Buckholm Tower today is largely ruined, though the best preserved room is the cellar, where the iron hooks featured in the story can still be seen.
In 2005, paranormal research team Spectre carried out three investigations at Buckholm Tower. The team reported temperature changes, the sound of footsteps and recorded video footage of the iron hooks moving. They also claim to have taken an audio recording of an indistinct voice, and when they asked whether laird Pringle was present, the voice is believed to have said: "I had to" or "I hate you".
Buckholm Tower remains a favorite among ghost hunters, many are convinced that something evil lurks in the remains of the tower's cellar, even claiming that if you look closely you may see faint blood stains on the wall. Maybe the spilled blood of Geordie and William?
Hobbie Noble of the Crew
By Tom Moss
On the English Scottish Border in the reiving times, nominally from the 13th to the 17th centuries, when the Border Reivers disputed all authority, national identity was often dismissed. Joint raids by the forces of Scots and English, all animosity to each other put aside for a while, resulted in a lucrative pay-off for the clans and families involved in the grand theft of cattle and sheep. The Border country was beset with the intrigues of the Reivers; local law enforcement on both sides of the Border at a loss, reticent to lay the blame for crime at anyone door, careful of reprisal or lasting feud.
The story of Hobbie Noble of the Crew, one of the English Border Reivers of somewhat dubious renown, is one such example of Scots and English coming together. He would aid the Armstrongs of Liddesdale, a Scottish Border clan, in their hour of need, yet eventually be betrayed by one of their own.
Hobbie Flees to the Scottish Borders.
Hobbie was from Bewcastle in what was known in his time as the Waste of north Cumberland; his home was Crew Castle. Little of what would once have been a formidable tower remains today; the earthworks, however, easily recognised, bear testimony to a place of formidable strength: the home of a family of prominence and importance in the region. The Waste is still there to this day. It is a harsh and unforgiving country yet delights in little pockets of sylvan beauty which are a delight to the eyes.
Hobbie spent many years raiding in Tynedale (Northumberland) and even parts of his homeland, to the south of his Cumberland fortress. It would seem that allegiance to his countrymen was of little concern to a man bent on raiding wherever the opportunity presented itself. The product of theft, the 'reive', meant more to Hobbie than allegiance to his own countrymen, his own people.
Eventually they disowned him as they tired of the retribution exacted on them by the surnames (families) he had raided within his own country and the clans to the north of the Border. Their lives were dominated by the relentless raids from Tynedale, other parts of Cumberland, and southern Scotland which, with regular monotony, raided the homesteads of the folk of Bewcastledale.
He was much prized by the English West March Warden, the law in Cumberland. Doubtless there were many crimes laid at his door in which he had taken no part.
Hobbie fled to Liddesdale in the Scottish Borders were he was well received by the Laird of Mangerton, head of the Armstrongs. Anyone on run from the law, irrespective of nationality, was welcomed by the Armstrongs of Liddesdale.
Hobbie is True to his Scottish Hosts.
When Jock Armstrong of the 'Side', a stalwart and leading member of the Scottish clan was captured and thrown into gaol in Newcastle to await a fate which would inevitably see him dangle at the end of a rope, Hobbie was a major force in planning and achieving his rescue. He was lauded by the Armstrongs of Mangerton for the sterling part he played in the rescue of Jock but there were other Armstrongs, within Scottish Liddesdale, who resented the popularity of the Englishman.
Hobbie is asked to lead a raid into England by the Armstrongs of the Mains.
Sim Armstrong was Laird of the Mains, today a peaceful farm in Liddesdale, but in the days of the Border Reivers, the most dangerous valley in the whole of Europe. Sim had grown to hate the great English Reiver whilst the English Warden was bent on wresting Hobbie from the Scottish Border lands and bringing him to account for his crimes in England. Sim and the Warden made a deal whereby, in return for English gold, Sim would betray Hobbie into the Warden's hands. Accordingly, on the pretext that Hobbie knew the English ground better than he did, Sim persuaded Hobbie to lead a raid south of the Border into England. The cattle and sheep were fat and ripe for the picking.
