William Armstrong (1565–1649), known as Christie's Will, was a

Scottish Borders The Scottish Borders ( sco, the Mairches, 'the Marches'; gd, Crìochan na h-Alba) is one of 32 council areas of Scotland. It borders the City of Edinburgh, Dumfries and Galloway, East Lothian, Midlothian, South Lanarkshire, West Lothi ...

freebooter Freebooter may refer to: * Marine freebooters, or pirates * Filibuster (military), an individual who engages in unauthorized warfare against foreign countries * Rapparee, the Irish usage * Meadowbrook Freebooters, American polo team * Freebooter (c ...

of the 17th century, celebrated in a ballad 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' ...

Biography

William Armstrong was the son of the Christie Armstrong referred to in the ballad of ''Johnnie Armstrong'' as "Kristy my son", and inherited

Gilnockie Tower Gilnockie Tower is a 16th-century tower house, located at the hamlet of Hollows, 2.3 km north of Canonbie, in Dumfries and Galloway, south-west Scotland. The tower is situated on the west bank of the River Esk. It was originally known as ...

. Having been imprisoned in the Tolbooth,

Jedburgh Jedburgh (; gd, Deadard; sco, Jeddart or ) is a town and former royal burgh in the Scottish Borders and the traditional county town of the historic county of Roxburghshire, the name of which was randomly chosen for Operation Jedburgh in su ...

, for stealing two colts during a marauding expedition, he received his release through the interposition of the

Earl of Traquair Earl of Traquair (pronounced "Tra-''quare''") was a title in the Peerage of Scotland. It was created in 1633 for John Stewart, 1st Earl of Traquair, John Stewart, Lord Stewart of Traquair. The family seat was Traquair House. Stewart had been c ...

, lord high treasurer, and henceforth became devoted heart and soul to the earl's interests. Some time afterwards a lawsuit, in which the Earl of Traquair was a party, was on for trial in the

Court of Session The Court of Session is the supreme civil court of Scotland and constitutes part of the College of Justice; the supreme criminal court of Scotland is the High Court of Justiciary. The Court of Session sits in Parliament House in Edinburgh ...

Edinburgh Edinburgh ( ; gd, Dùn Èideann ) is the capital city of Scotland and one of its 32 Council areas of Scotland, council areas. Historically part of the county of Midlothian (interchangeably Edinburghshire before 1921), it is located in Lothian ...

. The decision, it was supposed, would turn on the opinion of the presiding judge, Sir Alexander Gibson, Lord Durie I (who took the name as his judicial title when he bought the Durie land from the family of that name). He was known to be unfavourable to Lord Traquair. Armstrong, therefore, kidnapped the judge at

Leith Leith (; gd, Lìte) is a port area in the north of the city of Edinburgh, Scotland, founded at the mouth of the Water of Leith. In 2021, it was ranked by '' Time Out'' as one of the top five neighbourhoods to live in the world. The earliest ...

Sands, where he was taking his usual exercise on horseback, and conveyed him blindfold to an old castle, the tower of Graham, on the

Dryfe Water Dryfe Water is a river in Scotland about 18 miles in length which flows into the River Annan at , near Lockerbie. It starts at on the southern slopes of Loch Fell, near Moffat, and then flows along a narrow valley to the Annan. Dryfe Water giv ...

, near

Moffat Moffat ( gd, Mofad) is a burgh and parish in Dumfriesshire, now part of the Dumfries and Galloway local authority area in Scotland. It lies on the River Annan, with a population of around 2,500. It was a centre of the wool trade and a spa town. ...

. The judge's friends mourned for him as dead, the belief being that his horse had thrown him into the sea; but after the case was settled he was again conveyed blindfold to Leith Sands, whence he made his way home three months later than his horse. As Lord Durie was twice chosen president of the court, namely, for the summer session of 1642, and for the winter session of 1643, his capture must have taken place in one of these years. Armstrong is said also to have been employed by Traquair, during the

Wars of the Three Kingdoms The Wars of the Three Kingdoms were a series of related conflicts fought between 1639 and 1653 in the kingdoms of Kingdom of England, England, Kingdom of Scotland, Scotland and Kingdom of Ireland, Ireland, then separate entities united in a pers ...

, in conveying a packet to the king, and on his return to have made his escape at

Carlisle Carlisle ( , ; from xcb, Caer Luel) is a city that lies within the Northern England, Northern English county of Cumbria, south of the Anglo-Scottish border, Scottish border at the confluence of the rivers River Eden, Cumbria, Eden, River C ...

from the pursuit of

Cromwell Oliver Cromwell (25 April 15993 September 1658) was an English politician and military officer who is widely regarded as one of the most important statesmen in English history. He came to prominence during the 1639 to 1651 Wars of the Three Ki ...

's soldiers by springing his horse over the parapet of the bridge that crosses the Eden, which was then in flood. It is not impossible that the tombstone discovered in the churchyard of

Sark Sark (french: link=no, Sercq, ; Sercquiais: or ) is a part of the Channel Islands in the southwestern English Channel, off the coast of Normandy, France. It is a royal fief, which forms part of the Bailiwick of Guernsey, with its own set of l ...

, supposed at one time to be that of "Kinmont Willie", may really commemorate Christie's Will. The William Armstrong to whom it refers died in 1658 at the age of 56.

In literature

The ballad of ''Christie's Will'', published by Sir Walter Scott in ''Minstrelsy of the Scottish Border'' is, according to Scott, not to be regarded as of genuine and unmixed antiquity.

Notes

;Attribution * {{DEFAULTSORT:Armstrong, William Year of birth uncertain 1600s births 1658 deaths 17th-century Scottish people Prisoners and detainees of Scotland