Henry was enraged by the Scots’ about face and invaded the Lothians and the border country. His dictate was simple but damning when he suggested to his armies that they should put all to the sword. Again the Border folk of Scotland were to suffer excruciating loss of both life, limb and living as vast hordes of English burned and killed all in their path.
The Borderers, though, survived this holocaust, lived through it and from that standpoint it is not such a giant leap to appreciate that they must have kicked back and confronted the crisis of how they were to survive in a wasted and barren land.
The same held in his approach to higher authority, even monarchy. The latter worked in a manner and at a pace which did little to provide succour and justice when it was most needed. The border clans, hard and resilient, could do without such aid.
Successive monarchs and governments encouraged their border folk to create mayhem and strife in the Border country. The Border Reiver clans were perceived as an essential barrier, a buffer, to the inroads of the opposite country, a fighting presence far from the seat of power. They were encouraged, even given lands on the Borders on many occasions, to organise themselves and raid into the opposite realm. The Border became a buffer state between the two nations,often forestalling a greater conflict.
The border clans and families demonstrated an unlimited power which was often an embarrassment to the monarchy. On those occasions when both monarchs were determined to reach some agreement and amity, they took the opposite stance with their border people and endeavoured to control them, bring them down.
trisectionstaggers 