Rise of the Border Reivers | Background and Context | Part 1

Welcome to my channel! Here you'll find history and folklore from across the British Isles. This is my first history video on this channel, and it is part one in a series on the Border Reivers that raided and pillaged both sides of the Anglo-Scots Border for centuries. This video focuses on the background of the region, and how conflict between England and Scotland brought about the culture of Reiving.

Music Used:
'The Spirits of England' by Robert Powell
'Achaidh Cheide' by Kevin Macleod
'What it is/ Fare Well' by Kathryn Tickell

DukeOfAvalon | Duke Of Avalon | Border Reivers

[TheJollyReiver]

ANNOUNCEMENT: As History content proved quite popular in the poll I ran, here’s the first video in my series on the Border Reivers. Hope you enjoy. A HUGE thank you to the good people that sent me a bit of money in the last couple of days. As you likely saw in my announcement, my laptop is broken and the only way I could continue to make videos was my purchasing a good quality mobile edition, which was quite pricey. So that’s what I did and I’m back to making them again. There’s some left over so I’ll be putting that towards repairing or replacing my laptop, and getting ahold of some new folklore books to keep putting out content. I greatly appreciate your help!

[iainhedley]

After the crackdown on reiving, many reivers would find themselves in America, particularly here in my neck of the woods in Appalachia. So much so that I would say a good half of my family tree is from the Anglo Scottish borders. I myself am descended from the Hedleys of Redesdale, my ancestor fleeing here following the English Civil War. Likewise, many other border clans are present in my family tree; Armstrong, Scott, Glendening, Reed - the list goes on.

Ever since I've learned this bit of history, I always found it funny how we moved from one lawless land to another.

[smartacus]

Some of us here in Appalachia know our peoples story. Born fighting! A resistance exists in my blood that i never understood until i knew who's blood flows in my veins!

[charlesarmstrong]

Thank you for your erudite and accurate background to the Border Reivers. As descendants of a Border Reiver family, I thank you on our behalf, for making the subject so easy to relate to the next generation.

[terrielburrell]

Thank you! Doing my genealogy I discovered my family, the Burrells, are an ancient family from Northumberland and Berwick. We are Boernician and called the Border People. My first ancestor to America was in 1625/1635 to Massachusetts. I discovered that this was too early for the crackdown by King James, so not sure why he came over so early.

[zachester]

My family (Elliot) lived in Liddesdale before moving to Ulster under James VI and then finally to the US. It makes sense we settled in Oklahoma in 1800's considering we had a tendency to thrive in chaos.

[gypsyjunklady]

I was born and raised and still reside in a town called "Hell on the Border" in Arkansas. I'm five minutes from Oklahoma which was "Indian Territory" and a totally lawless land. Everything you described about the way of life for these border peoples and the way that morality changed to suit and make people loyal to themselves alone and family names being very pivotal in commanding respect or otherwise is still a mentality that rules where I live today in many many ways. I am excited about this series because I'm of Scotts Irish and English heritage myself on my mother's side and they all came here from West Virginia in the early 1900's although their families came in the 1500's from the clearances of Scotland. That's a Scottish lambswool Henderson plaid scarf made in Oban that you see around my neck in my profile picture because I had a beau that lived on the Isle of Seil several years back and he sent it to me from a 200 year old stone cottage 40 meters from the sea. It smelled like heaven and so familiar even though I've never seen an ocean in my life. I feel that preserving this history and keeping the old ways and language and culture alive is a big part of my life's purpose. I know someday I'll see the lands that made my ancestors and myself so strong. x

[pyropugs]

Clan Elliot here. From the reiver region. Lost of very interesting family history

[yearofthegarden]

I love hearing this type of history, my family comes from a reiver clan, and i like to pretend some of my tenancies are lingering genetic habits from this era of my ancestors

[Shagrat]

Lovely video mate. Kinmont Willie rescue from Corbies Nest by Bold Buccleuch, Bastard Heron's wild charge which rescued Howard at Flodden, Jock Pott the Bastard, the Hot Trod, Bastles, towers and Peles, Spur on the Dish, Moss Troopers and of course 'Steill Bonnett, Jak and Hobbler - those names/things are ingrained in my brain from studying the Borders. Angus McBride's artwork of the Borderers is some of my all time favorites (I see you have a picture of his 'Hot Trod at 5.20)
I love the account of Piccolomini of a border village in the 1430's. He shared a meal, and once evening came the men folk went to the Pele to wait an incoming raid. The Italian then enquired that do the women not fear attack - to which they replied 'we do not count rape as harm' - which indicated what a hard life is was up there as raid and counter raid was a daily occurrence. They were tougher than old leather those folk!

[matthewpatrick]

Great video. It's fascinating to see the parallels of the border reivers and their descendants who settled the backwoods in America. The Hatfields and McCoys are just another clan-feud.

[charlesarmstrong]

Just wonderful finding this gem. Thank you!! As descendants of the Armstrong Clan, my sons and I are looking forward to this series.

[scotti]

Great content mate descend from border reivers myself it's interesting history

[willinnewhaven]

i see several ancestral Border Collies in the excellent illustrations. A nice touch

[johnnyhaigs]

You should tie this into their legacy, being both the Ulster-Scots of the Plantations, as well as the people of the Appalachians. Both are rather erroneously known as "Scots-Irish", sadly obfuscating their Borderer origins.

[steveelliott]

Great series. There are many fortified farmhouses in Cumbria/North Lancs.There is a piel tower still in Dalton-in-Furness. Might be worth another chapter in your excellent series. I was born in Barrow-in-Furness and there are many families with border names in and around the town.

[WillowEtain]

Descendent of Clan Bell here, thank you!

[themanofyorke]

Great historical video! I love Border History, ever since I read the great book "Steel Bonnets" it sounds like you did a lot of research for this video, well done mate! Keep them coming!

[oldboy]

Being from Saint John, New Brunswick Canada I recognized almost all of the names on the register of reiver families as living in the city. The province has long been a home of exiles from reivers and Jacobites to British loyalists in the American Revolution and one of the largest dumping grounds of Irish immigrants during the famine which resulted in one of the largest urban riots in North American history. Thousands died on a small island used as a quarantine center from that time just off in the Bay and kids still sneak out there to scour it's ruins. Ironically there a stone memorial made by the orange order of Canada. All quietly forgotten for the most part but even on my childhood the city was fiercely carved between different geographical areas where the different ethnic groups had settled. Most have forgotten why they dislike and fight eachother but the still did. I didn't think much of it until I left and look back in hindsight.

[comesahorseman]

A fine history lesson, thank you!
Now, if I may.... No more brother wars, people! Our folk simply can't afford them these days! 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿🇺🇲