Border reivers
Border reivers were raiders along the Anglo-Scottish border. They included both English and Scottish people, and they raided the entire border country without regard to their victims' nationality. They operated in a culture of legalised raiding and feuding. Their heyday was in the last hundred years of their existence, during the time of the House of Stuart in the Kingdom of Scotland and the House of Tudor in the Kingdom of England.
The lawlessness of the Anglo-Scottish Borderlands in the 16th century is captured in a 1542 description of Tynedale and Redesdale:
...nothinge regard eyther the lawes of God or of the kinges majesties for any love or other lawful consideracion, but onely for the drede and feare of instante coreccion.
The term "border reiver" is an exonym and anachronistic term used to describe the raiders, outlaws, and bandits who operated along and across the Anglo-Scottish border during the later Middle Ages and Early modern period. Amidst centuries of lawlessness, poverty and low-intensity conflict, compounded by significant invasions along the Anglo-Scottish frontier, familial groups gradually coalesced into organised units of common defence and offence based on kinship, giving rise to what would later be formalised as the 'Surnames.' The reivers emerged between 1350 and 1450, with their activities reaching their height in the 16th century during the Tudor period in England and the late Stewart period in Scotland. They were infamous for raiding, blood feuds, eliciting protection money or taking hostages,where justice was frequently negotiated through arbitration at Truce Days rather than enforced and mandated by state law. Many crimes, such as theft and feuding, were treated with less severity due to the ancient customs and culture of the Borderlands, which had evolved over centuries to tolerate and codify such practices in the March law.
Although less well-known than Highlanders in Scotland, whom they met and defeated in battle on occasion, the border reivers played a significant role in shaping Anglo-Scottish relations. Their activities were a major factor in ongoing tensions between the two kingdoms, and their raids often had international repercussions. There is debate over how great their threat and the extent to which their raids were state-directed rather than purely opportunistic.
The culture of the border reivers, characterised by honour, close family bonds and self-defence, has been said to influence the culture of the Upland South in the United States. Many Borderers migrated as families to America, where their values are thought to have contributed significantly to the region's social structure and political ideologies, with echoes of their influence persisting even today.
Etymology
Reive, a noun meaning raid, comes from the Middle English reifen. The verb reave meaning "plunder, rob", a closely related word, comes from the Middle English reven. There also exists a Northumbrian and Scots verb reifen. All three derive from Old English rēafian which means "to rob, plunder, pillage". Variants of these words were used in the Borders in the later Middle Ages. The corresponding verb in Dutch is "roven", and "rauben" in German.The earliest use of the combined term "border reiver" appears to be by Sir Walter Scott in his anthology Minstrelsy of the Scottish Border. George Ridpath, the author of posthumously published The Border-History of England and Scotland, deduced from the earliest times to the union of the two crowns, referred not to 'border reivers' but only to banditti.
Alternative and contemporary names
In the High Middle Ages, an outlaw was euphemistically known on the Borders as a "wolf" or a "bearer of the wolf's head". Those living in Redesdale and Tynedale were referred as Highlanders by contemporary sources; by others pejoratively known at the time as the "Busy Gap Rogues" after being famed for spreading out from an isolated hole in Hadrian's Wall near Housesteads. The inhabitants of Teviotdale and the notorious Liddesdale were referred as "Limmers".Background
Governance, culture and territoriality of the Anglo-Scottish frontier
The Anglo-Scottish borders were shaped by centuries of territorial disputes, cultural integration, and overlapping systems of governance, resulting in one of the most administratively complex regions of medieval Britain.The traditional narrative places the Battle of Carham in 1018 as a pivotal moment when Scottish forces secured control over Lothian, marking a fundamental shift in the northern boundary of England. However, this interpretation is subject to debate. Some historians question whether the loss of Lothian to Scotland can be definitively dated to 1018, with a range of alternative timelines proposed or whether the battle had any real significance.
