Johnnie Armstrong depicted in a 19th-century painting at the Laing_Art_Gallery_in_Newcastle_upon_Tyne..html" ;"title="Newcastle_upon_Tyne.html" ;"title="Laing Art Gallery in Newcastle upon Tyne">Laing Art Gallery in Newcastle upon Tyne.">Newcastle_upon_Tyne.html" ;"title="Laing Art Gallery in Newcastle upon Tyne">Laing Art Gallery in Newcastle upon Tyne. ''Johnnie Armstrong'' or ''Johnie Armstrong'' was a Scottish raider and folk-hero. Johnnie Armstrong of Gilnockie was captured and hanged by King James V in 1530. He is related to the Baird family. There is a song which tells of his life and it is Child ballad number 169. Gilnockie Tower April 29 2007

History

John Armstrong of

Langholm Langholm , also known colloquially as the "Muckle Toon", is a burgh in Dumfries and Galloway, southern Scotland. Langholm lies between four hills in the valley of the River Esk in the Southern Uplands. Location and geography Langholm sits nort ...

and Staplegorton, called Johnnie of Gilnockie, was a famous Scottish

Border reiver Border reivers were raiders along the Anglo-Scottish border from the late 13th century to the beginning of the 17th century. They included both Scottish and English people, and they raided the entire border country without regard to their vi ...

of the powerful Armstrong family. A plunderer and raider, he operated along the lawless

Anglo-Scottish Border The Anglo-Scottish border () is a border separating Scotland and England which runs for 96 miles (154 km) between Marshall Meadows Bay on the east coast and the Solway Firth in the west. The surrounding area is sometimes referred to ...

in the early 16th century, before

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

and

Scotland Scotland (, ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a border with England to the southeast and is otherwise surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean to the ...

were joined by the

Union of the Crowns The Union of the Crowns ( gd, Aonadh nan Crùintean; sco, Union o the Crouns) was the accession of James VI of Scotland to the throne of the Kingdom of England as James I and the practical unification of some functions (such as overseas dip ...

. Like his fellow reivers, he raided into England when Scotland was in the ascendancy, and would change allegiances as power shifted. He led a band of a hundred and sixty men, despite having no income from rents. The romanticised picture of Armstrong was promoted by the nineteenth-century writings of Sir

Walter Scott Sir Walter Scott, 1st Baronet (15 August 1771 – 21 September 1832), was a Scottish novelist, poet, playwright and historian. Many of his works remain classics of European and Scottish literature, notably the novels ''Ivanhoe'', ''Rob Roy (n ...

and

Herbert Maxwell Sir Herbert Eustace Maxwell, 7th Baronet, (8 January 1845 – 30 October 1937) was a Scottish novelist, essayist, artist, antiquarian, horticulturalist, prominent salmon angler and author of books on angling and Conservative politician who ...

. Armstrong operated with impunity for some years under the protection of

Robert Maxwell, 5th Lord Maxwell Robert Maxwell, 5th Lord Maxwell (1493 – 9 July 1546) was a member of the Council of Regency (1536) of the Kingdom of Scotland, Regent of the Isle of Arran and like his father before him patriarch of the House of Maxwell/Clan Maxwell. A distingui ...

, as a leader of a gang of raiders. He burnt Netherby in

Cumberland Cumberland ( ) is a historic county in the far North West England. It covers part of the Lake District as well as the north Pennines and Solway Firth coast. Cumberland had an administrative function from the 12th century until 1974. From 19 ...

in 1527, in return for which

William Dacre, 3rd Baron Dacre William Dacre, 7th Baron Greystock, later 3rd Baron Dacre of Gilsland (''ca.'' 1493 – 18 November 1563) was an English peer, a Cumberland landowner, and the holder of important offices under the Crown, including many years' service as Warden ...

burnt him out at Canonbie in 1528; and Gavin Dunbar, the

Archbishop of Glasgow The Archbishop of Glasgow is an archiepiscopal title that takes its name after the city of Glasgow in Scotland. The position and title were abolished by the Church of Scotland in 1689; and, in the Scottish Episcopal Church, it is now part of the ...

as well as

Chancellor of Scotland The Lord Chancellor of Scotland, formally the Lord High Chancellor, was a Great Officer of State in the Kingdom of Scotland. Holders of the office are known from 1123 onwards, but its duties were occasionally performed by an official of lower st ...

, intervened with an

excommunication Excommunication is an institutional act of religious censure used to end or at least regulate the communion of a member of a congregation with other members of the religious institution who are in normal communion with each other. The purpose ...

for Armstrong, whose activities made the central authority look weak and were a hindrance to diplomacy with England. When

King James V James V (10 April 1512 – 14 December 1542) was King of Scotland from 9 September 1513 until his death in 1542. He was crowned on 21 September 1513 at the age of seventeen months. James was the son of King James IV and Margaret Tudor, and dur ...

took personal control of the situation, Armstrong and his men were dealt with severely, as rebels. In 1530, Armstrong was captured. The king had promised him safe conduct, but he was hanged with 36 of his men at

Caerlanrig Caerlanrig - also spelled 'Carlenrig' - ( Gaelic: ''Cathair Lannraig'') is a hamlet in the parish of Cavers, Borders, Scotland, lying on the River Teviot, 6 miles (10 km) north east of that river's source, and 10 miles (16 km) south we ...

chapel.Aeneas Mackay
''Historie and cronicles of Scotland'', vol. 1 (Edinburgh, 1899), pp. 334-5
The capture and execution of Armstrong were recorded in the king's household book. A memorial to Armstrong and his men stands in the chapel graveyard.

The ballad

''The Ballad of Johnnie Armstrong'', one of many

Border ballad Border ballads are a group of songs in the long tradition of balladry collected from the Anglo-Scottish border. Like all traditional ballads, they were traditionally sung unaccompanied. There may be a repeating motif, but there is no "chorus" as ...

s dealing with the reivers, relates that the king sends him a letter, requesting his presence at court and promising him safety. Johnnie is fooled by this honour and orders his men to dress richly, as befits the court. On their arrival, Johnnie asks for a pardon, but instead the king tries to arrest them, and Armstrong orders them to fight. They are all killed, although Johnnie is brought down only by a treacherous attack from behind. As is common in many such Scottish ballads, his son, still "on his nurse's knee", vows revenge. The variants sometimes open with a lament that it is not safe to appear before the king, or end with a thanksgiving that, as a reiver, Johnnie Armstrong had kept the English out of Scotland. "The Ballad of Johnny Armstrong" has been recorded by David Wilkie and Cowboy Celtic, and by Gunning and Cormier. Armstrong's story was dramatised by

John Arden John Arden (26 October 1930 – 28 March 2012) was an English playwright who at his death was lauded as "one of the most significant British playwrights of the late 1950s and early 60s". Career Born in Barnsley, son of the manager of a glass f ...

in his play ''Armstrong's Last Goodnight''.

References

External links

''Johnie Armstrong''
by

Sir Walter Scott Sir Walter Scott, 1st Baronet (15 August 1771 – 21 September 1832), was a Scottish novelist, poet, playwright and historian. Many of his works remain classics of European and Scottish literature, notably the novels '' Ivanhoe'', '' Rob Roy' ...

Clan Armstrong
{{authority control Child Ballads Armstrong, Johnnie Armstrong, Johnnie Border ballads Northumbrian folklore Year of song unknown