Editing Border reivers (section)

===The Borders in the Age of Queens===
With the accession of [[Mary, Queen of Scots]], and [[Mary I of England|Queen Mary I of England]]—both Catholic monarchs—peace should have returned to the Border. However, with decades, perhaps centuries, of ongoing antagonism between the two states and a deeply entrenched culture of raiding, this did not happen.<ref>Fraser, George MacDonald. The Steel Bonnets: The Story of the Anglo-Scottish Border Reivers. HarperCollins, 1989. p 278-279</ref>

====The End of the Debatable Land====
At the [[Treaty of Norham]] officially ending [[Rough Wooing|'the Rough Wooing']], the [[Debatable Lands|Debatable Land]] was finally divided between Scotland and England.<ref>Robb, Graham. The Debatable Land: The Lost World Between Scotland and England. W. W. Norton & Company, 2021. p. 134</ref> The division was decided in 1552 by a French ambassador, who drew a simple straight line to evenly split the territory between the two nations.<ref>Fraser, George MacDonald. The Steel Bonnets: The Story of the Anglo-Scottish Border Reivers. HarperCollins, 1989. p 279</ref> However, this seemingly simple tale took a turn, as a slightly different boundary was ultimately chosen—one that now forms the present-day border, known as [[Scots' Dike|Scots Dyke]].<ref>Robb, Graham. The Debatable Land: The Lost World Between Scotland and England. W. W. Norton & Company, 2021. p. 138</ref>

Despite the division, the March Day courts were overwhelmed, with a five-hundred bills of complaint recorded in a single session,<ref>Robb, Graham. The Debatable Land: The Lost World Between Scotland and England. W. W. Norton & Company, 2021. p. 140</ref> while an official attempt to suppress banditry in Liddesdale was forcefully repulsed.<ref>Fraser, George MacDonald. The Steel Bonnets: The Story of the Anglo-Scottish Border Reivers. HarperCollins, 1989. p 283</ref>

====Accession of Elizabeth I====
With the accession of [[Elizabeth I|Queen Elizabeth I]] in [[1558]], England saw its last monarch to rule before the end of the Border as a lawless frontier. Nevertheless, the Border remained very much alive on both sides.<ref>Ellis, Steven G. "A Border Baron and the Tudor State: The Rise and Fall of Lord Dacre of the North." The Historical Journal 35, no. 2 (1992): 255. {{JSTOR|639668}}</ref>

====The Scottish Reformation, the Borders, and Mary's Downfall====
In 1564, a feud erupted between the [[Clan Eliott|Elliot]]s and the [[Clan Scott|Scott]]s, marked by cycles of raids and retaliation. As tensions escalated, this conflict became entangled with the broader political and religious instability of the [[Scottish Reformation]], where both the English and Scottish crowns vied for influence in the Borderlands. The Protestant [[James Stewart, 1st Earl of Moray|Lord Moray, James Stewart]], sought to weaken the Catholic [[Mary, Queen of Scots]], further exacerbating the turbulence.<ref>MacDonald Fraser, George. The Steel Bonnets: The Story of the Anglo-Scottish Border Reivers. HarperCollins, 1995, p. 292-293</ref> Queen Mary's half-brother, James Stewart, led a foray into the region, capturing between twenty and thirty reivers,<ref>Fraser, George MacDonald. The Steel Bonnets: The Story of the Anglo-Scottish Border Reivers. HarperCollins, 1989., pp. 288–289</ref> before seizing another forty.<ref>Fraser, George MacDonald. The Steel Bonnets: The Story of the Anglo-Scottish Border Reivers. HarperCollins, 1989., pp. 292–293</ref>  Amidst this unrest, [[James Hepburn, 4th Earl of Bothwell|James, Earl of Bothwell]] was involved in Border feuds, and after surviving an attack by [[Little Jock Elliot|Jock of Park]], an Elliot, his political influence grew.<ref>Moffat, Alistair. The Reivers: The Story of the Border Reivers. Birlinn, 2007, p. 238.</ref>

By 1566, Mary visited Bothwell at [[Hermitage Castle]] while he recovered from the wounds inflicted during a raid.<ref>Moffat, Alistair. The Reivers: The Story of the Border Reivers. Birlinn, 2007, p. 239.</ref> This visit marked the beginning of a closer relationship between Mary and Bothwell, which soon became intertwined with the scandal surrounding the murder of her husband, [[Henry Stuart, Lord Darnley|Lord Darnley]], in 1567.<ref>Magnusson, Magnus. Scotland. Alfred A. Knopf, 2000, p. 357-258.</ref> Bothwell was widely suspected of orchestrating Darnley's murder, and shortly after, he married Mary, sparking a political crisis.<ref>Magnusson, Magnus. Scotland. Alfred A. Knopf, 2000, p. 358.</ref> Their union, controversial due to the circumstances of Darnley's death, [[Chaseabout Raid|led to rebellion]] and ultimately Mary's abdication in 1567.<ref>Magnusson, Magnus. Scotland. Alfred A. Knopf, 2000, p. 362.</ref>

