[MR] Wikipedia: Raid of the Redeswire

[Garth Groff via Atlantia]

Noble Friends,

On this date in 1575 the English and the Scots fought at a battle called 
the Raid of the Redeswire. This is said to be the last major battle 
between England and Scotland, which it wasn't (think of the English 
Civil War and the several Jacobite Rebellions). It wasn't really a raid 
either, but rather a truce meeting which went wrong. And it wasn't even 
fought in Redeswire. (Sigh!) So much for "history". What is fact is that 
the Scots won handily: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Raid_of_the_Redeswire .

The Raid of Redeswire was part of the hundred or so years of raids and 
counter-raids by the "reivers", families from both England and Scotland 
who regularly rode against one another in large-scale organized theft, 
with a dash of feuding and personal revenge thrown in. The main 
objective was to "lift" cattle, which were wealth, plus other livestock 
and anything else that wasn't nailed down. Among the famous "riding" 
families were Armestrongs (Armstrongs), Bells, Elliots, Grames 
(Grahams), Scotts, and Nixons. The three Scots "Wardens of the Marches" 
and their three English counterparts, where supposed to keep the peace 
and punish malefactors. Many of the march wardens were themselves deeply 
involved in the raiding. When James VI of Scotland also became James I 
of England, he put a stop to the raiding by hanging many of the leaders 
and deporting their families to Ulster. You can read more about the 
Reivers here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Border_Reivers .

Yours Aye,


Lord Mungo Napier, That Crazy Scots