This, of course, assumed that both attacker an defender were right-handed, which most were.
Left-handed swordsman, though rare, had the advantage of surprise when attacking out-in-the-open – they had fought (and trained against) more right-handed opponents than their adversary had fought left-handed opponents. Their attack when ascending standard spiral staircases was also not blocked by the wall.
The warlike Clan Kerr trained to use their weapons with their left hands. Scottish Poet James Hogg (1770-1835) wrote, in The Raid of the Kerrs:
But the Kerrs were aye the deadliest foes
That e'er to Englishmen were known
For they were all bred left handed men
And fence [defence] against them there was none
and Walter Laidlaw wrote, in The Reprisal:
So well the Kerrs their left-hands ply
The dead and dying round them lie
Legend has it that, to allow them to more easily defend Ferniehirst Castle – seat of the Clan Kerr – the staircase was built spiralling in the other direction.
Is this true? Certainly, the castle does feature a reverse spiral staircase, but a 1993 study found no increased incidence of left-handedness in Kerrs.
The Westford Knight
By Donald Cuthill
What is claimed as a carving on a glacial boulder in the town of Westford, in Massachusetts, USA, is argued to be proof that an expedition, led by Henry Sinclair, Earl of Orkney, landed on the North American continent almost 100 years before Christopher Columbus.
The 'carving' is subject to much speculation over its authenticity, but it is said to depict a Medieval knight with sword and shield who was a fallen member of Sinclair's party who travelled to the 'New World' in 1398.
The story goes that in early April 1398 Henry Sinclair set sail, heading west with a fleet of 13 small vessels; two of which were driven by oars. They made it across to North America by the start of June; sailing into Chedabucto Bay, and dropping anchor in what is modern-day Guysborough Harbour, Nova Scotia in Canada. The explorers interacted peacefully with the natives, and with one tribe in particular, the Míkmaq (or Micmac). Sinclair managed to persuade the Míkmaqs to act as a guide so his party could travel and explore around the area safely.
They stayed in Nova Scotia until the following spring when the explorers are said to have sailed south, landing in Massachusetts, just north of where the city of Boston now sits. It has been claimed that Sinclair and his party made such a positive impression on the Míkmaq of Nova Scotia, and that after they left, the tribe chose to remember the travellers by telling stories about them, passing them down through many generations, and that the legendary figure of Glooscap is, in fact, meant to represent Henry Sinclair.
In Massachusetts the group stayed with the natives, also getting along with them peacefully, before Sinclair took 100 of his men and headed west. Among the men was a knight, and loyal friend of Henry, called Sir James Gunn. Gunn was later to become known as the Westford Knight. Unfortunately for Sir James the name came about due to his death on the expedition and he was buried, with a large rock covering his grave, where the modern-day town of Westford now is. On the stone an effigy of the Scottish knight was carved. It depicts Gunn with his sword and shield, and on the shield the Gunn family arms. After over 600 years the engraving is still said to be there on the stone, but is now very faint, and your imagination is needed to visualise it for the most part.
The tale of the Westford Knight is very much a part of Westford folklore, but the story itself is widely considered to be apocryphal. The 'facts' of the story are widely disputed by mainstream professional archaeologists and historians, who are under the general belief that the voyage never happened, and the carving is either much more recent than the 14th century or simply just a natural feature on the stone. Other reasons why the claim that Henry Sinclair reached the North American continent 94 years before Christopher Columbus is doubted include the lack of any physical evidence of the voyage and the new land, which Columbus did provide, plus there is no contemporary record of it at all. Also, it is stated that the rock, onto which the effigy of Sir James Gunn is carved, would most likely have been under almost a metre of earth at the time of the supposed visit, making it more than unlikely for it to have been used as a memorial.
Whatever the facts, it is not likely that anyone will know for absolute certainty whether or not Henry Sinclair made it to North America, and if the stone at Westford is actually a memorial to Sir James Gunn.
