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On 13th April in 1596, Kinmont Willie was rescued from Carlisle Castle
in a daring rescue mission led by the Bold Buccleuch(1).
'Kinmont' William Armstrong (b. 1550) was a notorious Border Reiver and
outlaw, descended from ‘ill Will’. He was captured by the forces of the
English Warden of the West March in violation of a truce day. During
'truce day' all who attended to witness criminal trials were granted
safe conduct for that day until the following sunrise. Kinmont, a
witness to the trials, was taken against the 'safe conduct' and
imprisoned in Carlisle Castle by Thomas Salkeld.
Walter Scott of Buccleuch (the Bold Buccleuch), keeper of Liddesdale on
whose land the arrest had been made, protested to the English Warden,
Thomas Scrope, 10th Baron Scrope of Bolton. When Scrope refused to
release Armstrong, Buccleuch led a party of men on a daring raid into
England to break Willie out of the castle. Buccleuch raised a party
comprised of Scotts, Armstrongs, Grahams, Bells, and informant English
spies. Accounts vary, but many believe that Buccleuch bribed guards
inside the tower to betray the location of Kinmont Willie within their
walls. A dreich mist gathered around the castle and as the party
approached and many of the English guards went inside to gain cover from
the weather. The men succeeded in pulling off what was a daring rescue.
Queen Elizabeth I of England 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 James VI of Scotland was
tested to the point where James thought he might lose succession to the
English throne. He had been all but promised this and a pension from the
English in 1586. Elizabeth demanded that Buccleuch should be handed over
to the English for punishment. James 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 royal
benefactor. Buccleuch was eventually 'warded' in England although no
action was taken against him.
Little is known about Kinmont Willie's background apart from his obvious
link to Clan Armstrong, a family with origins in Cumbria who had played
an important role in the development of southern Scotland during
centuries of cross-border conflict. In 1569 Kinmont Willie was ‘of
Morton Tower’ when he pledged to obey the Wardens of the disputed
Borderlands, with Lord Maxwell as surety. In 1579 he appeared before the
King's Privy Council in relation to a feud with Thomas Turnbull of
Bedrule. That same year he and 400 Armstrong followers are said to have
killed Uswold Dod, and stole 800 cattle and 1,000 sheep.
In 1583 Lord Scrope demanded, unsuccessfully, that the Laird of
Johnstone (Scottish Warden) hand Willie over; he was said to be
responsible for 600 murders and the stealing of 400 cattle, 400 sheep
and 30 horses. He is listed in 1585 (among a huge number of men in the
lands that had Lord Maxwell as superior) who had remission for their
former crimes; he is recorded there as ‘William Armestrang callit
Kynmont’. His sons ‘Johne, Geordie, Francie, Thome, Sandie, Jhonn and
Ringane’ are also listed, as well as his brother ‘Serge’ and Martin
MacVitie, his ‘writer’ (i.e. legal clerk, suggesting he held a position
of some importance). This is probably related to having been on the
expedition to Stirling against the Earl of Arran, when he and his sons
ransacked the town.
In 1587 Kinmont was imprisoned but escaped, and by 1590 he appears on
the Privy Council’s list of men allowed to rent land in the ‘debateable
land’. Lord Maxwell again acted as surety for his good behaviour in
1591. By 1594 he had an agreement with Thomas, Lord Scrope, where he
assumed responsibility for 300 men, known as 'Kinmont's bairns'.
Kinmont Willie caused another international incident in 1600, when he
bought a mare that had been stolen from the English side of the Border.
This led to a raid by 200 English horsemen and 80 foot soldiers, with a
skirmish at Kinmont Tower. He is last recorded in 1603 when Scrope
complained that Kinmont had raided the towns of High and Low Heskett in
Cumberland. He is said to have died of old age sometime between 1605 and
1611, and is buried at Sark.
The Ballad of Kinmont Willie has since been immortalised by Sir Walter
Scott, published in the Minstrelsy of the Scottish Borders.
Note:
1. Walter Scott, 5th of Buccleuch, 1st Lord Scott
of Buccleuch (1565 – 15 December 1611), known as the "Bold Buccleuch"
was the son of Sir Walter Scott, 4th of Buccleuch (himself grandson of
Walter Scott of Branxholme and Buccleuch) and Margaret Douglas.
See also:
• The
Border Marches
• The
Debatable Lands
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