Border reiver names note that other names may be associated with reivers for almost 400 years, from the early 14th century, the english and scottish families fought a seemingly endless series of raids and reprisals. Many families with reiver names can be found on both sides of the border. Thousands of people living in northern ireland and the border counties of cavan, monaghan and donegal still bear the family names of reivers. Middle ages angloscottish border reivers weapons and. Many ulsterscots scotsirish are descended from these border reivers. Discover your dna story and unlock the secrets of your ancestry and genealogy with our dna kits for ancestry and the worlds most comprehensive dna database.
Tree dna, from private contributions, and from public haplotype databases such as ysearch and. The border reivers were not necessarily men of lower class. The reivers came from families who rode with the moonlight with their lang spears and their steill bonnets. On the scottish border the clan system was stronger than on the english side. October 31, 2015 march 25, 2020 adminaa border reivers.
In an act of the scottish parliament of 1587 there is the description of the chiftanis. The name robson is closely associated with northumberland and durham and was the name of a northumbrian grayne or family tribe which inhabited the valley of north tynedale in the elizabethan days of the border reivers. Blood relationship in scotland meant that loyalty was shown to the head of the family. If your surname is armstrong, maxwell, johnston, graham, bell, scott, nixon, kerr, crozier or robson then your family history, just like the astronaut neil armstrongs, may very well be intertwined with the border reivers. These are recorded in the calendar of border papers. Rugged families of the englishscottish borderland from the middle ages, cattle rustlers, mercenaries and tough. Williamson coat of arms and williamson family crest.
All the family names of the border reivers, whose first allegiance was to their family s surname, are on a list kept in carlisle, on the english side of the border. Border reivers clan names cumberland page 1 rootschat. The arms attributed to the principal family are in the nature of canting, or punning, heraldry, alluding to the pronunciation of the name rather than its origin. The reivers were violent sheep rustling families whose allegiance was first and foremost to their. Border reivers border names kindly contributed by linda bruce caron.
Border inhabitants, commoner and aristocrat alike, lived through intermittent warfare, violent religious reforms, and periods of famine and pestilence. The suggestion that it relates to living beside a bell tower seems far fetched. The institutions of reiver society were slowly taking shape. Many of the northumbrians involved in the rebellion also had traditionally border reiver family names, including forster and charlton i also have both in my ancestry. Our carruthers ancestors were once again thrown into a world of history, where they were called upon to be a warrior. See also border reivers for the historical background. This may have been because of the frequency of fighting not only against the auld enemy of england but amongst other scottish families. Armstrong, elliot, graham, irvine, johnstone, kerr, maxwell, nixon and scott were among the families who rode, feuded, fought and plundered. Scattered throughout the world are the descendants of the families who lived in the angloscottish borders during the times of the border reivers. The steel bonnets by george macdonald fraser is now in my top five history books of all time.
There were three on ech side of the border east, middle and west. If you are curious about this project beyond the raw dna results available from the menu, please visit the original website at the url below. Despite discouragement by both governments, intermarriages of scots and english were common. The bloody bush sosct route takes its name from the stone pillar at the englandscotland border which you will see marked on the map as bloody bush. The entry within the papers is entitled the names on the marches. The bells participated in the borders disturbances as one of the riding clans of border reivers. If your family name belongs to one of the british border reiver clans then its almost a certainty. I have always had an interest in the border reivers as my family, the trotters, were a reiving clan in the eastern march.
You just have to take a look at the bt northern ireland phone book to see how prolific the reiver descendents are here with names such as elliot, armstrong, beattie, bell, hume, heron, to name but a few. I think its safe to assume that the charltons in my family are descendants of the border revier charlton family. Border names and clan status the border families can be referred to as clans, as the scots themselves appear to have used both terms interchangeably until the 19th century. Note that other names may be associated with reivers. From the 14th to the 17th centuries, the border was a turbulent place. For over 150 years the border lands of england and scotland were held in the grip of the some of historys most ruthless clans the border reivers. Raiders stole cattle and women, burned homes and farms and killed rivals without mercy. My family name, the reivers and ulster belfast forum. They reigned along the borders of england and scotland from 10461603.
It links the waverley way which runs south of hawick east across the border to kielder forest in northumberland. Many families in the usa, canada, australia and new zealand can trace their family tree back to the border reivers have you got a border reiver surname in your family tree. And, if you do share one of these surnames, you may be advised not to read. One of the most powerful families in the whole border, both as reivers and as officers. These marches were, and had been,the haunt of the same family for centuries. They were excellent fighters and knew how to survive in a desolate land. You can peruse past postings and search for specific informsation without joining anything.
