A HISTORY OF CUMBERLAND 



opposite side, 1 but the answer came back to the Earl of Cumberland, the 

 English warden, that if he wished to meddle ' with suche as Arme- 

 stronggs ar and other like wilde and mysguyded men,' he would be 

 obliged to use craft and espial as well as the power of the sword. a 

 Repeated complaints from the English warden and the indiscriminate 

 slaughter of his own subjects at length stirred up King James to attempt 

 redress, and for this purpose he entered into an agreement with Wolsey 

 for combined action against the outlawry on the Border. These 

 negotiations had little practical effect. The Armstrongs continued to 

 ' run day forays, robbed, spoiled, burned and murdered ' within England. 

 Again it was proposed to take from them all their goods and possessions, 

 burn and destroy their houses, corn, hay and fuel, and take all their 

 wives and bairns and bring them to ports of the sea, and send them away 

 in ships to be put on land in Ireland or other far parts, from which they 

 may never return home again, 3 but the Armstrongs replied to the threat 

 by seizing on the Debatable Land, and in spite of truces and Border law 

 built divers houses and edifices, probably peels or towers, for their pro- 

 tection. 4 William, Lord Dacre, incensed by their audacity, collected a 

 force of 2,000 men and marched secretly upon them in the hope of 

 taking them by surprise, but the Armstrongs had timely warning of the 

 intended raid and succeeded in defeating the English warden and scatter- 

 ing his host. Failures like this roused the Border clans to acts of 

 retaliation. The history of this period is a tale of atrocious robberies 

 and devastation. In 1528 Henry, Earl of Northumberland, estimated 

 the power of the Armstrongs with their adherents at above 3,000 horse- 

 men, and stated that any undertaking on behalf of the Scottish king to 

 subdue them was ' but a braigg and no thing likely to take any effect.' * 

 The opinion however was not well founded, for James was determined 

 to try conclusions with those unruly subjects who owned not his 

 authority. In 1530 the king approached the Border and hanged a 

 number of the Armstrongs, including their famous leader, Johnie of 

 Gilnochie, who had been betrayed into his hand. The merciless execu- 

 tion of the chieftain and * threty sax o' his cumpanie ' produced a deep 

 impression on the minds of the commonalty of the district, and became 

 a fruitful subject for celebration in the ballad and dramatic poetry of 

 the sixteenth century. 6 



The people of Cumberland joined in the resistance of the northern 

 counties to the ecclesiastical policy of Henry VIII. when he had entered 

 on the suppression of the monasteries. Disaffection was imported from 

 Yorkshire, and the agents of Robert Aske and Lord Darcy, the northern 

 leaders, were busy in fomenting discontent and urging the commonalty 

 to strike a blow on behalf of the ejected monks. The local symptoms 



Cotton MS. Calig. B. vi. f. 409. Ibid. iii. f. 115. 



3 Ibid. i. f. 296. Ibid. vii. f. 212. 



L. &- P. of Henry VIII. iv. 5055. 



6 Mr. Bruce Armstrong has collected much information about this notorious freebooter from Scottish 

 chronicles and Border ballads, as little about his capture and execution can be gleaned from the public 

 records (Hist, of Liddesdale, 273-80). 



270 



