On a fine day it’s a pleasure to sit and watch the river Teviot and Slitrig Water come together at Hawick as they start the next stage of a journey seawards.

Having drawn a zest for life from the high hills of the Borders they join forces a few yards upstream from the town’s Millenium Bridge.

But this is a meeting place with a distinctly murky past.

Here, where nature has cut a little deeper into the natural landscape, you will find the town’s infamous drowning pool or murder pool, depending which side of the law you were on.

This part of the river was used to dispense a particularly rough kind of justice to the Border Reivers.

For over 300 years, from around 1300 to 1600, the Reivers’ bloody legacy held sway

in the badlands or debatable lands either side of the border between Scotland and England. To ‘reive’ means to rob or plunder but it wasn’t the only contribution these men gave to the English language.

They also bequeathed us blackmail and bereavement, which provides a fair indication of the type of pastimes they got up to.

Hawick’s history, criss-crossed by the nefarious activities of the Reivers, records one of the most savage cases of retribution. In July of 1562 some 22 Border Reivers met a watery end in the ‘pool.’

The Reivers were in the habit of bringing their ill-gotten gains to Hawick market but on this occasion Walter Kerr, warden of Scotland’s Middle March was one step ahead. Acting on the authority of the recently crowned Mary Queen of Scots he sealed off the town and captured dozens of Reivers.

Those on the lower rungs of the social pecking order had their hands bound and were executed at the pool, their bodies held underwater by lances. Their leaders were afforded the courtesy of a trip to Edinburgh and a ‘gentleman’s’ death by hanging.

We are pleased to report that times have moved on and every March Hawick now plays host to a colourful spring that takes place from March 25 to 27 this year. More information at hawickreivers.com

Reivers rule in the Border badlands

Rough justice for the reivers