Lothian
Contemporary evidence suggests the gradual establishment of Scottish authority over Lothian and the Borders, marked by the consolidation of continuous royal control around the same time as the Norman Conquest, West Lothian and Midlothian likely dates between Máel Coluim III’s accession in 1058 and the death of his son Edgar in 1107. The continued ambiguity in the possession of Lothian is shown in the Peterborough Chronicle in 1091: "Then the king, Malcolm, heard that he would he sought out with an army, he went with his army out of Scotland into Lothian in England and bided there." Into the late 11th century, Lothian was still regarded as one of England's unshired regions, alongside Northumberland, Cumberland, and Westmorland.East Lothian saw consolidation under Máel Coluim III by 1093, with Edgar firmly establishing authority by 1107. Berwickshire was under Máel Coluim III's rule, with Edgar solidifying control around 1100. Teviotdale and Tweeddale fell under continuous Scottish control from 1113 during David I’s tenure. Annandale came under Robert de Brus, 1st Lord of Annandale between 1113 and 1124 as a vassal of David I, having been conferred upon him by Henry I of England. According to Alistair Moffat, by 1153, the Tweed Valley had been thoroughly feudalised. It is not known what happened to the previous landowners, but for some land it was recorded "waste" or deserted. And not all land was giving to Norman incomers – there it at least one known Anglo-Scandinavian recorded as giving a land charter in Scotland.
Strathclyde
In the west, the Kingdom of Strathclyde appears to have collapsed under pressure from both the Gall-Goídil and the expanding Earldom of Bamburgh. Following the decline of Northumbrian authority inland, the Cumbric lands north of the Solway Firth were absorbed into the Kingdom of Scotland. In the wake of this fragmentation, opportunistic Norman adventurers established their own lordships in south-west of Scotland.The twelfth century saw the Normanisation of the Scottish nobility, as Norman lords, brought in by David I of Scotland, introduced new complexities of Norman colonisation in the Borderlands. Many of these lords held land in England and brought in Anglo-Saxon tenants from their estates south of the border.
Northumbria
Concurrently in the east, south of the Tweed, it is not entirely clear when the former territories of the Earldom of Bamburgh fell following William I's successful invasion of England. In the winter of 1069–70, the Normans systematically burned and looted the north of England in response to rebellion that included the Anglo-Saxon Earl of Northumberland, Gospatric, in an event known as the Harrying of the North. Neither Northumberland, County Durham, Cumberland nor the Barony of Westmorland were surveyed in the Domesday Book in 1085.There are strong indications that the area north of the Tyne remained outside effective Norman control until at least 1090s, with evidence suggesting the persistence of an independent Anglian polity or organised resistance until the early 12th century. Elsewhere it is said that the process of Norman conquest of Northumbria began in 1096 and colonisation was completed by 1135.
Cumbria
Following the Norman Conquest, the Anglo-Scottish border in the west remained ambiguous. William Rufus in 1090 expelled Dolfin of Carlisle, a possible descendant of the Anglo-Saxon Earls of Northumbria, from Cumberland and fortified Carlisle to secure the region. It is also suggested that Dolfin may have been installed by Máel Coluim III. Cumberland was extensively colonised by Norman adventurers, who also forcefully resettled Danes and Anglo-Saxons from the south.The Anarchy
However, during the period of civil war known as The Anarchy, David I of Scotland exploited the instability and advanced southward into northern England. In the Second Treaty of Durham, King Stephen granted the Earldom of Northumbria: encompassing Carlisle, Cumberland, Westmorland, and Lancashire north of the Ribble to David's son, Prince Henry. These territories were later reclaimed, and David's successor, Malcolm IV, was forced to cede them. Since then, the Anglo-Scottish border has remained largely unchanged, with only minor adjustments. The Anglo-Scottish Border only began to formalise by 1237 in the Treaty of York.Complex and dual identities
Land ownership and governance in the Anglo-Scottish border region during the 12th and 13th centuries were shaped by a highly mixed population and the ruling elite was predominantly composed of Norman, Flemish, and Breton incomers; many of which had a shared culture and land on both sides of the border.These newcomers were granted lands and titles as knights and lords, establishing castles and vast demesnes, some straddling the ambiguous Anglo-Scottish frontier during the Wars of Scottish Independence; which later fueled legal disputes and feuding over land and jurisdiction. The Borderlands, home to Early Scots, Northumbrians, Norse, Brythonic and Gaelic communities, ultimately fell under the control of a newly established foreign ruling class.
The integration of these groups under predominantly Norman, Flemish, and Breton lords across the border introduced a dual identity and a new layer of governance that often clashed with local traditions, further complicating loyalties and creating a fragmented political landscape. The unique March Law can be seen as an example of a distinct regional culture, different from both England and Scotland. The Armstrongs of Liddesdale, a powerful Scottish clan rooted in 13th and 14th-century English settlement, exhibited this dual identity, earning the notorious moniker "Evil Inglis" well into the 16th century due to their lawless ways. Similarly Grahams were of Scottish origin but later settled in England. They were reputed to identify as either Scottish or English whenever it suited them. According to late Tudor estimates, Scots comprised up to a third of those living within ten miles of the frontier in England.