Editing Border reivers (section)

==Dwellings and fortifications==
[[File:Black Middens Bastle - geograph.org.uk - 1224658.jpg|left|thumb|[[Black Middens Bastle House]], a surviving bastle house near [[Kielder Water]] in Northumberland]]

The inhabitants of the Borders had to live in a state of constant alert, and for self-protection, they built fortified [[Tower houses in Britain and Ireland|tower house]]s.<ref>Steingraber, Aubrey Maria. Landscape and the Making of the Medieval Anglo-Scottish Border: Power, Place, and Perspective, c. 1200–c. 1500. PhD thesis, University of York, 2022. p56</ref> As raising livestock in the borders required a [[transhumance]] lifestyle in summer months, borderers would create temporary shelter ([[shieling]]s) to accommodate this nomadic behaviour.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Winchester |first=Angus |title=Northern England and Southern Scotland in the Central Middle Ages |publisher=Boydell Press |year=2017 |editor-last=Stringer |editor-first=Keith |edition=1st |location=Woodbridge |pages=273–276 |language=English}}</ref> These shielings contribute to the toponyms of many places in the borders such as [[Galashiels]] or "Shiels Brae".<ref>{{Cite book |last=Ramm |first=Herman |title=Royal Commission on Historical Monuments (England): Shielings and Bastles |last2=Mercer |first2=Eric |last3=McDowall |first3=R. |publisher=Her Majesty's Stationery Office |year=1970 |location=London |language=English}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=Young |first=Rob |title=Shielings: Introductions to Heritage Assests |url=https://historicengland.org.uk/images-books/publications/iha-shielings/heag233-shielings/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240224153834/https://historicengland.org.uk/images-books/publications/iha-shielings/heag233-shielings/ |archive-date=24 February 2024 |access-date=March 31, 2025 |website=Historic England}}</ref>

In the very worst periods of warfare, people were unable to construct more than crude turf cabins, the destruction of which would be little loss<ref name="Steingraber, Aubrey Maria 1500. p88">Steingraber, Aubrey Maria. Landscape and the Making of the Medieval Anglo-Scottish Border: Power, Place, and Perspective, c. 1200–c. 1500. PhD thesis, University of York, 2022. p88</ref><ref>Moffat, Alistair. The Reivers: The Story of the Border Reivers. Birlinn, 2011., pp70-71</ref> and could be rebuilt within 3–4 hours and weren't always temporarily inhabited.<ref>Ellis, Steven G. Tudor Frontiers and Noble Power: The Making of the British State. Oxford University Press, 1995, p.66.</ref> When times allowed, however, they built houses designed as much for defence as shelter. The [[bastle house]] was a stout two-storeyed building.<ref name="Steingraber, Aubrey Maria 1500. p88"/><ref>Moffat, Alistair. The Reivers: The Story of the Border Reivers. Birlinn, 2011. pp70</ref> The lower floor was used to keep the most valuable livestock and horses. The upper storey housed the people, and often could be reached only by an external ladder which was pulled up at night or if danger threatened. The stone walls were up to {{convert|3|ft|m|1}} thick, and the roof was of slate or stone tiles. Only narrow arrow slits provided light and ventilation.<ref>Durham & McBride, p.24</ref> Some resided in houses built from massive oak timbers with turf roofs, strategically concealed within the landscape and designed to resist fire and forced entry.<ref>Ellis, Steven G. Tudor Frontiers and Noble Power: The Making of the British State. Oxford University Press, 1995, p.67.</ref>

[[Peel tower]]s (also spelled pele towers) were usually three-storeyed buildings, constructed specifically for defensive purposes by the authorities, or for prestigious individuals such as the heads of clans. [[Smailholm Tower]] is one of many surviving peel towers. Like bastle houses, they were very strongly constructed for defence. If necessary, they could be temporarily abandoned and stuffed full of smouldering turf to prevent an enemy (such as a government army) destroying them with gunpowder.<ref>Durham & McBride, p.23</ref>

Peel towers and bastle houses were often surrounded by a stone wall known as a [[barmkin]],<ref>Steingraber, Aubrey Maria. Landscape and the Making of the Medieval Anglo-Scottish Border: Power, Place, and Perspective, c. 1200–c. 1500. PhD thesis, University of York, 2022., p88</ref> inside which cattle and other livestock were kept overnight.