The reiver Lang Sandy Armstrong was over six feet tall, which was a huge height 400 years ago. He and his family lived in a tower house in the nearby fields but the early 17th century took a terrible toll. In 1603, Scotland’s King, James VI, went south to become King James 1st of England, and the reiving that had once been acceptable on the edges of his land was no longer so in the middle of his new kingdom.

In the so-called ‘pacification’ of the borders, reivers were rounded up. Armstrongs, Elliots, Grahams, Littles and others... they were either killed, shipped to Northern Ireland, or sent to fight in Europe. Lang Sandy was hanged - along with his 11 sons. Clans like the Armstrongs and Grahams resisted to the end and lost everything. Others, like the Scotts and Johnstones, put down the sword, picked up the pen and became lawyers and politicians - and later aristocrats and landowners.

Did you know?
The reivers have been called the ‘Steel Bonnets’ because of their pointed metal helmets. But to be able to ride and raid they could no longer wear the heavy armour of the past. Instead men wore thigh-high riding boots and a jack, which was a quilted coat made of strong leather. It was light, but effective against sword pricks. Longbows, arrows and crossbows were used, as were lances, swords and dirks, or daggers. Reivers often carried 16-foot long pikes. Pistols were used towards the end of the 16th century, but they could be just as dangerous to the man who fired them.

'To the men that hangit the theves in Canonbie,
be the Kingis command, 13 shillings’

Because the border was not defined, riders might carry two flags in their saddlebag – an English one and a Scottish one – in case they were captured by the wrong side. If caught they could be killed. The area was littered with gallows and hanging was an everyday event. Beheading also took place and drowning was a cheap way to dispatch someone. Hanging took some effort and organisation, but on one day 36 Armstrongs went to the gallows here.

The Debateable Land
Rowanburn and Canonbie are a few miles from Scots Dike, which sits on the border with England. Today there is an official divide between the two countries, but in reiving times, the borderline could literally move. Scots Dike is in what was called the Debateable Land - debateable because no-one could decide whether it belonged to England or Scotland. This area offered shelter to outlaws and at one stage anyone was free to rob and kill within its boundaries. The authorities hoped it would discourage people from living there. In 1552 the disputed land was cut in two and a trench and bank were erected to show a proper divide.

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