Category: Scotland

The name “Western Marches” is a “tip of the hat” to my ancestors.

“A march or mark refers to a border region similar to a frontier, such as the Welsh Marches, the borderland between England and Wales. During the Frankish Carolingian Dynasty, the word spread throughout Europe.

In contrast to a buffer zone, a march is typically dominated by a single given country and fortified for defence against the neighbouring country. A march generally circumscribed the same or similar land area as a county but was differentiated from other counties by its special position at the border of the state. In contrast to regular counties, which were ruled over by counts, marches were ruled over by a Marquess (English), a Marquis (French or Scots) or nobles with corresponding titles (other European states). The wife of a titleholder or a woman that is herself a titlehoder is addressed respectively as Marchioness or Marquise.

The name Denmark preserves the Old Norse cognates merki (“boundary”) mörk (“wood”, “forest”) up to the present.

A sense of the dangerous “otherness” of the marches, where the king’s writ did not run, as seen from the secure cultural homeground in feasting hall or palace, is suggested in Beowulf by the lakeside marsh of the monstrous Grendel: “the fell and fen his fastness was, the march his haunt”.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/March_(territory) )

Scottish Marches was the term used for the Anglo-Scottish border during late medieval and early modern eras—from the late 13th century, with the creation by Edward I of England of the first Lord Warden of the Marches to the early 17th century and the creation of the Middle Shires, promulgated after the personal union of England and Scotland under James VI of Scotland (James I of England). On both sides of the Anglo-Scottish border there were the West March, the Middle March and the East March. These regions nearly mirrored each other but there was some overlap between the Scottish and English regions. The Lord Wardens of the Marches who oversaw these regions were tasked with keeping their monarchs domain secure, and when it was in their interests they would encourage cross border raiding or even full scale war.

For centuries the Marches on either side of the boundary was an area of mixed allegiances, where families or clans switched which country or side they supported as suited their family interests at that time, and lawlessness abounded. Before the two kingdoms were united as the Kingdom of Great Britain, the Border clans would switch allegiance between the Scottish and English thrones depending on what was most favourable for the members of the clan. For a time a powerful local clans dominated a region on the border between England and Scotland. It was known as the Debatable Lands and neither monarch’s writ was heeded.

The fluid nature of the border, and the frequent wars between Scotland and England, made the marches fertile ground for many bandits and reivers (raiders) who exploited situation. The Wardens of the March on either side of the border were entrusted with the difficult task of keeping the peace and punishing wrongdoers, and the Scottish and English Wardens would meet to co-ordinate their efforts against free-lance reivers.

The reiver period has produced one unique architectural feature in the counties in the old reiver country; the peel tower found on many great houses (and indeed on Carlisle Cathedral) as a defensive structure. It has also produced a great deal of romantic literature, most famously in the works of Sir Walter Scott.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scottish_Marches)

Second only to the Maxwells in their March, the Johnstones were powerful reivers and also frequent Wardens. Their feud with the Maxwells was the longest and bloodiest in Border history. The “t” in their name sets them apart from other “sons of John”, although even on the Border it was often dropped, and a famous grandson of the clan, Ben Jonson the poet, deliberately adopted his own spelling to avoid being confused with other Johnstons and Johnsons in London. (A very clan-conscious man, Ben walked all the way to Scotland to visit his ancestors’ territory.)

The Old Gang of Wamphray was notorious in the sixteenth century for cattle rustling and other antisocial activities. However, it was only one of numerous “red-handed” groups of Johnstones who banded together to conduct reiving operations. To keep such gangs under control, the authorities often forced them to hand over “pledges.” A pledge was a person who was actually held hostage, and who stood to lose his life or property if his gang misbehaved. Also, certain individuals served as “cautioner” (surety or guarantor) for the good conduct of their gangs. The number and composition of gangs varied from time to time, but the following is a list of gangs of Johnstones from the pages of the Register of the Privy Council of Scotland [RPCS]:
…..
GANG OF WAMPHRAY: In 1595/96 pledges for the good conduct of the gang included Willie Johnstone son of Jockie of Kirkhill, and Gibbie Johnstone called Howgill’s Gibbie.