Kinmont Willie Armstrong
By Tom Moss
William Armstrong of Kinmont, a Scottish Border Reiver, was notorious for his raids into England. He was captured by the English in March 1596 contrary to the Border Law.
Kinmont was well prized by the English who had no answer to his constant raids into northern England. His organised forays south of the English Scottish Border Line, coupled with his contempt for English authority and its hapless attempts to curtail his reiving, had made him enemy number one to the Lord Scropes. They were members of the English aristocracy who, father and son, were Wardens of the English West March from 1561 to 1603.
Kinmont raided Tarset in Tynedale, Northumberland on more than one occasion and was party, in these particularly vicious forays, to the murder of many men. One of these raids was carried out in daylight, unusual in itself as the reivers usually operated at night, and contained over a thousand men from the valleys of southern Scotland. They returned to the Scottish Border valleys with thousands of sheep and cattle and left hopelessness and destitution in their wake.
The 'Day of Truce' at the Dayholme of Kershope.
In March 1596 a 'Day of Truce' was held near Kershopefoot on the Border of England and Scotland. It was a day purportedly to be held at monthly intervals in each of the East, Middle and West Marches of both countries; a day when felons were brought to the very Border Line to answer for their crimes in an open-air venue. Many men, both English and Scottish, were requested to attend the court and witness that the proceedings were both honourable and fair and upheld the principle and spirit of the Border Law. All who attended were granted safe conduct whilst the Truce lasted through the medium of the 'Assurance of the Truce'. Such a measure was necessary as both the Scots and English invited to attend as witnesses might, outside the Truce, be at Feud or deadly enemies of each other, the result of previous reiving or family disagreement. Many a man viewed his neighbor. of the day with suspicion, hatred or scorn.
Theft of cattle, sheep and 'insight', i.e. household and farming goods and tools, were the most common reasons for trial but murder, the result of constant feud and searing animosity against neighbor. or enemy from across the Border Line, was ever present. Murder was the inevitable outcome of the hatred that hardened in men's hearts. It mattered not a whit should such enmity concern a fellow countryman. The product of the Feud often encompassed many generations.
Kinmont Willie is Present at the Truce.
Kinmont Willie was called by the Keeper of Liddesdale, Walter Scott of Branxholme and Buccleuch, to attend the 'Day of Truce' at the Dayholme of Kershope to represent the Scots. The trials of the Border Reivers on the day went without incident and both Deputy Wardens, presidents of the proceedings, were satisfied that justice had been achieved. Just before sunset both English and Scottish parties began to make their way home. The safe conduct or 'Assurance' of the Truce was enshrined in Border Law and lasted until sun-up of the following day. Thereby all who had attended were confident that they could make their way home unmolested by erstwhile enemies who, on this occasion, were required to honour the Law.
Kinmont Willie is Captured by the English.
As Kinmont Willie rode down the Scottish bank of the river Liddel, he was seen by a party of English making their way home on the opposite side of the river, down the English bank. They could not resist the temptation of seeing the greatest Reiver of the age tantalisingly within their grasp. Safe conduct and 'Assurance' thrown to the wind, they turned and rode hard across the river Liddel and chased Kinmont down. He was bound and taken to Carlisle castle where he was imprisoned.
War of Words leads to Deadlock.
When Buccleuch, Keeper of Liddesdale, learned that Kinmont Willie was in prison as a result of being taken against the honour of the 'Assurance of the Truce', he was incandescent with rage. He took no time in writing to the English March Warden, Thomas Lord Scrope, demanding Kinmont's immediate release. Scrope, like his father Henry before him as Warden, so coveted the neck of the much vaunted Reiver that he refused to succumb to Buccleuch's forthright petitions. Rather he met the fury with measured indifference and cited more than one spurious reason why he would not comply. Even James Vl of Scotland and Elizabeth l became embroiled in the acrimonious affair.
