Border reiver surnames are the riding families of the old Anglo-Scottish frontier, and the clearest way to read them is March by March. On the Scottish side, the West March had Maxwell, Johnstone, Irvine, Graham and Bell; the Middle March (Liddesdale and Teviotdale) had Armstrong, Elliot, Scott, Kerr, Nixon and Crozier; and the East March had Home, Trotter, Dixon and Cranston. On the English side, Graham, Routledge, Musgrave and Lowther rode in the West, Charlton, Robson, Milburn, Hall and Fenwick in the Middle, and Forster, Selby and Gray in the East. A July 1583 list in the Calendar of Border Papers names more than 70 of these surnames across the six Marches, and Armstrong, Forster, Graham, Hall, Nixon and Robson appear on both sides of the line.
Scottish Border surnames such as Armstrong, Elliot, Graham, Scott, Kerr, Maxwell and Johnstone are closely associated with the Anglo-Scottish frontier and the kin-based riding families known as the Border Reivers. A surname alone cannot prove descent, but it can point a family historian towards particular valleys, parishes and cross-border records.
This guide is part of our Scottish Names collection. Browse the complete Scottish Names directory for A to Z first names, surnames and Gaelic lists, or set these frontier families beside the rest of the country in our Highland and Lowland surnames guide.
These names carry a history that is more complicated than Scotland versus England. For centuries, people on both sides of the line made alliances through kinship, marriage, protection and rivalry, often putting the interests of their own surname ahead of national loyalty.
The Scottish Borders remain a useful starting point for this story, especially around Hawick, Teviotdale and the valleys running towards England. The past can be dramatic, but the paperwork is usually less so. That is part of the charm.
This page is written for anyone with a Border name who wants to know which March it rode in, who it feuded with and where it turns up today. If you already know your family’s parish, jump to the research section further down. If all you have is the surname, start with the checker below and work outwards from there.
Two Scots Abroad · Scottish names
Border reiver surname checker
64 riding surnames from the July 1583 list of names on the Marches. Type your surname or an old spelling, then filter by side of the border, by March, and by how common the name still is in Scotland.
No surnames match that. Try an older spelling, or clear a filter.
What Makes a Surname a Scottish Border Name?
A Border surname is a family name historically found in the contested country along the Anglo-Scottish border, particularly in what became the Scottish Borders and Northumberland. Many became prominent between the 12th century and the end of the 16th century, when the frontier was divided administratively into East, Middle and West Marches.
The Marches were supervised by wardens, but daily security depended heavily on extended families and local alliances. Raids for livestock and goods, retaliatory attacks, feuds and protection arrangements all flourished in a region repeatedly disrupted by war between the two crowns.
The term “Border Reiver” is generally used for the raiding families active in this frontier world. It should not be treated as a hereditary certificate of criminality. Plenty of people bearing the same surnames were farmers, tenants, officials, clergy and neighbours trying to get through a difficult political landscape.
The Six Marches and Their Riding Surnames
Each kingdom split its side of the frontier into a West, Middle and East March, each run by a warden. The English West March was run from Carlisle and the East March from Berwick, where the governor of the town doubled as warden (Warden of the Marches). On the Scottish side, the warden of the West March sat at Dumfries, and the Keeper of Liddesdale held Hermitage Castle in the Middle March, according to the Clan Irving Border history pages.
Two Scots Abroad · Scottish names
The six Border Marches
Three Marches on each side of the line, each with its own warden and its own riding surnames. The dashed line is the border; the wee hatched strip by the Solway is the Debatable Land, split between the two kingdoms in 1552.
The surnames on the map come from a single document. In July 1583 a list of the “names on the Marches” was drawn up, splitting them into gentlemen and plain surnames, and the list survives in the Calendar of Border Papers. Reivers historian Tom Moss transcribes it in full, with the modern spellings alongside, and it is the closest thing there is to a contemporary roll call of the riding families.