Hobbie is betrayed by Sim of the Mains
Hobbie led the Armstrongs of the Mains into England but at the same time Sim Armstrong sent word to the English Keeper of Askerton that Hobbie was back on English ground. Hobbie and the Armstrongs had rested overnight before their final assault on their target. At the first light of the following day Hobbie woke to see the English confronting him. He was not unduly concerned because he knew the ground right well. His fertile mind instantly recognised the path in which he and the Armstrongs could evade any confrontation. But it was not to be. The Armstrongs at his back suddenly voiced their allegiance to the English and Hobbie was betrayed for gold.
Askerton Castle.
Hobbie is bound and taken to Carlisle
Hobbie was bound with his own bow-string and led ignominiously to Carlisle and thrown in the dark damp cells of Carlisle castle. He was told he would hang next day unless he would confess to stealing Peter of Winfield's horse, a crime that had hung over his head for some time. There is some doubt that Hobbie was involved, that the charge was trumped up by the English to see an end to the great English Border Reiver. He denied the allegation and prepared himself for death. Next morning he was hanged. There was a lot of sympathy in the watching crowd for the man who had risked life and limb to rescue Jock of the 'Side' from the Black Tower of Newcastle.
Sir Walter Scott, avid lover of Scottish English Border history and eminent writer of the early nineteenth century gathered the story of Hobbie Noble and committed it to verse in his 'Minstrelsy of the Scottish Border'.
Here are two particularly poignant verses from the ballad:
'And fare thee weel , sweet Liddesdale, (weel = well)
Baith the hie land and the law;
Keep ye weel frae the traitor Mains,
For gould and gear he'll sell ye a' (goud = gold, a' = all)
'Yet wad I rather be ca'd Hobbie Noble, ( wad = would, ca'd = called)
In Carlisle , where he suffers for his fau't, (fau't = fault)
Than I'd be ca'd the traitor Mains,
That eats and drinks of the meal and maut'. ( maut = malt)
English Gold was no benefit to Sim of the Mains
When the Laird of Mangerton, head of the Armstrongs, heard of Hobbie's fate and Sim's involvement, he was furious. Normally, as Hobbie was executed by the English, his retribution would have been aimed against the English families who dared to steal in his domain, Liddesdale or its surrounds. For once he directed his wrath against his own. He planned a great reprisal against the Armstrongs of Mains even though they were a sect of the clan. Sim fled to England but within two months, thanks to intelligence furnished to the English by Mangerton, Sim of the Mains also dangled at the end of a rope on Harrabee Hill, the killing ground of Carlisle. No tears were wept by a crowd who were pleased that he had got his come-uppance for the betrayal of Hobbie Noble of the Crew.
Jamie Telfer of the Fair Dodhead
By Tom Moss
Jamie Telfer lost all when raided by the English of Bewcastle. His despair would change to delight when help from the Scotts of Teviotdale brought him an unexpected gain.
English Reivers Raid
Bewcastle lies just south of the English Scottish Border; the remains of a once formidable castle still stand as a stark reminder that it had been a dangerous place to live in times gone-by. The Bewcastle Waste was a hunting ground of the Scottish Border Reivers and a direct route for them in their relentless raids into Northumberland, in particular Tynedale. The castle was well garrisoned in an effort to thwart the Scots as they headed for the Tyne valley.
Late in the sixteenth century the Captain of Bewcastle ventured forth to teach the Scots a lesson. Reprisal was on his mind as he sought to counter the many inroads into England of the Border Scots clans.
The Fair Dodhead
High in Ettrickdale, a lovely Border valley on the Scots side, once stood the home of Jamie Telfer. Here he lived with his wife and bairns in a somewhat isolated location. The family had little in the way of possessions, and as for many another Borderer of the time, life was harsh. They had only ten cattle and but a meagre smallholding of land which proved hard to tame to provide for almost all their needs. Yet they were happy in their lot; they asked for nothing but to live in peace and tranquillity in their little parcel of heaven.
