Before I began to create a website I was quite happily researching my family tree, and all I knew off the Routledge as reivers was that they had been one of the families, and nothing much more really. I could have perhaps named the raids they had fell victim to on one hand, and as for ones were the Routledges were raiders, none. I never envisaged having 14 A4 sheets of paper listing raids as both victims and attackers. So hopefully this page will open your eyes up as I did my own throughout the process of researching the Routledges. And it may make you think twice about referring to us as a lesser family or a weak family...for the Routledge family gave as good as they got.
We've already looked at the earliest raids I an find on previous pages in the form of harassing the Scott's, but I'll still go through them never the less in chronological order as I find this make the best sense. So the first know raid by a Routledge was Simon and Mathew his son when they burned and sacked the manor at Buccleuch in 1494 and from this point onwards the Routledge name would constantly reappear for the next 120 years as victors. It would only be a matter of months before the next raid would be recorded and would then continue to take place along the English and Scottish West march and the Scottish middle March. After Simon and his son Mathew raided Buccleuch the Routledges seem to mainly raid along with other families. A good example of this was found in 1516 when a list of Reivers in Liddesdale who were being given respite for crimes; we find a 'Nichol Routleche' named riding amongst Nixon's and Henderson's. So perhaps he lived near them or had family connections I don't know.
'Black John' Routledge
Quite often when people
talk about the Reivers they regal you with examples of famously notorious ones like,
Kinmont Willie, 'Wat O'Harden, Johnny Armstrong and Jock O'The Side. And
this will be the case no matter which Border Reiver site or book you read,
it will be the same stories about the same people. The Armstrong's, the
Elliots and a couple of Grahams thrown in here and there. But these were
not the only Reivers who had infamous nicknames, far from it. Quite often
in families the same name might appear more the once so you would get
names like 'Will's Tom', which was Tom son of William, for example. Other
strange and weird nicknames from time to time would appear and would never
be seen again in historical records.
And this is where 'Black John' comes in. He, unlike so many other characters around the turn of the 15th and 16th century, appears more than once. In fact he is mention in records spanning nearly a 30 year period and seemed to come from either the Bewcastle area, or Liddesdale, both of which are neighbouring counties. The first time the nickname appears we have already covered in the previous page regarding the burning of Branxholm Castle.
Nov 24th 1510: John Dalgleish is executed for having helped Black John Roucleshe into Scotland where he burned Branxholme.
Now from the original record we know that he was a 'traitor of Leven' which would mean he was a man of Liddesdale or a Bewcastle man. The answer would come from the full record regarding Dacre's march of the 500. "returning burnt the houses of Black Joke’s sons upon the Mere burn adjoining the side of Lidisdale." So from this description we know he lived near Liddesdale and the description fits the north of Bewcastle I've found in other records. From this it means I can start building a picture of 'Black John' in records and try to fill in some off the gaps.
March 2nd 1495: John Routlisch is named as one of the out laws wanted to appear at Hermitage Castle, along with 84 other persons from Liddesdale.
1501: John Routlich is listed as paying a rent or tax in the Liddesdale or Hawick area along with a Simon, Mathew and Jacobi Routlich. (Possible a connection to Simon who burned Buccleuch)
Granted this is only three sources I have presented above, and although there is other Johns mentioned in this period spanning 15years, I have kept it to these main three as they are all described as notorious reivers and not just the name of John's in records. The above records only give an insight into his life really, as in this period of history as I've said before; any scrap of information is a rarity. We can see though how he was wanted for crimes as early as 1495 at hermitage castle, and then 6 years later is being fined. By the time 1510 comes around you can imagine John sneaking across the border at the dead of night and burning either the lands or castle at Branxholm. Then he'd safely nip back into England or the sanctuary of Liddesdale leaving John Dalgleish to face the consequences and the noose!
Who ever 'Black John' was, and whatever connection, if any, he had to Simon one thing is certain. He made his mark in the area, and if he never left his mark on the pages off history, he did on the minds off the people. This is demonstrated by Dacre making note that he had burnt 'Black Jok' (john) house on his return. So forget your Kinmont, tell them how 'Black John' terrorized the borders and would sneak into Scotland to kill murder and burn.