| March | Covered | Warden’s base or stronghold | Riding surnames in the 1583 list |
|---|---|---|---|
| Scottish West | Dumfriesshire and Galloway: Nithsdale, Annandale, Eskdale | Dumfries; Caerlaverock (Maxwell), Lochmaben (Johnstone) | Maxwell, Johnstone, Irvine, Graham, Bell, Carlyle, Beattie, Little, Carruthers |
| Scottish Middle | Roxburgh, Selkirk and Peebles, plus Liddesdale and Teviotdale | Hermitage Castle (Keeper of Liddesdale) | Kerr, Young, Pringle, Burn, Davison, Gilchrist, Tait (Teviotdale); Rutherford, Douglas, Turnbull, Scott, Robson, Hall, Oliver, Laidlaw, Armstrong, Elliot, Nixon, Crozier, Turner, Forster (Liddesdale) |
| Scottish East | Berwickshire (the Merse) | Hume Castle | Home, Trotter, Bromfield, Dixon, Craw, Cranston |
| English West | Northern Cumberland | Carlisle | Musgrave, Lowther, Curwen, Salkeld (gentlemen); Graham, Routledge, Armstrong, Forster, Nixon, Taylor, Storey |
| English Middle | Northumberland outside the East March: Redesdale and North Tynedale | Alnwick, Harbottle, Otterburn | Ogle, Fenwick, Heron, Widdrington, Shaftoe, Ridley, Carnaby (gentlemen); Hall, Hedley, Anderson, Potts, Reed, Dunn, Milburn (Redesdale); Charlton, Dodd, Milburn, Robson, Stapleton (Tynedale) |
| English East | Northern Northumberland along the Tweed | Berwick; Norham and Wark | Forster, Selby, Gray (gentlemen); Johnson, Ward, Wallace, Storey, Armstrong, Dunn |
Good to know: the March boundaries were never as tidy as a map makes them look. Wikipedia’s Scottish Marches article notes that the standard textbook map of the three Scottish Marches lacks firm 15th-century documentation, so treat the lines above as a guide. The Debatable Land between the Esk and the Sark was the messiest corner of all, and it was only divided between the two kingdoms in 1552.
How Border Reiver Families Worked
Border families were often called riding clans because mounted men could move quickly through rough country. They were not Highland clans of Gaelic origin, even though both systems placed enormous importance on kin and leadership. A Border group commonly shared a surname, a local territory and loyalty to a leading branch or chief.
If you are trying to work out how a Border surname differs from a Highland clan name, our explainer on Scottish clan surnames covers the chiefs, septs and followers side of the story.
Family networks crossed the border with little regard for neat modern categories. Armstrong, Graham and Hall are among the surnames found on both the Scottish and English sides. A feud could therefore unite an English branch with a Scottish branch against another neighbour, which makes any simple national reading of the period unreliable.
Names also shift in surviving records. Elliot may appear as Elliott, while Crozier can occur as Crosar or Croser. Spelling was not fixed in the way it is on a modern passport, so researchers should search variants before deciding a line has disappeared.
Famous Scottish Border Surnames and Their Associations
Several names appear repeatedly in accounts of the frontier. Their prominence reflects local influence and surviving tradition, not a guarantee that every person with the name belonged to a single unified family.
| Surname | Border Association | Useful Research Note | Scotland in 2025 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Armstrong | Strongly associated with the western frontier and with branches active in the Scottish Middle March and the English West and East Marches. | Search both Scottish and Northumberland records, especially when a line seems to cross the border abruptly. | Armstrong 171 (rank 125=) |
| Elliot or Elliott | A major Scottish riding family, often linked in Border tradition with Armstrong and other Liddesdale groups. | Use both Elliot and Elliott in catalogues and indexes. | Elliott 104 (rank 242=); Elliot 63 (rank 424=) |
| Graham | Found on both sides of the frontier, making it a good example of a surname that cannot be assigned to one nation alone. | Pin down a parish and occupation before connecting distant Graham lines. | Graham 508 (rank 22) |
| Scott | One of the best-known Border surnames, with the Scotts of Buccleuch especially embedded in Borders history. | Separate local Scott families by place, dates and witnesses in records. | Scott 711 (rank 11) |
| Kerr | Particularly associated with the Scottish Borders and prominent in Border political and family networks. | Look for spelling variants including Ker in older documents. | Kerr 449 (rank 33) |
| Maxwell | A leading Border name with major influence in the western March country. | Do not assume every Maxwell line descends from one elite branch. | Maxwell 131 (rank 181=) |
Armstrong
The Armstrongs are perhaps the surname most readily associated with the Border Reivers. Border tradition places them across the English West March and Scottish Middle March, a reminder that their sphere did not stop at the political boundary. Accounts of the family include figures remembered by colourful bynames, including Johnnie Armstrong and Kinmont Willie Armstrong.
For genealogy, the important point is geographic: a possible Armstrong connection may lead into records on both sides of the frontier. A Scottish baptism in one generation and an English marriage in the next is not automatically a mistake.
The 1583 list backs that up: it puts Armstrongs in Liddesdale on the Scottish side and in both the English West and East Marches. Our guide to Scottish last names beginning with A has the wider Armstrong entry.
