Editing Border reivers (section)

==='Heyday South of the Border'===
Throughout the 1520s, amid persistent [[famine]] and [[rinderpest]] outbreaks,{{sfn|Robson|1989|pp=79}} the already overpopulated Cheviot Highlands suffered further strain.<ref>Ellis, Steven G. Tudor Frontiers and Noble Power: The Making of the British State. Oxford University Press, 1995, p.64</ref> The ensuing social disruption—exacerbated by war, famine, and disease—fostered the rise of large bands of plunderers operating across the Anglo-Scottish borderlands.<ref>Ellis, Steven G. Tudor Frontiers and Noble Power: The Making of the British State. Oxford University Press, 1995, p.65</ref>

These groups sometimes coalesced around local minor noble or gentry figures into confederacies—known as outlawed "Surnames"—led by individuals such as Sir Nicholas Ridley in the early 1520s and later Sir William Lisle of Felton in the mid-to-late 1520s.<ref>Fraser, George MacDonald. The Steel Bonnets: The Story of the Anglo-Scottish Border Reivers. HarperCollins, 1989, pp.229-230.</ref>  Notably, both had previously served as lawmen, yet in a reversal of the common Border formula, those charged with maintaining order increasingly became, effectively, poachers.{{sfn|Robson|1989|pp=79–82}} Some, like the then [[Lord Warden of the Marches|Warden]] and former Keeper of [[Redesdale]], [[Thomas Dacre, 2nd Baron Dacre]], got perilously close to being [[outlaw]]ed for associating too closely with known thieves.<ref>Etty, Claire. "Neighbours from Hell? Living with Tynedale and Redesdale, 1489–1547." In Liberties and Identities in the Medieval British Isles, edited by Michael Prestwich, 124. Boydell & Brewer, 2008.</ref>

North of the border, Lord Dacre launched two massive raids against the Armstrongs of Liddesdale and the Debatable Land. In retaliation, the Armstrongs mounted raids into Cumbria. Dacre, in turn, responded again, but this time he retaliated by burning the towers of the sons of the infamous Johnny Armstrong.<ref>Fraser, George MacDonald. The Steel Bonnets: The Story of the Anglo-Scottish Border Reivers. HarperCollins, 1989, pp. 230-232.</ref> It is important to note that while the Armstrong-Dacre feud raged on, it was only one of many such raids and counter-raids along the border.<ref>Fraser, George MacDonald. The Steel Bonnets: The Story of the Anglo-Scottish Border Reivers HarperCollins, 1989, pp. 231-233.</ref>

====Monition of Cursing====
In 1525, the [[Archbishop of Glasgow]], [[Gavin Dunbar (archbishop of Glasgow)|Gavin Dunbar]], issued the extraordinary fifteen-hundred word ''Monition of Cursing'', damning all who dwelled in the Borders to hell.<ref>Moffat, Alistair. The Border Reivers: The Story of the Anglo-Scottish Borderlands. Birlinn, 2007., p163</ref><ref>Robb, Graham. The Debatable Land: The Lost World Between Scotland and England. Picador, 2018., p33</ref>

<blockquote>''I curse thair heid and all tha haris of their head; I curse thair face, thair ene, thair mouth, thair neise, thair toung, thair teith, thair crag, thair schulderis, thair breist, thair hert, thair stomok, thair bak, thair wame, thair armes, thair leggis, thair handis, thair feit, and everilk part of thair body, frae the top of thair heaid to the soill of thair feit, befoir and behding, within and without''.<ref>George MacDonald Fraser, ''The Steel Bonnets: The Story of the Anglo-Scottish Border Reivers'' (London: HarperCollins, 1971), Appendix I. p383</ref></blockquote>

It was also during this time that the [[Bishop of Durham]] cursed the men of [[Tynedale]].<ref>Fraser, George MacDonald. The Steel Bonnets: The Story of the Anglo-Scottish Border Reivers HarperCollins, 1989, pp. 226 n.1.</ref>