Religion, Deaths and Executions
1530's
The 1520's had seen a two major events take place that would have an
effect on the Routledges according to history books. The first was the
already mention curse and Dacres 500 men. Now the Reivers were not the
most religious of people, so whether the curse bothered them I've yet to
find any conclusive proof. As for the march off the 500 it is said that
some Routledges fled to Ireland in search of a better land and life. On the previous page
however I made the
point, or rather ranted, that the Routledges strength did not seem to be
affected after Dacre's force came after us; And the next two decades,
1530's and 1540's, would prove this.
The 30's saw times off great change through out the united kingdom, as Henry VIII broke away from the Catholic church and began his blood thirsty campaign to out and kill all non-converted Catholics as traitors. Our style off raids may have changed from big ones, burning castles etc, to rather more humble local ones such as stealing sheep and the odd life here and there. In fact from 1430 through to 1580 the majority of raids we are mentioned as attackers or victims take place in the late 30's and early 40's. It begins only a few years after Christopher Dacre came after the Routledges that it would be with him that we reappear in the pages of history after hardly any mention in the 1520's.
Jake Musgrave, of Bewcastle, wrote a letter to Sir Christopher Dacre on March 8th 1534 demanding compensation for the slaying of one 'John Routlege a liegeman', states that if peace be obtained then it is advisable he takes action. This is just another example of many to come where a Routledge would be slain in the cross fire off feuding families. In the case the Dacres and the Musgrave's.
Only a year later riots take place in Cumberland over the formation of the Church of England, with similar riots happening up and down the land. While these riots where going on it seemed a good enough excuse to go do some more raiding over the border while attentions of the law were else where. Sadly for one William Routledge and his son Thomas this would not be the case. They, along with a couple of Armstrong's, a Foster, a Halliday, and a Gray to the number off 50 men were accused of killing 'Thomas and John Crawe and Thos Crawe Jun'. And on 1535 Oct 5th William and Thomas were accused of treason.
William and Thomas were from "Lukkyns of Leven", which is now the archeological site of a peel tower know as 'Wille Tom's Tower. This is the only tower that can be proven to be a Routledge one. As for the fate of this father and son due, William was acquitted and Thomas was found Guilty. And so it is in a letter report at Carlisle dated October 9th that is tells us off Thomas's fate.
"Thomas Rowtlege found guilty and the morrow, market day, suffered, and his head stands on the tower gate called Recarde gate at Kerlesle"
Recarde gate is today long since gone but it stood in the Ricker gate area of Carlisle and would have been the main gate for those coming down from Scotland, and for this reason in later years was known as Scotch Gate. As for Thomas we can only imagine what it means to 'suffer' and obviously beheaded. It would have been the usual sentence for treason which means he would have been hung drawn and quartered before being beheaded.
The riots continued well into 1537 and in Carlisle alone in one month 73 men were hanged of the same reason, treason. meanwhile as religion continued to tear the country apart and turn it upside down it was business as usual and we find the Routledges not slipping away like is clamed but riding with the likes of the Armstrong's, Grahams and Fosters. For in 1537 April 8th the Routledges, Armstrong's and Fosters of Liddesdale of the Scottish West march, rode in to the English East march, to Tynedale and there raided the Charlton's tenants in daytime and took 12 oxen and kine, 12 horses and mares and killed three men, two Yarrows and one Robson.
Reiving and Raiding
1540's
The next 10 years could be viewed as the peak of the Routledge family as Border Reivers. It would not get any better for us than this, and in a way could be viewed as one last punch before submitting to history. It starts with two Routledges raiding into Whitchester (near Hawick) in 1540. The two men went by the names off 'Jawfray Routlische and Blak Jok Rowtleische his sonne' and were accompanied by 50 other men. The raid is not the best recorded for spelling and is a bit confusing at time. All that can be made out however is that they took 30 kye, oxen, horses and mares, also taking the insight of the homes and slaying a band of the Wardens men.