Elliot or Elliott
The Elliots were a Scottish Border family, often associated with the Liddesdale area and frequently allied with Armstrong interests in traditional accounts. Their surname is still familiar throughout the Borders, while Elliott is a widespread spelling elsewhere in Britain and beyond.
Do not let an extra “t” derail a search. Parish clerks, census enumerators and later indexers did not always use one consistent form, and a family could appear under both spellings in a relatively short run of records.
One more spelling to add to the pile: the 1583 list writes them as Elwoods. In National Records of Scotland’s 2025 count, Elliott (104) now outnumbers Elliot (63) in Scotland, and both sit in the Scottish surnames beginning with E.
Graham, Scott and Kerr
The Grahams demonstrate the cross-border nature of reiving society. Graham families appear in Scottish and English Border history, and their alliances could change according to local circumstance. Broad family labels were useful in a feud, but they do not replace the details of a particular household.
Wikipedia’s history of the Border reivers puts it more bluntly: the Grahams were reputed to identify as Scottish or English whenever it suited them. Further back, the family is usually given an Anglo-Norman origin, which puts Graham in the same club as the names in our Norman surnames in Scotland guide.
The Scotts are closely identified with the Scottish Borders, including the powerful Scotts of Buccleuch. Scott is also an extremely common surname, so a claimed connection needs documentary proof. A coat of arms, a family story or a tartan shop certificate is not enough to bridge generations.
Kerr is another established Borders name. The name is sometimes linked with the Gaelic word cearr, meaning left-handed, though surname origins can be layered and disputed. In practical research, Kerr and Ker should be treated as essential search companions.
Border Reiver Feuds: Which Surnames Fought Each Other
Feud ran through the whole system. A killing or a raid could set one surname against another for generations, and the wardens’ truce days were meant to settle exactly these scores. These are the best-documented pairings.
| Feud | When and where | What happened |
|---|---|---|
| Maxwell and Johnstone | Dryfe Sands, near Lockerbie, 6 December 1593 | After about a century of feud, the Johnstones won, backed by Scotts and Grahams. Lord Maxwell was killed. His son shot Sir James Johnstone at Tinwald in 1608 and was executed in Edinburgh in 1613. |
| Scott and Kerr | Edinburgh, 1552 | Sir Walter Scott of Buccleuch was killed by members of the Kerr family. The two Teviotdale names could still unite against the English when it suited. |
| Heron and Ker | A March truce meeting, between 1500 and 1511 | John “the Bastard” Heron killed Robert Ker of Cessford, Warden of the Scottish Middle March. Catherine of Aragon pardoned Heron days before Flodden in 1513. |
| Elliot and Scott | 1564 | A feud that ran in cycles of raid and retaliation. |
| Armstrong and Dacre | 1525 | Raids and counter-raids between the Armstrongs and Lord Dacre, the English warden. |
Dryfe Sands was Scot against Scot: Wikipedia records about 700 Maxwell dead, according to one account, with heavy Johnstone losses too. It is a good reminder that plenty of reiver violence was Scot against Scot, not one nation against the other.
Reiving ended with the crowns. After 1603, James VI and I had the frontier renamed the Middle Shires and, in 1605, set up a commission that executed 79 people in its first year, according to Historic UK. In 1606 the commission shipped 50 Graham families from Eskdale to Roscommon in Ireland, but within two years that plantation had broken down and the Grahams had scattered, many of them back home.
Other Prominent Border Family Names
A fuller roll of Border-associated names includes Bell, Burn, Carruthers, Charlton, Crozier, Davison, Dixon, Douglas, Dodd, Fenwick, Forster, Hall, Home, Irvine, Johnstone, Laidlaw, Maxwell, Moffat, Nixon, Noble, Pringle, Robson, Routledge, Rutherford, Tait, Trotter and Turnbull.
Douglas is widely explained through the Gaelic dubh ghlas, often rendered as “dark water” or “dark grey.” Its Border presence does not mean every Douglas family began there. The same caution applies to names such as Bell or Scott, which became common well beyond the frontier.
Some surnames identify a place, while others may reflect an occupation, a personal characteristic or descent from an ancestor. A modern surname map can offer clues, but a real family line is built from named people in dated records, not from a broad distribution pattern. The wider lists of Scottish last names beginning with M, Scottish last names beginning with P and Scottish last names beginning with R can help when a Border branch turns up under a less familiar name.
