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life at the English Court. One of his highest priorities was the suppression of the Border families like the
Armstrongs, as he was afraid that their incursions would make him unpopular in England. As a result, he
established powerful landlords in the Debatable Lands and in Liddesdale and Eskdale, and appointed Sir
William Cranston to put to death all within two miles of the Border. A large number of Armstrong reivers
were tortured and hung at the Market Cross in Edinburgh, at Carlisle and no doubt on a number of local
gibbets. The last Armstrong raid of any importance took place in 1611 and as a result, Lance Armstrong of
Whithaugh - along with others - was executed a year later. Cranston generated the first forced migrations to
Ireland and the subsequent Undertaking of the Plantation of Ulster in 1608. In the 18th century, farms were
merged and more migrations followed.

The Armstrong lands of Mangerton passed into the hands of the Buccleuchs. Many members of the once
powerful Armstrong Clan were shipped off to Ireland, including Johnnie Armstrong's grandson, William who
settled in Fermanagh. Thus, many who had survived found themselves on the Solway shore waiting for
emigrant ships to take them from an inhospitable homeland. Homeless, leaderless, and sometimes
penniless, they went westward to Ireland and North America, and south to Australia and New Zealand in
search of new beginnings. Perhaps the most famous descendent of the County Fermanagh Armstrongs was
Neil Armstrong, the American astronaut and the first human to set foot on the moon during the Apollo 11
mission in 1969.

The dissolution and dispersal of the Armstrongs followed some two hundred years of Border brigandage and
treachery, ending in the depopulated areas and vast estates of the present day Whithaugh, Mangerton and
Gilknockie, which had at one time been the Clan's greatest strongholds. A proud and courageous family had
been reduced to a smattering of broken men. The Armstrongs have been scattered and now have neither chief
nor recognized leader. However, as individuals the Armstrongs have survived and have lived up to their clan
motto of "Invictus Maneo" or "We Remain Unvanquished."

Clan Armstrong Trust Findings

How much of the above in mere folklore and how much is actual fact? Perhaps we will never know for sure, but
through correspondence with the Clan Armstrong Trust, the self-proclaimed voice of the Armstrongs in Scotland, I
learned that they had expended a great deal of time and effort in researching the etiology and verifiable history of
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the Armstrong Clan. The following is an excerpt for a letter I received from J. Alan Armstrong, Laird of Nether
Thorniewhats, Guardian of Langholm Castle, and at that time the Chairman of the Clan Armstrong Trust of
Scotland. In the letter, the Laird provides his findings concerning the origins of the Armstrongs:

"The principal purpose of the Trust apart from its place as the acknowledged Armstrong Clan Society in Scotland is
to "advance public education in the history and culture of the Scottish Border Area." Much has been written which
is historically incorrect, some sheer fantasy, based on the writings of numerous Victorian writers to whom, many of
the records now available to us were not then available.

Over time, through our activities and the good offices of the Lord Lyon, King of Arms in Scotland, The Trust has
become the acknowledged Clan Society of the Armstrongs. We commenced by examining original source
documents lying in the various archives in both Scotland and England. The earliest record we examined was the
Anglo Saxon Chronicles written by a series of monks of the times, to ascertain the origins of the tradition of the
descent from Siward Beorn, following through with State Papers, Charters and such other material. Much of what
you find in the Chronicles of the Armstrongs, regarding Siward, are basically correct but as for our descent from
this man I can assure you that it is totally incorrect, The earliest reference to this descent came in the 18th century
out of Ireland as a result of certain correspondence between certain Parsons. The legend that Siward was our first

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