(“John Johnston and Mary Campbell of Muirkirk, Ayrshire, Scotland: Their Family and Descendents” by William E. Johnston – http://www.nejohnston.org/family_pics/JohnJohnston.Fam.150dpi.med.pdf)

Robert Burns “To A Mouse” is one of my favorite of Burns’ poems, and seems to me to convey the flavor of the area perfectly. (Burns lived in and around Ayr.)

To A Mouse By Robert Burns On turning her up in her nest, with the plough, November, 1785 —
Wee, sleeket, cowran, tim’rous beastie, O, what panic’s in thy breastie! Thou need na start awa sae hasty, Wi’ bickering brattle! I wad be laith to rin an’ chase thee, Wi’ murd’ring pattle!	The poet is doing his utmost to assure this terrified little creature that he has no intention of causing it any harm. bickerin’ brattle =scurry, run; laith = loath; pattle = a small spade for cleaning a plough
I’m truly sorry Man’s dominion Has broken Nature’s social union, An’ justifies that ill opinion, Which makes thee startle, At me, thy poor, earth-born companion, An’ fellow-mortal!	He then goes on to apologise to the mouse for the behaviour of mankind using beautiful prose which requires neither translation nor interpretation. Listen to what he is saying, and you will be well on your way to understand what made Burns such a greatly loved man. Note how he equates himself with the mouse in life’s great plan.
I doubt na, whyles, but thou may thieve; What then? poor beastie, thou maun live! A daimen-icker in a thrave ‘S a sma’ request: I’ll get a blessin wi’ the lave, An’ never miss’t!	Here he tells the mouse that he realizes its need to steal the odd ear of corn, and he does not really mind. He’ll get by with remainder and never miss it. daimen = occasional; icker = an ear of corn; thrave = twenty four sheaves; lave = remainder
Thy wee-bit housie, too, in ruin! It’s silly wa’s the win’s are strewin! An’ naething, now, to big a new ane, O’ foggage green! An’ bleak December’s winds ensuin, Baith snell an’ keen!	Dismay at the enormity of the problems he has brought on the mouse causes him to reflect on what he has done – destroyed her home at a time when it is impossible to rebuild. There is no grass to build a new home and the December winds are cold and sharp. Her preparations for winter are gone! Big = build; foggage = moss; baith = both
Thou saw the fields laid bare an’ wast, An’ weary Winter comin fast, An’ cozie here, beneath the blast, Thou thought to dwell, Till crash! the cruel coulter past Out thro’ thy cell.	Where the mouse had thought that she was prepared for winter in her comfortable little nest in the ground, now she is faced with trying to survive in a most unfriendly climate, with little or no hope in sight. cosie = comfortable; coulter; = iron cutter in front of a ploughshare
That wee-bit heap o’ leaves an’ stibble, Has cost thee monie a weary nibble! Now thou’s turn’d out, for a’ thy trouble, But house or hald. To thole the Winter’s sleety dribble, An’ cranreuch cauld!	It seems probable that here the poet is really comparing his own hard times with that of the mouse – a life of harsh struggle, with little or no reward at the end. monie = many; thole = to endure; dribble = drizzle; cranreuch = hoar-frost; cauld = cold
But Mousie, thou are no thy-lane, In proving foresight may be vain: The best laid schemes o’ Mice an’ Men, Gang aft agley, An’ lea’e us nought but grief an’ pain, For promis’d joy!	How many times have people glibly trotted out, “The best laid schemes” without realising that they were quoting from Burns? The sadness, the despair, the insight contained within this verse are truly remarkable and deeply moving. no ‘thy lane = not alone; gan aft agley = often go awry
Still, thou art blest, compar’d wi’ me! The present only toucheth thee: But Och! I backward cast my e’e, On prospects drear! An’ forward, tho’ I canna see, I guess an’ fear!	This final verse reveals the absolute despondency that Burns was feeling at this stage in his life. Not at all what one might expect from a young man of twenty-six, supposedly so popular with the lassies, and with his whole life ahead of him, but nevertheless expressing sentiments with which many of us today can easily relate.
	From George Wilkie “Understanding Robert Burns”.
http://www.electricscotland.com/burns/mouse.html