The Captain of Bewcastle and his marauding band soon came upon the scene and, having gauged the lie of the land and the absence of close neighbors, laughed raucously at their good fortune. They saw only easy pickings.
The clash was but a scuffle; Much as the parents strove to combat the superior English force they were soon overcome, left face down in the mire as their children looked on in howling distress. The Bewcastle horde had soon made off with Jamie's little herd.
Jamie Seeks Help from the Reiving Clans.
After the English had left, Jamie ran the ten miles to Stobs Castle and sought the help of Gibby Elliot, a man of power in the neighborhood. Elliot would have none of it because Jamie did not pay him blackmail. Blackmail was rent paid for protection against the more powerful reiving clans of either England or Scotland who made their living at the expense of the weak and defenceless: men who could not call on the aid and succor of a powerful overlord or clan chief. Elliot suggested that Jamie move on to Branxholme as it was to the Laird there that Jamie paid his blackmail. In despair, Jamie then ran from Stobs to Branxholme where he received a fairer reception.
Scott, the Laird of Buccleuch and Branxholme had very soon called out his neighbors at Goldielands, Harden and Allanhaugh, also by the name of Scott. Together they rode hard to intercept the English before they should reach the Rutterford, a passage across the river Liddel that led into English ground.
The English, slowed by the ponderous pace of the beasts, were eventually caught up with, still on Scottish ground.
A Border Reiver Skirmish
In the ensuing melee a Scottish reiver named Willie was felled when his head was clove in two by an English sword. Wat Scott of Harden swore revenge and roused the Scottish party by his audacity and aggression. The Captain of Bewcastle was to come off badly when his leg was broken by a massive sword swipe onto his upper thigh. This, it is said in the ballad of Jamie Telfer, rendered him 'useless' to a woman for the remainder of his days. The Scots soon retrieved Jamie's cattle.
The Scottish Reivers Move into England.
A Scottish Reiver by the delightful name of Watty with the Wudspurs suggested that, as they were near the very Border Line, the Scots should move on to Stanegarthside (pronounced Stingerside) on the English side and chance their luck at the Captain of Bewcastle's home there. This they duly did. After breaking down the door of the barmkin ( a wall, high and thick, which surrounded the tower), they soon outfought the English garrisoned for its defence and made away with some of the Captain's cattle.
A Poor Man's Despair Turns to Delight.
After leaving Branxholme Jamie had made his way home slowly to the Fair Dodhead, lost in wretched thought. He found his wife and bairns forlorn and in despair, huddled together in a corner of the single room that once was filled with laughter but now succumbed to a cheerless state. He was taken aback by the sorrowful sight and soon joined their wailing. What would tomorrow bring, what was their future?
Imagine the relief then when the Scotts of Teviotdale soon brought home their ten beasts. The relief turned to delight when Jamie counted thirty- three kine (cows), twenty-three of which had formerly been pastured at the home of the Captain of Bewcastle.
The Captain must have rued the day he ever looked at the Fair Dodhead. Loss of cattle and manhood was a poor return for a reive which had set out with such high expectations.
An Afterword
There is more than one rendition of this story. From the 'Minstrelsy of the Scottish Border' by Sir Walter Scott to the Child Ballads and other versions whose sense is now lost. The location of the Fair Dodhead has never been conclusively proved. There is certainly more than one site with the name in the Scottish Borders. Different versions also cast a shadow over who aided Jamie. Was it the Scotts of Teviotdale or just maybe the Elliots of Stobs?
The original ballad, now lost, was certainly tinkered with down the years as the Scotts and Elliots endeavoured to prove their magnanimity. It matters little now. It is a stirring story of the days of the Reiver.
Brave Little John MacAndrew
By Tom Moss