Eventually tiring of the impasse, Buccleuch resolved to breach the defences of Carlisle castle and rescue Kinmont. He was heartened by the fact that he would have inside help from members of the English garrison of the castle who had tired of Thomas Lord Scrope's dictatorial rule as well as aid from the premier English clan, the Grahams of Netherby and Mote.
A Small Rescue Party achieves its Aims.
On 13th April 1596 the rescue party led by Buccleuch and consisting mainly of Armstrongs, moved south through English territory to Carlisle. It was a horrendous night of heavy rain and thick cloud. They were adeptly aided by members of the Grahams who had been at odds with the Scropes for years.
The rescue was achieved with an ease that defied logic. A postern gate was opened from the inside by one of the friends of the English Carletons, another family who had vowed to see the end of Thomas Lord Scrope. Having previously been told exactly where Kinmont was warded, the five of the rescue party who entered the castle lost little time in freeing the great Scottish Reiver. The remainder of the rescue band were outside the castle walls banging on drums, blowing trumpets at a strident pitch and making such a discordant noise that the English garrison, already sheltering under coverlets from the veritable downpour, refused to stir. They thought there was an army outside the walls.
Kinmont was soon across the river Eden and heading north sheltered by his comrades in arms. He was to lie low in the valley of the Ewes, north of Langholm.
The Aftermath.
Elizabeth l was furious when she received the news of the rescue. How dare any Scot attack one of her premier Border fortresses when peace existed between the two countries? The diplomatic wrangle between various ambassadors and the two monarchs went on for over a year. Elizabeth demanded that Buccleuch be handed over to the English for punishment as he was the one who had orchestrated the affair. James Vl, reluctant to upset his countrymen who to a man applauded Buccleuch's outrageous actions, refused to do so.
As was usual in the Borders of the times where a catalogue of crime superceded the event, the heat finally went out of the situation but not before the strained allegiance between England and Scotland was severely tested.
Kinmont Willie? He went on to reive for many another day and died in his bed about 1603.
The Maxwell Johnstone Feud
By Tom Moss
By 1593 the feud that had existed between the Maxwells and the Johnstones, the two most powerful families in south-west Scotland, was to reach its zenith. The feud was long-standing as it had existed for over a century.
Whilst the culmination of the feud would result in the Battle of Dryfe Sands which has already been well recorded in these articles, it is more than interesting to consider the events which would lead up to the battle, the biggest family 'set to' in British history.
The most powerful position in the Border Country during the turbulent times of the Border Reiver was that of March Warden. In the Scottish south-west it was a post which brought a spurious legality to the nefarious activities of the Maxwells and Johstones who vied with each other for decades to rule supreme in the Scottish West March.
The role of Warden was consigned on a too frequent basis from one to the other of the great Border warlords, Maxwell and Johnstone with the result that the Scottish south-west experienced nothing but upheaval, death and mayhem.
At one time, when the King appointed a Johnstone, the Maxwell Laird told his clan and followers to ignore the dictates of the new Warden. At another a Johnstone laird died, it is said, heartbroken that yet again Maxwell was to take the role.
There are thus many recorded instances of the hatred that existed between the two families during the sixteenth century but none would compare with the events that unfolded from the stealing of 'ane black horse'.
In 1593 a small party of Johnstones, five in all, made their way to the head of Nithsdale in the twilight of a July evening, to the Crichton stronghold there, and stole a black mare from the stables. The theft was witnessed by Lord Crichton and his followers who immediately pursued the Johnstone raiders.
Whilst four of the five Johnstones easily evaded pursuit, their trustworthy nags more than a match for the uneven and rocky ground which confronted them in their descent down the valley, one, known as the 'Galliard', not content with stealing the black mare, had determined to ride it home to Wamphrey in Annandale. He little knew that the fine looking beast was partially blind and that it would stumble and fret and be unsure of its footing as he spurred it into action to distance himself from the chase.
