141:. James VI was said to be pleased because Musgrave was a lawful prisoner in comparison with Armstrong's recent detention at Carlisle Castle. In 1600, Armstrong attacked the village of Scotby with 140 riders, burning and taking prisoners and cattle. In 1602 he rode his last foray, south of Carlisle. He was still alive two years later, and his four sons who had helped to get him out of Carlisle Castle are frequently named in the later Border raids. Legend supposes he died in his bed of old age, sometime between 1608 and 1611.
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A contemporary
Scottish narrative written around 1603, after the death of Elizabeth, gives more details on Armstrong, Buccleuch, and the raid on Carlisle Castle. Armstrong was riding home in Liddesdale when he was pursued by 200 followers of the English deputy, Thomas Salkeld. He was captured after a
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two hours before dawn. The ladders were too short so his men broke through the wall near the postern gate. They fought with the watchmen and sentinels while Scrope and
Salkeld and their men held back, and then withdrew with Armstrong and some other prisoners. According to this narrative, Buccleuch
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to write to Scrope. Buccleuch received no reply and interpreted this as an insult to James VI. He sent men to
Carlisle to examine a postern gate and the height of the walls. A woman went into the castle as a visitor to identify where Armstrong was held. He mustered 200 men at the Tower of Morton
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Armstrong was captured in violation of a border truce day in 1596. At a Truce Day all who attended to witness the criminal trials were granted "safe conduct" for the Day and until the following sunrise. Kinmont was arrested by the deputies of the
English warden
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He lived at the Tower of Sark, close to the border between
Scotland and England, north of the centre of the border line. The tower was built for his father Sandy Armstrong, and although now demolished the site is marked by a monument unveiled in 1996.
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that she sent to James VI. Buccleuch eventually freely rode from King James to Queen
Elizabeth. After their audience, Queen Elizabeth said: "With ten thousand such men, our brother in Scotland might shake the firmest throne of Europe."
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James VI was caught between allegiance to the Scots who were adamant
Buccleuch had done no wrong in rescuing a man who was captured illegally and his desire to pander to his English benefactor, Elizabeth. She threatened to suspend a
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about the king's letter, saying that Foulis was "perplexed with fear" about the outcome. Hudson suggested that
Scotland's exchequer was now solvent, and withholding the money would only hurt the king and Thomas Foulis and
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and made a statement against any rehabilitation of the
Catholic earls. David Foulis received £3,000 on 18 September. There were rumours that James VI would no longer ask for payments, but the arrangements continued.
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later noted that Thomas Foulis and Jousie had persuaded James VI not to recall Foulis before he obtained the subsidy money. Elizabeth decided to make a payment after James had imprisoned
Buccleuch at
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Perhaps the best known of the Border reivers (outlaw raiders or rustlers), William Armstrong of Kinmont's first recorded raid was against the Milburns of
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was furious that one of her Border fortresses had been broken into at a time when peace existed between England and Scotland. Her relationship with
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who waited in London. James VI wrote to Foulis to continue asking for the money, and pointed to agreements made in 1588 during the crisis of the
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chase of four miles and taken to Carlisle. The Laird of Buccleuch complained to the deputy and the warden Lord Scrope, and also asked
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in August 1583, when Armstrong was probably in his forties. In 1585 he accompanied the Earl of Angus's campaign against the
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Museum collection has an old label identifying it as Kinmont Willie's sword. The sword is of the right age and typology.
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was tested. Elizabeth demanded that Buccleuch and Walter Kerr of Cessford should be sent to England.
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returned the other prisoners and looted goods, and only the gate and prison door were damaged.
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Valentina Bold, his grave is in the cemetery opposite the modern dark tower farm.
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who administered the money. The Scottish financial administration known as the
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412:(Society of Antiquaries of Scotland / Mettle, November 2018), p. v, pp. 5-10.
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with scaling ladders and siege tools. They reached Stanwix Bank to cross the
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James VI, Britannic Prince: King of Scots and Elizabeth's Heir, 1566–1603
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A Scottish diplomat (and former court musician) James Hudson wrote to
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The Steel Bonnets: the Story of the Anglo-Scottish Border Reivers.
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441:(Society of Antiquaries of Scotland / Mettle, November 2018).
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The story of the raid on Carlisle Castle is told in the
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claimed they could manage without the English subsidy.
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439:The Kinmont Willie Sword and other Tales of Mettle
410:The Kinmont Willie Sword and other Tales of Mettle
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231:The Kinmont Willie Sword and other Tales of Mettle
129:In July 1596 Armstrong was said to have captured
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383:, vol. 1 (London, 1754), p. 146; vol. 2, p. 184.
355:James VI and Noble Power in Scotland, 1578-1603
160:Since 1586 Queen Elizabeth had sent James VI a
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47:in the last decades of the 16th century.
310:Elizabeth I: War and Politics, 1588-1603
83:. The Scottish warden of the West March
397:Memoirs of the Reign of Queen Elizabeth
381:Memoirs of the reign of Queen Elizabeth
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370:(Routledge, 2024), p. 165.
357:(Routledge, 2017), p. 182.
326:Elizabeth I and Her Circle
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328:(Oxford, 2015), p. 106.
308:Wallace T. MacCaffrey,
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205:The Sword and the Story
93:Elizabeth I of England
492:Northumbrian folklore
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117:(Sark Tower) on the
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