You will find some amazing old documents transcribed even the full story behind the 17 unruly border clans in 1587. For almost 400 years, from the early 14th century, the english and scottish families fought a seemingly endless series of raids and reprisals. If you know about your clans history and are proud of it then please step forward and write your part for all to hear. Border reiver dna by surname allison to irvine border reiver dna by haplogroup border reiver deep ancestry haplogroup percentages by surname jackson to young only click on clan to read clan history, project to view dna project, and data to see surname entries in the data table surname. Please do not join unless you have a listed surname or that surname spelling variants are acceptable is in your family tree. I have looked on a roll of surnames that were members of the border reiver clans.
Another famous border name emerged in the early fourteenth century. There is more data available for some of these surnames, but that is owned by other surname. I know many border families were forced off thier land, and some that. Famous descendants include neil armstrong, richard nixon and alexander graham bell. There are some very good sites available on reivers, reiver surnames, and border history, but strangely they are all being run by enthusiasts, whose time is limited by the constraints of actually having to make a. A prominent figure was william, 4th baron widdrington, whose title came from the place name widdrington, which is where my most recent scottish. The family groupgrayne or clan we are looking at is the one that came from the eskdale valley and is a descendant of the border reivers or riding clans. A few years ago, i wandered into a genealogy tent at a country fair. Many of these family were themselves reivers and almost all of them suffered through reiving. Carruthers clan int society ccis promptus et fidelis. Douglas is the name of an ancient and once very powerful family in scotland, long the rival of royalty. We have gathered the data displayed on these pages from the border reivers dna project at family. These clans and families lived in the and angloscottish borders during the times.
And, if you do share one of these surnames, you may be advised not to read on the story of the reivers dates from the 14th century and continued through. The site is also searchable by typing your family name into the search bar in the top right hand corner. Williamson family crest, coat of arms and name history. And so the border peasant, through adversity and necessity, stole where he could and became one of the border reivers. Their ranks consisted of both scottish and english people, and they raided the entire border country without regard to their victims nationality. If your family has roots as one of the infamous border reivers clans these are the people who are celebrated in mark knopflers. The reiver period is roughly categorised as 1450 1610. Border reivers were active in the scottish interdistrict championship from 1996 to 1998 and in the celtic league, celtic cup and heineken cup from 2002 until 2007, when, as part of the scottish rugby unions costcutting measures, they were disbanded. History of routledge surname 15th to 18th centuries. The family clans of the border hills took advantage of the struggle between the two kingdoms to live in a state of semilawlessness. The border people on both sides of the border line, though, were hard and obdurate and did not lie down in such adversity. Learn about the history of this surname and heraldry from our database and online image library.
From the 14th to 16th centuries, the border regions of england and scotland became a permanent battleground. The border marches, reiver surnames, heraldry, and place. A fascinating read which really dissects the subject at hand. Mailing lists provide a useful means of obtaining family history information. Border reivers were raiders along the angloscottish border from the late th century to the beginning of the 17th century. Border reiver surnames of the angloscottish border. There are 77 predominant family names who can claim to have been reivers. Family names such as armstrong, bell, elliott, and others were found in england as well as scotland during the reiving years. The names of the border reivers live on through their descendants who now live worldwide following the pacification of the english scottish border people after 1603. Their heyday was in the last hundred years of their existence, during the time of the house of stuart in the kingdom of. History of routledge surname 15th to 18th centuries jump to.
The strongest family in the scottish west march until the johnstones reduced their power in the 16th century. The border reivers were fiercely independent families who stood up for themselves and looked after their own. The border reivers info page put together by a descendant of the border reiver potts family lived on the english side of the border. A must for armstrongs, robsons, charltons, halls, elliots and turnbulls everywhere and for many others across the world who share a border reiver surname. The first recorded spelling of the family name is shown to be that of arnald.
The border reiver heritage society needs dedicated descendants to help write your clans history for us to showcase on the website. Despite my family originating from stapleton and living within. Indeed it was a common occurrence for english families to side with scottish families in border feuds, especially as some of the reiver surnames, like armstrong. Hold on to the name werksworth, because it will become much more evident that this name is key to who is betti. This was an english family although the name appears in southwestern scotland. Armstrong, elliot, graham, irvine, johnstone, kerr, maxwell, nixon and scott were among the families who rode, feuded, fought and plundered over the border area for 350 years. In july 1583 the principal gentlemen and surnames in each march were named. Border reivers were raiders along the angloscottish border from the late th century to the end of the 16th century.