Page 10 - Armstrong Bloodline - ebook_Neat

centuries. In this environment it is not hard to understand how a reputation for plundering, bloodshed, and
violence came to be tied to these marauders of the border lands.

Little is said about the Armstrongs after the building of the
Mangerton Tower, probably in 1135. Apparently no Chief
was immediately recognized until 1300 when Alexander
became the first Laird of Mangerton. Stories abound of the
enmity between the Armstrongs and their neighbors the
Soulis’. For example, Alexander, the second Laird of

Mangerton, was treacherously killed by William, Lord Soulis, after being invited to a feast at his castle. The
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Armstrong Clan flourished, however, and by the early 1500s, the Laird of Mangerton was able to gather
3,000 mounted fighters. One Scottish king said that while there were Armstrong and Elliots on the Border,
Scotland was safe. The Armstrongs were ambassadors, earls, knights, farmers and above all, fighters. For
example, Gilbert Armstrong, third son of Alexander, the second Laird of Mangerton, a distinguished
clergyman and diplomat was the Canon of Moray from 1361 to 1375. In 1363 he served as a Commissioner
to England for the ransom of King David II of Scotland who was held as a prisoner in England. In all there
were ten Lairds of Mangerton from Alexander through Archibald Armstrong who was denounced as a rebel
in 1603, deprived of his lands in 1610, and executed at Edinburgh.

What happened to change our fortunes so greatly?
James IV of Scotland was on good terms with the
Scottish Border chiefs and he regularly visited and was
entertained by them. His son, James V of Scotland, on
the other hand, ruled by decree from distant
Edinburgh and did little to protect his Border subjects

or support them against repeated English incursions. In fact, in 1530, James V, with some 8000 men at arms
surged into the borderlands and the betrayal of the Armstrongs began. Johnnie Armstrong, of Gilknockie, the
brother of Thomas, the seventh Laird of Mangerton, was a much beloved and highly respected member of the
Armstrong Clan, who James V invited to parlay. Accepting the King's invitation, he and 50 of his men went to
meet with the King in good faith. Instead, they were seized and summarily executed. This incendiary act
outraged the Armstrongs and their allies and set the Borders ablaze with rage and indignation-- increasing the
violence and bloodshed it was intended to suppress. At the prodding of the King, the Church also entered the
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fray and the Armstrongs and other Border reivers were cursed by the Church and excommunicated. The
Armstrongs, with other Borderers, were thus left to their own devices so far as mutual self-defense was
concerned.

Receiving neither aid nor comfort from the Scottish or from the English Crowns, the Armstrongs and other
Border clans were forced to become makers of their own laws and protection. After Edward I of England
slaughtered thousand of Scots at Berwick, self-defense and preservation became their paramount endeavor.
The Borderers were forced to become the best in what for them become a profession of necessity - a
greater thief (raider) did never ride was one complimentary description of an Armstrong, Jock O'Syde, in
Liddesdale. They would raid by night and attend Carlisle Market by day, greeted by all who knew them.
Unable to do more than bare subsistence farming, the cupboard was frequently bare. When the lady of the
house served her Laird a pair of spurs on a plate, this meant it was time to ride and raid the other side of the
Border yet again.

The bloodshed and violence continued. In 1603, Elizabeth I died and James VI of Scotland (James I of
England) was declared her heir. After a splendid coronation at Westminister Abbey, James settled down to

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