The Raid of the Redeswire, also known as the Redeswire Fray, was a border skirmish between

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 ...

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 ...

on 7 July 1575 which took place at Carter Bar, the Cheviot pass which enters Redesdale. The skirmish was between (on the English side) the English Warden of the Middle Marches,

Sir John Forster Sir John Forster (c.1520–1602) was an English military commander and Warden of the Middle Marches. Life Born about 1520, he was son of Sir Thomas Forster (d. 1527) of Etherston, Northumberland, marshal of Berwick, and his wife Dorothy, daughte ...

, with Sir George Heron, Keeper of Redesdale, Keeper of Liddesdale and Scottish Warden and (on the Scottish side) Sir John Carmichael, the

Lord Warden of the Marches The Lord Warden of the Marches was an office in the governments of Scotland and England. The holders were responsible for the security of the border between the two nations, and often took part in military action. They were also responsible, alo ...

, with George Douglas of Bonjedworth. It was the last battle between the Kingdom of England and the Kingdom of Scotland.

Opposing forces

After the Scottish defeat at Pinkie in 1547, no Anglo-Scottish battle had occurred until this. Sir John Carmichael met Sir John Forster at a hill called Red Swire ("Redeswire" in

Scottish English Scottish English ( gd, Beurla Albannach) is the set of varieties of the English language spoken in Scotland. The transregional, standardised variety is called Scottish Standard English or Standard Scottish English (SSE). Scottish Standa ...

) in Carter Bar for a regularly scheduled "Truce Day" wherein the two discussed matters that came up between their two regions. Both men were accompanied by a number of armed guards.

Battle

One of the topics discussed during this meeting was an Englishman who had stolen some items from a Scotsman and who was supposedly in Forster's custody. Carmichael demanded that the man be delivered to Scotland for justice, but Forster replied the thief had taken "leg-

bail Bail is a set of pre-trial restrictions that are imposed on a suspect to ensure that they will not hamper the judicial process. Bail is the conditional release of a defendant with the promise to appear in court when required. In some countrie ...

" (escaped from custody) and could not be produced. This turned into an argument that involved personal insults from both parties, until members of the English contingent could no longer hold their temper and attacked, killing two men and wounding several others. The Scots were forced to retreat, but during their flight they met up with another group from

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 ...

, who were late to the meeting. This gave the Scots an advantage and encouraged them to engage with the English. They began to break the English lines and in time, the English were

rout A rout is a panicked, disorderly and undisciplined retreat of troops from a battlefield, following a collapse in a given unit's command authority, unit cohesion and combat morale (''esprit de corps''). History Historically, lightly-e ...

ed: the Scots proved victorious, and drove the English off. George Heron was killed, along with his brother, John, and 23 other Englishmen. Forster, Francis Russell son of the

Earl of Bedford Earl of Bedford is a title that has been created three times in the Peerage of England and is currently a subsidiary title of the Dukes of Bedford. The first creation came in 1138 in favour of Hugh de Beaumont. He appears to have been degraded fr ...

, and several other nobles were captured, and the Scots conducted an impromptu raid, taking 300 cattle from local farms.

Aftermath

The prisoners were brought to James Douglas, 4th Earl of Morton, who was the regent for King James VI. This soon became embarrassing for the Scots, as the prisoners, who were being held at

Dalkeith Castle Dalkeith Palace is a country house in Dalkeith, Midlothian, Scotland. It was the seat of the Dukes of Buccleuch from 1642 until 1914, and is owned by the Buccleuch Living Heritage Trust. The present palace was built 1701–1711 on the site of th ...

, had likely been taken for their ransom value, although Regent Morton stated that it was to keep them from being killed in retaliation. Morton wrote a letter to Queen Elizabeth describing the events, and was about to send his envoy

Nicolas Elphinstone Nicolas or Nicoll Elphinstone (died 1579) was a Scottish courtier and diplomatic messenger. He was the son of Lawrence Elphinstone of Selmys, 1435-1515. He worked for James Stewart, 1st Earl of Moray, James Stewart, Regent Moray and was involved i ...

to London, but she was outraged and sent

Nicolas Errington Nicolas Errington (died 1593) was an English soldier, military engineer, and administrator. The surname was sometimes written Arrington or Aryngton, or Heryngton. Career Errington was a Captain based in the garrison at Berwick-upon-Tweed. He wa ...

and Henry Killigrew to demand immediate satisfaction. Regent Morton was directed to meet with Henry Hastings, 3rd Earl of Huntingdon, who was President of the

Council of the North The Council of the North was an administrative body first set up in 1484 by King Richard III of England, to improve access to conciliar justice in Northern England. This built upon steps by King Edward IV of England in delegating authority in the ...

, to work out the details, and the two men were able to come to an amicable solution, as Morton was inclined not to anger Elizabeth, and she wanted to avoid a war. Forster, Cuthbert Collingwood, and the other prisoners had been treated with kindness and were released with gifts and an apology for being held. Carmichael was delivered to

York York is a cathedral city with Roman origins, sited at the confluence of the rivers Ouse and Foss in North Yorkshire, England. It is the historic county town of Yorkshire. The city has many historic buildings and other structures, such as a ...

as a prisoner for trial, but was acquitted as the English court found that Forster had engaged in an unprovoked attack.

Legacy

The story of the skirmish was turned into a

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 ...

edited and published by

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 ...

. Also, on the Cheviot Hills, near the place where the battle was fought a monument known as the Redeswire Stone was built in commemoration of the battle. It reads, "On this ridge, July 7th, 1575 was fought one of the last border raids, known as The Raid of the Redeswire". The battle is commemorated annually by the Jethart Callant's Festival each year during their Redeswire Rideout; this ride is held on the first Saturday in July and is in excess of 25 miles. During this Rideout the Jethart Callant can be seen galloping towards the "Redeswire Stane" giving the immortal battle cry of "Jethart's Here". A song commemorating this battle has been written by Alan G Brydon. Three songs are recognised by the Callant festival as songs are sung as a custom on the last day.

References

External links

*"Raid of the Redeswire" in
"The Raid of the Redeswire"
by Sir

{{DEFAULTSORT:Raid Of The Redeswire 1575 in Scotland Conflicts in 1575 1575 in England Redeswire Northumbrian folklore Border ballads Redeswire 16th-century military history of the Kingdom of England 16th-century military history of Scotland