LIDDESDALE LIMMERS.
"_Wicked thieves and limmers._"
ACT OF PARLIAMENT.
"Thir limmer thieves, they have good hearts, They nevir think to be o"erthrown; Three banners against Weardale men they bare, As if the world had been their own."
ROOKHOPE RYDE.
Though reiving may be said to have been a characteristic of the inhabitants along the whole Border line from Berwick to the Solway, yet it was only in the district known as Liddesdale where it attained, what we might designate, its complete development as a thoroughly organized system. This part of Roxburghshire is, to a certain extent, detached from the rest of the county by reason of the fact that it lies south of the range of hills which form the watershed between the Solway and the German Ocean. This picturesque and interesting district, so famous in Border song and story, is of a somewhat triangular shape, and at present forms one of the largest parishes in the south of Scotland, measuring some twenty miles by fourteen. It is bounded by England on the south, by Dumfriesshire on the west, and by the parishes of Teviothead, Hobkirk, and Southdean on the north. The upper, or northern, portion is mountainous and bleak. Some of the hills along its boundaries are high and precipitous, the lofty peaks of Millenwood Fell and Windhead attaining an elevation of close on 2000 feet. Tudhope hill, which forms a landmark for ships at sea, is 1830 feet high. The lower end of the district is less mountainous, but the whole country is wild and bare, except in the valleys, which are clothed in the richest green, and are sunny and sheltered.
Along the banks of the Hermitage and the Liddle--the latter stream giving its name to the district--the keeps and peels of the Border reivers were thickly and picturesquely planted. These towers, many of which have been happily preserved, form one of the most striking features of the Border landscape. As a general rule they were built in some situation of great natural strength, on a precipice, or close to the banks of a stream, or surrounded by woods and mora.s.ses, which made them difficult of access. The position in which they were generally placed indicated at a glance the pursuits and apprehensions of their inhabitants. It is said that when James VI. approached the castle of Lochwood, the ancient seat of the Johnstones, he exclaimed that "the man who built it must have been a knave in his heart."
The princ.i.p.al part of these strongholds consisted of a large square tower, called a "keep," having walls of immense thickness, which could be easily defended against any sudden or desultory a.s.sault. The residencies of the inferior Chiefs, called "peels" or "bastel-houses," were generally built on a much smaller scale, and consisted merely of a high square tower, surrounded by an outer wall, which served as a protection for cattle at night. In these places the rooms were placed, one above the other, and connected by a narrow stair, which was easily blocked up or defended, so that it was possible for the garrison to hold out for a considerable period, even after the lower storey had been taken possession of by the enemy. In such circ.u.mstances the usual device was for the a.s.sailants to heap together quant.i.ties of wetted straw, and set fire to it in order to drive the defenders from storey to storey, and thus compel them to surrender.
"In each village or town," says Sir Walter Scott, "were several small towers having battlements projecting over the side walls, and usually an advanced angle or two, with shot-holes for flanking the doorway, which was always defended by a strong door of oak, studded with nails, and often by an interior door of iron. These small peel-houses were ordinarily inhabited by the princ.i.p.al feuars and their families. Upon the alarm of approaching danger, the whole inhabitants thronged from their miserable cottages, which were situated around, to garrison these places of defence. It was then no easy matter for an hostile party to penetrate into the village, for the men were habituated to the use of bow and fire-arms; and the towers being generally so placed that the discharge from one crossed that from another, it was impossible to a.s.sault any of them individually."
In the middle of the sixteenth century there were no fewer than sixteen of these bastel-houses in the village of Lessudden, a fact which shows that the inhabitants of the Border were compelled to live under somewhat peculiar conditions. To follow the ordinary occupations of life was, in most cases, all but impossible.
One of the most important strongholds on the Borders was Hermitage, a well-built castle, placed near the watershed, on the banks of a swift-flowing mountain stream--the Hermitage water, which joins the Liddle a little above the village of Newcastleton. This famous Border tower was built and fortified by Walter, Earl of Menteith, in the beginning of the thirteenth century. It was a royal fortress, built and maintained for the defence of the Kingdom. Numerous interesting a.s.sociations cl.u.s.ter around its mouldering walls. It has, unhappily, been the scene of many a blood-curdling tragedy. Could its ma.s.sive walls only recount the deeds which have been done under their shadow, they would many a strange tale unfold. Hermitage was long a.s.sociated with the name of Lord Soulis, a fiend in human form, whose crimes have been painted in blackest hues, and to whom tradition has ascribed almost every conceivable kind and degree of wickedness. He seems, at least, to have been utterly dest.i.tute of the divine quality of mercy.
