 The Wild West conjures up images of American cowboys in Hollywood films, yet the term can equally be applied to the Scottish border land region on the Scottish English border. A wild place historically, but I can assure you the weather is better in California. The border weavers were raiders along the Anglo-Scottish border from the 13th to the 17th century. They have little regard for nationality and were made up of both Scottish and English people. Rheave literally means to raid rob and plunder. Raids usually took place within a day's ride of the border area, with English raiders hitting as far as the outskirts of Edinburgh. Today I've came to smell on Tewor, a peal Tewor just west of Kelso in the Scottish borders. Standing at over 20 metres tall, the Tewor was built by Clan Pringle in the 15th century and it served as a watch Tewor to look out for English attacks, where fires were lit on the approach of the English army. It also served as a safe house in the land of the border weavers. In 1544 Northumberland raiders would raid this area, stealing over 700 cattle, 104 horses and over 100 prisoners. The Tewor would also go on to inspire Sir Walter Scott, who stayed nearby in his grandparents' farmhouse when he was recovering from polio when he was a wee laddie. Scott, in fact, may be the one who coined the term border ravers. The borderland region in general between Scotland and England became such a lawless and wild area, because every time war broke out between Scotland and England, which was pretty common for hundreds of years, the borderland would be completely devastated. This meant that there was little incentive to farm. As I go to the border of farming, if it was going to get destroyed every couple of years by troops burning and raiding through the lands. Loyalty here was to your clan or your kindred, as opposed to any nationality or royal authority. As capitals and royal courts were a long way from the borderland, the devastation caused by wars in these lands led to a violent and unstable region. After all, fire breeds fire. Some notable clans in the borderland region include Clan Johnston, known to keep watch of English advances along the Anglo-Scottish border. Clan Elliot was another notable Scottish clan in the borderland region, known to be one of the wildest clans in this whole area. Another major clan of the borderland region was Armstrong. One notable border reaver was a man called Willie Armstrong of Kinmont, a man who had his own great escape story. During a truce in the borderland region in 1596, Willie was captured by two English soldiers who flaunted the rules of the truce. Willie was taken in chains to Carlyle and spent over a month as a prisoner after initially trying to diplomatically get Willie out of prison. The keeper of Lindusdale, along with 80 men, broke Willie out of prison, probably bribing a guard inside the castle to let Willie escape. Willie is thought to have died as an old man in his bed years after this event. Other popular border surnames include Robson, Dixon and Bell. Rades were carried out by gangs of anywhere between a few dozen and a few thousand raiders for more organised campaigns. The raiders wore light armour and metal helmets, hence their nickname Steel Bonnets, and carried small shields, swords, lances, longbows and light crossbows and later pistols. Royal authority to the reavers was ambiguous at times. On one hand, they offered a first line of defence against invading armies over the border, but on the other, their lawlessness and ill-discipline went too far at times. Given their skills as light cavalry, the border ravers were employed as mercenaries, serving in both the English and Scottish armies and places such as Belgium and the Netherlands at different points. Their discipline and loyalty was always in question, however. A funny account took place at the Battle of Pinky in 1547, the last-pitch battle between Scotland and England before the Union of the Crowns. Scottish and English borderers, meant to be on the opposite sides of the war, were seen chatting to each other before putting a spirited show on once they realised they had been spotted. The border region, known as the Marshes, even went on to develop its own legal system called Marsh or Border Law. Under Border Law, a person who had been raided had the right to mount a counter raid within six days, even across the border, to recover the goods that had been stolen. The borderland in general was divided into marshes, with a marsh warden in charge of each area, although they were often involved in raids themselves. In the late 15th, early 16th centuries, royal authority had had enough of the border ravers. Violence and instability had reached a pitch and some even suggested rebuilding Hadrian's Wall to impose order in this area. During the reign of James VI, also known as James I, joint ruler of the Scottish English and Irish Thrones from 1603, border law was abolished and even the term borders was replaced in favour of Middle Shires. Reavers were punished and in 1605, a commission was formed. In the first year of the commission's existence, 79 people were executed, with many more going on to be hung. Borderers on both sides of the border would then be moved into Ireland during the Ulster plantation of the early 17th century, and many more ended up in America. If you can't beat them, move them, may have been the mammal going round the royal court. When you think of wild clans in Scotland, the Highlands may be what comes to mind. The borderland, however, may have been even more wild at various points down through history. Thanks for watching. If you would like to support this work through Patreon, PayPal, buymeacoffee.com, or by using the Amazon links, please find them all in the description below. Please subscribe, hit the bell and like this video. Please also tell your friends and family about this channel. Thanks again for watching and I'll speak to you next time.