In Genealogy, one often wonders, where is this all headed? Where will my journey through the past lead me?
When researching the Charltons of Northeast England it seems that the answer is clear. To the border lands of Scotland and England.
This is the land of my ancestors. Here lay my Charlton Family roots. It was a lawless land where people lived by their wits and the sword, constantly prepared to do battle.
When King James ascended the united thrones of England and Scotland in 1603 he metered out swift and uncompromising “justice” to the border lands.
Exercising a short but brutal campaign against the reivers described by some as “ethnic cleansing,” James wiped the debatable lands clean of the lawlessness and corruption that had existed there between the two realms for some 300 years. Entire families were decimated or scattered. Some that survived, like my ancestors, fled south.
This is the story of my ancestors, the Border Reivers.
The excerpt that follows is from BorderReivers.co.uk
The almost constant warring between England and Scotland changed the lives of the families living immediately north and south of the Border. Owing to their geographical position they were frequently harassed by passing armies who, at the very least, would require provisioning, often without payment, but were usually hell bent on destroying everything before them and causing as much damage and misery as they could.
Crops were destroyed, homesteads burnt and the people murdered or dispersed.
Those living in places known as Liddesdale, Redesdale and Tynedale were the most affected as, for reasons of geography, the invaders regularly used these routes. It is no coincidence that these people, having their crops regularly destroyed and their livestock stolen, looked for other means of sustaining themselves and their families. They took to reiving.
Reiving, raiding for cattle and sheep, and whatever else which could be transported, was the only way to survive and it became an established way of life, a profession, which was regarded with no discredit amongst the Borderers.
The practice spread and was passed down through the generations.
Reiving was not confined to cross boundary targets. Indeed the borderers had a much closer allegiance to their family than to their country. Raids were made, not in the name of Scotland or England, but in the name of their family or clan.
Not only did the Scots raid the English and the English raid the Scots but they took to raiding each other, especially when some act, real or imagined, sparked off conflict between families which often resulted in feuds lasting for generations.
Reiving was not limited to the poorest people, and many a nobleman condoned and even participated in the activities. Officials such as the Wardens of the Marches, who were there to uphold the law, were not above indulging in reiving if they had the opportunity.
The excerpt that follows is from Reivers.com
For over 350 years up to the end of the 16th century what are now Northumberland, Cumbria, The Scottish Borders and Dumfries & Galloway rang to the clash of steel and the thunder of hooves. Robbery and blackmail were everyday professions, raiding, arson, kidnapping, murder and extortion an accepted part of the social system.
While the monarchs of England and Scotland ruled the comparatively secure hearts of their kingdoms, the narrow hill land between was dominated by the lance and the sword. The tribal leaders from their towers, the broken men and outlaws of the mosses, the ordinary peasants of the valleys, in their own phrase, ‘shook loose the Border’.
They continued to shake it as long as it was political reality, practising systematic robbery and destruction on each other. History has christened them the Border Reivers. They gave blackmail and bereaved to the English language.
The stamp of the Reivers is still to be seen on the Border Lands – in it’s architecture, culture and people. From the secretive fortified towns and farms to names that once struck fear into men’s hearts – Armstrongs, Grahams, Kerrs, Nixons, Robsons – the legacy of the Reivers remains.
About the Charltons
The excerpt that follows is from The Northeast England History Pages
Visitors to the National Trust’s Wallington Hall near Morpeth can see a huge fresco entitled The Spur On The Dish by Sir William Bell Scott depicting the Charlton family assembled for lunch at Hesleyside.
The Lady of the house has brought in a salver and dish for her hungry family but the salver has been lifted to reveal an empty dish, empty that is except for a riding spur. It was a great tradition of the Charlton family that when the larder was empty the spur would be presented in this way as a hint that it if the family wanted food they would have to go raiding. The Charltons don’t seem all that disappointed at the prospect of raiding enemy territory for mutton or beef. In the violent past famous Border raiding Charltons included John of the Bower and Thomas of Hawcop but Charltons can still be found throughout the Borders today and are a well known family name in the North East.