"The axe he bears, it hacks and tears; "Tis form"d of an earth-fast flint; No armour of knight, tho" ever so wight, Can bear its deadly dint.
No danger he fears, for a charm"d sword he wears, Of adderstone the hilt; No Tynedale knight had ever such might, But his heart-blood was spilt."
He invited the young laird of Mangerton to a feast, and treacherously murdered him. The "Cout of Keeldar," also, was drowned by the retainers of Lord Soulis in a pool near the castle, being held down in the water by the spears of his murderers.
"And now young Keeldar reach"d the stream, Above the foamy linn; The Border lances round him gleam, And force the warrior in.
The holly floated to the side, And the leaf on the rowan pale; Alas! no spell could charm the tide, Nor the lance of Liddesdale.
Swift was the Cout o" Keeldar"s course Along the lily lee; But home came never hound nor horse, And never home came he.
Where weeps the birch with branches green, Without the holy ground, Between two old gray stones is seen The warrior"s ridgy mound.
And the hunters bold, of Keeldar"s train, Within yon castle"s wall, In a deadly sleep must aye remain, Till the ruin"d towers down fall.
Each in his hunter"s garb array"d, Each holds his bugle horn; Their keen hounds at their feet are laid That ne"er shall wake the morn."
Tradition says that, when the people complained to the King of the atrocities committed by Lord Soulis, he said to them in a fit of irritation--"Go, boil Lord Soulis and ye list, but let me hear no more of him." No sooner said than done--
"On a circle of stones they placed the pot, On a circle of stones but barely nine; They heated it red and fiery hot, Till the burnish"d bra.s.s did glimmer and shine.
They roll"d him up in a sheet of lead, A sheet of lead for a funeral pall; They plunged him in the cauldron red, And melted him, lead, and bones and all.
At the Skelfhill, the cauldron still The men of Liddesdale can show; And on the spot where they boil"d the pot The spreat and the deer-hair ne"er shall grow."
At a place called the "Nine Stane Rig" there may still be seen a circle of stones where it is supposed this gruesome tragedy was enacted. The "cauldron red," in which Lord Soulis was boiled, is now in the possession of the Duke of Buccleuch. The Nine Stane Rig derived its name from an old Druidical circle of upright stones, nine of which remained to a late period. Two of these are particularly pointed out as those that supported the iron bar upon which the fatal cauldron was suspended.
The castle of Hermitage ultimately pa.s.sed into the possession of the Dougla.s.ses, and became the princ.i.p.al stronghold of the "Black Knight of Liddisdale," a natural son of the good Lord James Douglas, the trusted friend and companion of Bruce. In the year 1342 it was the scene of the following terrible tragedy:
Sir Alexander Ramsay of Dalhousie, a brave and patriotic Scottish baron, who had specially distinguished himself in the wars with England, was appointed governor of the castle of Roxburgh and Sheriff of Teviotdale.
Douglas, who had formerly held the office of Sheriff, was enraged when he heard what had occurred, and vowed revenge against Ramsay, his old companion in arms. He came suddenly upon him with a strong party of his va.s.sals while he was holding his court in the church of Hawick. Ramsay, suspecting no harm, invited Douglas to take a seat beside him. The ferocious warrior, drawing his sword, rushed upon his victim, wounded him, threw him across his horse, and carried him off to the remote and inaccessible castle of Hermitage. There he was thrown into a dungeon, and left to perish of hunger. It is said that his miserable existence was prolonged for seventeen days by some particles of corn which fell from a granary above his prison. Tytler, in commenting on this abominable crime, justly remarks:--"It is a melancholy reflection that a fate so horrid befell one of the bravest and most popular leaders of the Scottish nation, and that the deed not only pa.s.sed unrevenged, but that its perpetrator received a speedy pardon, and was rewarded by the office which led to the murder."
In later times Hermitage is chiefly a.s.sociated with the names of Bothwell and Buccleuch. It is still in the possession of the latter n.o.ble family, and is one of the most interesting of all the old Border castles.
In the olden time Liddesdale was chiefly inhabited by two numerous and powerful families--the Armstrongs and the Elliots. The laird of Mangerton was the head of the former, and the laird of Redheugh of the latter. Both families were, almost without exception, notorious freebooters. Reiving was the business of their lives. They were inspired, if not with a n.o.ble, at least with an overmastering enthusiasm for their nefarious calling.
They were strongly of opinion that all property was common by the law of nature, and that the greatest thief was the man who had the presumption to call anything his own! Might was right.
"They may take who have the power, And they may keep who can."
It was, no doubt, a simple rule, but the consequences resulting from its application were not always of an agreeable description.