In the same year there is also a 'Dwn George Rowtleische, Wille Rowteische, his brodir, Jame Rowtleische, sone to Reyd Rolland, and Jame Rowtleische of Todhillis' found carrying out a raid not far from Whitchester in a place called Abbotrule where they did not only stole the usual, but also killed a Thome Oliver and a Will Kowman. Quite a bit off information can be taken from this raid, as it names the farm, Todholes, which is still there today and will be looked at in more depth later, and that a hundred years after Routledges in Hawick, they were now raiding the area as appose to farming it.
For the rest of the decade though we seem to quite often ride with other families and clans in the area along the west marches of both England and Scotland and occasionally into the Scottish Middle March. The First major one being a 'Quyntyne Rowtleische' who was named in a raid against a group of Armstrong's as not only riding with them but seemingly living with them too. Whether this was for his protection or he was the brother to the wife of an Armstrong, or even they recruited him I'll never know. What I do know though is that for a few years the Armstrong's and Routledges quite often shared raids and pages of history together.
In 1543 the Chief of the Armstrongs, Nixons, and Routledges offered 100 horse men and 100 foot men from each surname to the Kings army. This was not some sudden act of law abiding behavior by the Reivers, but instead was in exchange for prisoners held in Carlisle and Alnwick Castle's. Sadly there is no record of who these prisoners were or whether they were ever released. But it is safe to say that all three families must have had prisoners for them all to pledge horses and men. This also gives us an indication of the Routledges strength at this time, who were supposedly a weak family by now, if they could afford to spare the men. Although in reality none of the three families would have ever had any intentions of giving these men up.
Now I could rattle on at this point and describe all the raids I've come across in the this decade, but instead I've decide to just present a few below to give you an overview. Some of them represent us as attackers and some off us as raiders. Also I've done my best to take the records and put them into something more understandable, rather than old English or Scot. Although I have tried to keep names to there original spelling.
1541 Dec 3rd: "Dave Pennange and other Scotsmen to the number of 10 people came to a place in Gillsland (near Bewcastle) and there they killed the wife of Andro Routlege and Englishwoman"
1541 Dec 3rd: "Thomas Turnbull and George Rutherford and other Scotsmen to the number of 100 come to the Bailey (north of Bewcastle) where they murdered John Routlege and Robert Nobill"
1541 Dec 3rd: " A Routlege named 'tyn spede' is listed as a wanted rebel of England living in the relme of Scotland and that he lives with Armstrongs"
1542 Dec 10th: "Batill Routlege is accredited with the capture and taking prisoner of the Earl of Calfhill"
1543: "The Chief of the Armstrong's is found filing claims at Edinburgh for damages by English raids on his territory in which he claims in detail for damages done to a number of Routledges on the Tarras Burn"
1543 Nov 1st: "James Bowltedge, and David Blackburn to the number of 20 men, raided and burnt homes in the Scottish towns of Somesyd? Lathane and Wolfers, and also stole 3 horses, 10 kye and oxen, household goods and took three prisoners while hurting many others. The raiders also took serious injuries but none were left behind"
1544 Jan 25th: "Upon Sunday night last, one Willie Routlege and other English men and Scotsmen to the number off 13 persons burnt for fields of corn, and a barn, which belonged to the Abbot of Jedburgh. The same night on the way back he also burned 6 fields of corn belonging to Lord of Langlandes (unsure of location)"
So as you can see from above we certainly caused havoc on the borders on both sides, and we certainly knew how to keep company. Perhaps the unidentifiable 'tyn spede' is the previously mentioned 'Quyntyne Rowtleische' who lived with the Armstrongs. Certainly the 'tyn' could be short for 'Quyntyne' and he may have lived with them as he was a rebel like them and no one else would take him in. Perhaps another unsung Reiver of the Routledge name...