====James V's Attainment of Majority====
This period was bookended in [[1530]] by the coming of age of [[James V]], who sought to assert royal authority over the Borders by imprisoning, and in some cases executing, leading figures he perceived as threats to his kingdom.<ref>Fraser, George MacDonald. The Steel Bonnets: The Story of the Anglo-Scottish Border Reivers HarperCollins, 1989, pp. 238-239.</ref> Among those captured was the aforemnentioned Johnny Armstrong and 35 of his followers.{{sfn|Robson|1989|p=103}}<ref name="Magnusson, Magnus 2000, p. 303">Magnusson, Magnus. Scotland: The Story of a Nation. London: HarperCollins, 2000, p. 303.</ref> Johnny's capture and execution was later romanticised in the ballad ''[[Johnnie Armstrong]]''.<ref>Reed, James, ed. Border Ballads: A Selection. Fyfield Books, 2003.</ref><ref name="Magnusson, Magnus 2000, p. 303"/> Despite James V best efforts to suppress banditry, by imprisoning and mass hangings, there was seemingly little change.{{sfn|Robson|1989|p=105}}<ref>Fraser, George MacDonald. The Steel Bonnets: The Story of the Anglo-Scottish Border Reivers HarperCollins, 1989, pp. 240.</ref>

====Pilgrimage of the Grace====
The [[Pilgrimage of Grace]] was a large-scale rebellion in [[1536]] against Henry VIII's religious and political reforms, particularly the [[dissolution of the monasteries]], drawing support from across Northern England.<ref>Moffat, Alistair. The Reivers: The Story of the Border Reivers. Birlinn, 2011., p175-6</ref>

The Pilgrimage of Grace had notable connections to the Border Reivers, particularly through the Percy family and their alliances in Tynedale and Redesdale. [[Thomas Percy (Pilgrimage of Grace)|Sir Thomas Percy]], brother of Henry Percy, 6th Earl of Northumberland, played a leading role in the rebellion and sought the support of prominent Border surnames. Representatives from Tynedale and Redesdale, including Edward and Cuthbert Charlton of Bellingham and John Hall of Otterburn, were present at the [[Pontefract Castle|Pontefract]] meeting with the [[Thomas Howard, 3rd Duke of Norfolk|Duke of Norfolk]].<ref>Etty, Claire. "Neighbours from Hell? Living with Tynedale and Redesdale, 1489–1547." In Liberties and Identities in the Medieval British Isles, edited by Michael Prestwich, 130.</ref>

Their involvement was likely facilitated by ‘Little’ John Heron of [[Chipchase Castle|Chipchase]], a key Percy ally with strong ties to the Charltons. Heron leveraged these connections to rally Border support, including resistance to the dissolution of [[Hexham Abbey|Hexham Priory]], with the Charltons and their followers pledging their loyalty in exchange for payment. The reivers' participation extended beyond the rebellion itself, as seen in their role in the occupation of Ford Castle and the assassination of Roger Fenwick, the newly appointed Keeper of Tynedale, in early 1537.<ref>Etty, Claire. "Neighbours from Hell? Living with Tynedale and Redesdale, 1489–1547." In Liberties and Identities in the Medieval British Isles, edited by Michael Prestwich, 131.</ref>

In 1536, [[Henry VIII]] abolished [[Redesdale]]’s liberty status and fully integrated it into the county of [[Northumberland]].<ref>Etty, Claire. "Neighbours from Hell? Living with Tynedale and Redesdale, 1489–1547." In Liberties and Identities in the Medieval British Isles, edited by Michael C. Prestwich, Alexander Grant, and Keith J. Stringer, 120. Woodbridge: Boydell Press, 2008.</ref>

Lawlessness increased with the downfall of the Dacre in the West and the disgrace of the Percies in the East, as no Border lord could unite the Surnames under a single banner.<ref>Becker, Jeffrey Marcus. "Armed Conflict and Border Society: The East and Middle Marches, 1536-60." PhD thesis, Durham University, 2006., pp181</ref>