Carey himself was a very capable Warden, not only did the assessment of his character show this, but also his actions. Carey seems to have been of strong character who both knew his job and how to go about it. On entering the March Carey quickly realised that the reivers would only be contained by a firm hand, where hanging and strict rule were the only measures they would respond to. This is not because Carey enjoyed capturing outlaws in order to execute them, merely that he recognised the only thing that would work was for the reivers to see justice done.

Synopsis Only one period in history is immediately, indelibly and uniquely linked to the whole area of the Scottish and English Border country, and that is the time of the Reivers. Whenever anyone mentions ‘Reiver’, no-one hesitates to add ‘Border’. It is an inextricable association, and rightly so. Nowhere else in Britain in the modern […]

There are not many books that focus solely on the the History of the Borders and the Reivers in particular. However, there are some classic texts which any Reiver enthusiast or researchers should read. Unfortunately, many of the books that form the core of this sites content are not easily available beyond university libraries or […]

The Steel Bonnets: Story of the Anglo-Scottish Border Reivers The definitive guide to the lives and times of the Border Reivers.  If you only read one book on the Border Reivers this is the one to go for. Well written and accessible it is the perfect introduction and companion to the History of the region. This is a traditional solid history […]

Solway Moss is possibly most notable for a staging ground of a remarkable victory for the English against the Scots. Leading up to the battle was an escalation of raids incited by the respective governments. There was an increase in reprisal raids most notably resulting in a raid by Robert Bowes the English East March […]

This is our cool new feature – the photo history tour. Take a pictorial tour of the borders and their history. To see individual entries in this section chose an entry from the list below.

Hermitage Castle resides in the small valley of the Hermitage Water in Liddesdale, that turbulent Reiver infested haunt. The name is said to derive from a holy man whom lived within the valley long before the castle was ever built. What that holy man would make of the ruin which stands even today is questionable. […]

In this chapter Sir Robert Carey’s Middle March Wardenship of 1598-1603 will be examined, in an attempt to assess the effectiveness of his rule. This will be achieved by looking at the main events which occurred during his time as Warden, and then relating Carey’s actions to the laws covered in the previous chapter. When […]

This chapter will now outline the laws by which Sir Robert Carey would rule, and then say something of the Commission of 1597. ((The Commission of 1597 was the last of the Commissions to be set up before the Union of the Crowns, and the 36 clauses printed in W. Nicolson, (1747), Leges Marchiarum, have […]

Part II – Sir Robert CareyBefore looking at the powers and effectiveness of Sir Robert Carey, his background and personality will be examined. The reason for looking at Carey’s character is that no matter what laws there were, the effectiveness of his rule cannot be examined without assessing whether he himself was capable of being […]