Prisoners and Gaps
1550-70's
Sadly though with William is the last Routledge for many years we find Reiving. In fact he is more or less the last of the Routledge Reivers. We have to go to 1593 to find another Routledge reiving! Why the Routledges stopped I've been unable to find out. Perhaps it is down to the quality of sources I've looked into or perhaps the records are lost. Which ever the reason, after William in 1544 there is no record of any Routledges at all till 1580. Well that is apart from two mentions in 1561 and 1562.
The first is in a bond between an Archie Elliot of Fawnyche and others to John Kerr of Farnehirst, where he is entering a Thomas Routlege as a prisoner on Whitsunday under pain of '300 angel nobles' (Scottish currency). It is dated 30th Jan 1561. The next mention is again a Routledge being taken prisoner by again the same man! This time in bond by Archie and his son Gavin, to Sir John Kerr and Robert Kertoun dated May 11th 1562. He is found entering a John Routlache, son of Mungo Routlache, an Englishman, as a prisoner upon Michaelmas Day under pain of £200 Scots to be paid within 15 days.
Most people collect key rings or stamps throughout their lives, I collect football shirts, but it would seem that Archibald Elliott collected Routledges. What he did with them, or whether they were ever released is a mystery, but it would be nice to imagine that another group had broke them out of the capture. Now as you see me suggest on the next page, this could even be the start of an unreported feud between the Routledges and the Elliots.
But what ever it was, that was the end for the Routledge family really as a powerful border family. from 1542 to 1580 there is only these two records I can find on either side of the border. Either a generation of reivers was killed or just died out, or even fled to Ireland as its in 1568 the first 'Rutledge' is mentioned in Ireland. I cant explain why we disappear for 35 years, nor can I offer any theories to be honest; probably only more research will turn up the answers if they have survived. What I am certain about though is when we returned to the pages off history our fortunes had change very much for the worst... for this would be the decade when we became everyman's prey!
Routledges of East March
1590's
This would not be the end of the Routledges Reiving days however, in 1580 we find a group of Routledges living in the East march, in Kilham in Northumberland. John, Christopher, Thomas and Rigmone Rutliche are all named as owning horses and arms. Why and when they moved from one side of the country to the other I don't know. Perhaps they followed the land and away from the likes of the Armstrongs and Elliots. What ever the reason though they do not really reappear till the late 1590's.
Well in fact their reign in the East March was very short indeed, lasting from 1596-97. It starts off with unnamed Routledges making complaints against the Bailiffs of Edinburgh for stealing 15 oxen and insight. This was in the February of 1596, with the next record coming in the April were we find a Thomas Routledge of Kilham having 30 Kye and oxen taking at night by Young's. Now for me researching this, and for yourself reading this, names like Young's, Robsons and Charlton's seem out off place and some how wrong having been so used to the likes of Elliots and Armstrong, Nixons and Graham.
As with all periods some characters appear more than once in an area and in the records. Kilham is no exception to this either. For all we have a couple of Johns, Thomas's and a Christopher here and there, these are relatively common names and don't tend to stand out as much. However when I came across a Renian Routlidge, I knew he was going to be easier to trace than a Thomas or John.
He only appears three times in the records and in those three entries we can see his changing fortunes in just a short period. The first is in an undated record in 1596 where the "guidman of Gaitschaw" (the good men of somewhere I cant find) are complaining against Renian Rowtlage, John Brewhouse and Robert Moffat for taking 10 score of oxen and kye. By the next entry though his luck has changed. Its in a letter dated 1597 April 15th from Robert Carey to the privy council he lists Renian as one of the men of Kilham who where seriously hurt in a raid by Scottish Raiders.
Sadly though his last appearance would be defiantly his last. This time though in a Letter to Carey, it tells us of a raid dated Nov 3rd 1597 in which:
"Three Davisons and co, in all 15 personnes, came to Kilham fields and cruelly slew Renian Routleidge going his way, bringing home his hay, giving him 20 wounds and not leaving him till he was dead"
They basically butchered poor Renian in his field while farming. And with him was the last Routledge I find in the East March. Why they went they I'll never know, but I know one thing for certain; I bet they wish they hadn't.
