Genesis 2

The land was not always thus. After the Romans left and the area put up with its invasions of Scots (from Ireland), Anglo-Saxons and Vikings, it settled down to a tranquility only occasionally broken: by William the Conqueror between 1066 and 1072; by King David I of Scotland who, in the period 1136-1138, invaded England in an intervention on behalf of Matilda (his niece) in the struggle for supremacy of the English throne between her and Stephen (her cousin); by the Scottish king William the Lion, intervening in another English dynastic struggle, this time between Henry II and his rebellious sons Richard, Geoffery and John. William was ultimately defeated and captured by Henry; and in 1215 when Alexander II of Scotland was caught up in the fight between King John and his Barons which would lead to the signing of the Magna Carta. Given the spirit of the age, that might was right, this was not too bad a track record for disputations involving the military, and more importantly for our study, the non-military population of the Borderland.

However, a worrying trend had started to emerge. There had always been a degree of 'collateral damage' incorporated into these squabbles - that was the way life was. An army marches on its stomach and it was in the natural scheme of things for an army to live off the land through which it was marching and for a certain amount of 'liberation' of property to occur. When King John retaliated against Scotland's King for his support of the rebel barons, he made the population of the lands and Marches closest to his northern border suffer inordinately. Morpeth, Alnwick and Berwick (which were all part of Scotland at that time), Roxburgh, Dunbar and Haddington were burned. The inhabitants of Berwick suffering disproportionately, many of them being tortured by John's men. The Scots retaliated in kind, and set the seal for warfare in the future - burn and despoil in the enemy's territory. At the end of the struggle with John, the Scots lost out. The Southern Scottish counties of Cumberland, Westmorland and Northumberland became the Northern English counties and thus have they stayed.

The Borderland had become a battlefield, a wasteland. The people had become used to war, used to pillaging and being pillaged, to burning and being burned, to murdering and being murdered. It is the opinion of many that at this time the Border almost emerged as a separate entity, distinct in many ways from its host countries of Scotland and England. The people, despite their differences, had many similarities. Indeed a Scots Borderer would have had far more in common with and literally been more akin to his English counterpart than he would have had with a Highland Clansman. The Monarchs also helped to develop this sense of a Borderland as each attempted to set up an area to act as a bulwark against intrusions from the other. And so it came about that the only person a man could depend upon was his own family, ie not the nuclear family but the extended family, of those bearing the same name or who had married into other families but who were still "family". The family could provide support against intruders. United, you could ward off attacks from others or, equally well, take, by force, from others. Family members were linked to each other intimately and a slight against one was a slight against all. Thus feuds between families might develop. Cohesion, within the family, was the order of the day.

This theft from others was not limited to the people across the Border. This is the greatest misconception about the Reivers - that they were some kind of patriots, who only stole from or murdered those on the other side of the Border. Think of the Border as being non-existent. Think of the area instead being like a housing estate. The family 'just across the way' might be stronger than yours, so why not steal from your neighbouring family instead, especially if they were not one of the larger groups who would be able to summon large numbers in their defence. Equally well, why not band together with your neighbour and together you might be able to take on the family 'over there'. In this way, alliances came and went. Raids came and went across the Border and along it, between Scot and Scot, English and English as well as Scots and English. This is why in many ways the Border was artificial. Thus developed a web of intrigue, with families always in a ever-changing flux of alliances with others and feuds with others. An ally one month might be an enemy the next and vice versa. Thus the Reivers came about and, until their demise in the early 1600's, they "shook loose the Border".

Worse was to come in the shape of the Scottish Wars of Independence. At the start of the War, when Edward I captured Berwick he had his men ravage the city, murder was the order of the day. Accounts vary, some say only the men of military age were killed, others that the whole population men, women and children were put to the sword. Thus the number killed varies between 7-8 000 and and high as 17 000. Certainly, Edward was ruthless enough to have ordered the annihilation of Berwick's population. Edward took Scotland. He rode through it and became its master. Then he rode south again leaving it garrisoned. After Wallace's victory at Stirling Bridge, Cumberland and Northumberland were raided and put to fire and sword. The Lords of these counties retaliated in kind. After Bruce defeated, the now-dead Edward's son, Edward II at Bannockburn, a mass raid of the North of England ensued, penetrating as far south as York. The people of the Northern counties paid a heavy price for the years of the garrisoning of Scotland and the oppression of its people.