It is said that the original name of the Armstrongs was _Fairbairn_, and that the change of name was brought about by a curious incident. The King on one occasion asked a Fairbairn to help him to mount his horse.
Stretching out his arm, he caught the King by the thigh, and lifted him into his saddle. From henceforth he was known by the name of _Armstrong_.
The name "Elliot" has undergone considerable changes. It is spelled in some of the older doc.u.ments in at least seventy or eighty different ways, the most common being Ellwood, Elwald, Elwand, h.e.l.lwodd, Halliot, Allat, Elliot. It is remarkable that in many districts in the south of Scotland the name is still p.r.o.nounced "Allat," though this is one of the older forms in which it appears.
The Elliots and Armstrongs and other inhabitants of Liddesdale attained an unenviable notoriety. The picture which Maitland has drawn of these "Liddesdale Limmers" may be here and there too highly coloured; yet those who are most familiar with the facts of Border history will be the first to admit that it is, on the whole, a fairly accurate description. It is ent.i.tled, "A Complaynt against the Thieves of Liddesdale"--
"Of Liddesdale the common thieves, Sae pertly steals now and reives, That nane may keep Horse, nolt, nor sheep For their mischieves.
They plainly through the country rides, I trow the mickle devil them guides, Where they onset Ay in their gait, There is no yett, Nor door them bides.
They leave richt nocht wherever they gae; There can nae thing be hid them frae; For gif men wald Their houses hald, Then wax they bald To burn and slay.
They thieves hae near hand herrit hail, Ettrick Forest and Lauderdale; Now are they gane To Lothiane, And spares nane That they will wail.
Bot common taking of blackmail, They that had flesh, and bread, and ale, Now are sae wrackit, Made bare and naikit, Fain to be slaikit, With water caill.
They thieves that steals and turses[67] hame, Ilk ane o" them has ane to-name, Will i" the Laws, Hab o" the Shaws, To mak bare wa"s They think nae shame.
They spulyie puir men o" their packs, They leave them nocht on bed or balks,[68]
Baith hen and c.o.c.k, With reel and rock, The Laird"s jock, All with him taks.
They leave not spindle, spoon, nor speit, Bed, blanket, bolster, sark, nor sheet, John o" the Park Rypes kist and ark; For all sic wark He is richt meet.
He is weel kenned, Jock o" the Syde-- A greater thief did never ride; He never tires For to break byres; O"er muir and mires, Ower guid ane guid.
Of stouth though now they come guid speed, That nother of G.o.d or man has dread; Yet or I dee, Some shall them see Hing on a tree, While they be dead."
It is evident from this graphic account that these "Liddesdale limmers"
were not particular as to their booty. They carried off everything that came to hand, on the principle, perhaps, that if they had no particular use for some of the things they appropriated, they were at least leaving their enemies poorer than when they found them. We read of one John Foster of Heathpool, servant to Sir John Foster, complaining of John Elliot of the Heughehouse, Clement Croser, "Martin"s Clemye," John Croser, "Eddie"s John," Gib Foster of Fowlesheiles, &c., to the number of thirty, "who stole six oxen, 6 kye, 4 young nowte, ane horse, a nag, a sword, a steil cap, a dagger and knives, 2 spears, 2 dublets, 2 pair of breeches, a cloke, a jerkyne, a woman"s kertle and a pair of sleaves, 9 kerchers, 7 railes, 7 partlettes, 5 pair of line(n) sheitis, 2 coverlettes; 2 lynne sheits; a purs and 6/- in monie; a woman"s purs and 2 silke rybbons; a windinge clothe; a feather bed; a cawdron, a panne, 4 bond of hempe, a pair of wool cards, 4 children"s coates, &c., &c."[69]
The list of goods here "appropriated" by John Elliot and his friends is an interesting one, as it shows "that all was fish that came to their net"--not even the "winding cloth" being discarded when ransacking the house. We also find an account of one Robert Rutherford of Todlaw producing a "remission for art and part of the theft of certain cuschies of silk, sheits, fustiane, linen cloths, scarfs, fustiane, scarfs, and other clothes, furth of the Kirk of Jedworthe--Robert Turnbull of Blindhalche becoming surety to satisfy parties."[70] Sacrilege was of frequent occurrence. We also find the following entry in Pitcairn:--"Remission to Edward Tayt, for the thiftwise breking of the Kirk of Hendirland, and takin away of certaine guids, gold and silver, fra Sir Wilzeame Jurdane." This happened in the year 1493, which points to the fact that at that date the church of Henderland, which stood on the rounded eminence near Henderland farm house, where "Perys and Marjorie c.o.c.kburn" have found their last resting place, was then in existence. This place of worship must have disappeared about the time of the Reformation.