====Rising of the North====
After the rebellion, Mary fled south to England in 1568,<ref>Pollitt, Ronald. "The Defeat of the Northern Rebellion and the Shaping of Anglo-Scottish Relations." The Scottish Historical Review, vol. 64, no. 177, 1985, pp. 1.</ref> seeking Elizabeth's protection. However, Elizabeth regarded Mary as a political threat due to her Catholic claim to the English throne, setting the stage for further unrest. In 1569, major northern Catholic magnates—such as [[Thomas Percy, 7th Earl of Northumberland|Thomas Percy, Earl of Northumberland]] (recently removed from his position March Warden of the East and Middle March)<ref>Reid, R. R. "The Rebellion of the Earls, 1569: The Alexander Prize, 1905." Transactions of the Royal Historical Society, vol. 20, 1906, pp. 177</ref> and [[Charles Neville, 6th Earl of Westmorland|Charles Neville, Earl of Westmorland]]—led the [[Rising of the North]] in an attempt to restore Catholic rule and potentially install Mary on the throne. They were later joined by [[Leonard Dacre]], a nephew of the [[Baron Dacre|Dacres]] of Gilsland (a family line that had fallen into abeyance), who felt aggrieved by Queen Elizabeth's land allocation decisions.<ref>Fraser, George MacDonald. The Steel Bonnets: The Story of the Anglo-Scottish Border Reivers. HarperCollins, 1995, pp.298-300</ref>

The failure of the [[Rising of the North]] forced the Percies and Nevilles to flee to Scotland, leaving them with no refuge but the infamous [[Liddesdale]], where they were compelled to make peace with the many thieves and outlaws who resided there.<ref>Fraser, George MacDonald. The Steel Bonnets: The Story of the Anglo-Scottish Border Reivers. HarperCollins, 1995, pp.301-303</ref> There, in Liddesdale, the fugitive earls were received by the notorious Black Ormiston and Jock-of-the-Side, the latter was known for his participation in the killing of [[Henry Stuart, Lord Darnley|Lord Darnley]].<ref>Fraser, George MacDonald. The Steel Bonnets: The Story of the Anglo-Scottish Border Reivers. HarperCollins, 1995, pp.301</ref>  In the chaos of their flight, the fugitives not only had to contend with a superior royal army but also suffered the theft of horses and clothing at the hands of local outlaws.<ref>Pollitt, Ronald. "The Defeat of the Northern Rebellion and the Shaping of Anglo-Scottish Relations." The Scottish Historical Review, vol. 64, no. 177, 1985, pp. 3.</ref> Another notorious Borderer, Hector of Harelaw, captured the [[Thomas Percy, 7th Earl of Northumberland|Earl of Northumberland]] and handed him over to the [[James Stewart, 1st Earl of Moray|Regent of Scotland]].<ref>Fraser, George MacDonald. The Steel Bonnets: The Story of the Anglo-Scottish Border Reivers. HarperCollins, 1995, pp.302</ref> Reprisals were swift and brutal—scores of impoverished Borderers were summarily executed without trial.<ref>Fraser, George MacDonald. The Steel Bonnets: The Story of the Anglo-Scottish Border Reivers. HarperCollins, 1995, pp.303</ref>

====After the Rising====
The downfall of the leading magnates on the English frontier created greater opportunities for banditry. In one raid in the English Middle Marches alone, 140 captives were taken from one township.<ref>Fraser, George MacDonald. The Steel Bonnets: The Story of the Anglo-Scottish Border Reivers. HarperCollins, 1995., pp307</ref> Following this, English Wardens of the March rode across burning and destroying property of those who had supported the Rising of the North and outlaws.<ref>Fraser, George MacDonald. The Steel Bonnets: The Story of the Anglo-Scottish Border Reivers. HarperCollins, 1995., pp307-8</ref>

Banditry persisted for decades, necessitating continued [[March law (Anglo-Scottish border)|Truce Days]], some ending in violence, as seen in Reidsdale ([[1575]]) and Windgyle ([[1585]]), mirroring an earlier Truce Day in the first decade of the 1500s.<ref>Fraser, George MacDonald. The Steel Bonnets: The Story of the Anglo-Scottish Border Reivers. HarperCollins, 1995., pp311-4</ref>