If your name looks like it comes from a farm, a burn or a valley, our guide to Scottish surnames from places explains how that type of name works.
Where Border Reiver Surnames Are Today
Most of the big riding names are still common in Scotland. National Records of Scotland counts how often each surname appears in the year’s birth, marriage and death registers, and in 2025 Scott came 11th in the whole country, with Graham, Bell, Kerr and Johnston all in the top 40. The English-side gentry names have mostly faded north of the border: Musgrave, Lowther, Salkeld, Ogle and Widdrington did not reach the ten registrations NRS needs before it lists a name.
| Surname | Rank in Scotland, 2025 | Times in the 2025 registers |
|---|---|---|
| Scott | 11 | 711 |
| Graham | 22 | 508 |
| Bell | 26= | 485 |
| Kerr | 33 | 449 |
| Johnston | 37 | 428 |
| Johnstone | 76 | 246 |
| Douglas | 96 | 205 |
| Armstrong | 125= | 171 |
| Irvine | 131= | 169 |
| Tait | 148 | 154 |
| Beattie | 157= | 146 |
| Maxwell | 181= | 131 |
| Little | 184= | 129 |
| Turnbull | 211= | 116 |
| Elliott | 242= | 104 |
| Robson | 354= | 75 |
| Rutherford | 365= | 74 |
| Elliot | 424= | 63 |
| Laidlaw | 655= | 39 |
| Pringle | 684= | 37 |
| Nixon | 744= | 33 |
| Crozier | 1564= | 13 |
The names also travelled. Robert Bell’s history of the riding clans in Ulster for History Ireland lists Armstrong, Johnston, Elliott, Irvine, Graham, Nixon, Crozier, Bell and Kerr as principal names in the 1659 census of the Ulster settlement, most heavily in Fermanagh. When Bell wrote in 1994, three of Fermanagh’s five commonest surnames, Johnston, Armstrong and Elliott, came from the Scottish Borders, and Graham, not Smith, was the most common name in the Carlisle phone book.
So if your Armstrong or Elliott line runs back through Enniskillen rather than Hawick, that is not a dead end. It is often the same story, one sea crossing later.
How to Research a Border Surname Properly
Start with the people you can document and work backwards. The National Records of Scotland advises family historians to build a tree from known information rather than leaping directly to a famous clan. That approach is less romantic, but it prevents a great deal of accidental ancestry.
- Collect family certificates first. Note full names, occupations, addresses and the names of witnesses. These details help distinguish unrelated people who share a surname.
- Use civil registration and census material. Scottish civil registration began in 1855, while earlier searches may depend on Old Parish Registers and other local sources.
- Search surname variants. Try Elliot and Elliott, Kerr and Ker, Crozier and Crosar, plus likely transcription errors.
- Map each confirmed place. A run of entries in Hawick, Jedburgh, Langholm, Dumfries, Newcastleton or Northumberland is more useful than a dramatic but undocumented clan claim.
- Read local history after building the line. Once a parish or valley is established, Border history can give the names on the page much more texture.
A genealogy research notebook is useful for keeping record references, spelling variants and unresolved possibilities separate from confirmed facts. Family history gets messy quickly, especially when three men called William Scott appear in the same district.
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Where to Explore Border Family History
Hawick is a natural place to begin for anyone interested in the riding families. The town remains strongly associated with Border traditions, and the annual Hawick Reivers Festival is held in March. It offers a local setting for understanding why surnames such as Elliot, Turnbull, Pringle, Scott and Armstrong still have such resonance in the region.
For document-based research, the National Records of Scotland is the key public institution for Scottish genealogy. Its guidance on Old Parish Registers is particularly useful for the period before civil registration began in 1855. Records can be incomplete, and some entries are spare, so patience is part of the equipment.
On the English side, Northumberland and the old Border valleys are equally relevant for names including Charlton, Fenwick, Forster, Robson and Graham. Treat the frontier as a connected historical zone, not as a barrier that families never crossed.
Quick List: All 64 Riding Surnames in the 1583 Border List
| Surname | 1583 spelling | Side | March (district) | Scotland 2025 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Anderson | Andersons | English | English Middle (Redesdale) | Anderson 942 |
| Armstrong | Armestronges, Armestranges, Armstrongs | Both sides | English East (North Northumberland); English West (Cumberland); Scottish Middle (Liddesdale) | Armstrong 171 |
| Beattie | Battisons | Scottish | Scottish West (Dumfriesshire and Galloway) | Beattie 146 |
| Bell | Bells | Scottish | Scottish West (Dumfriesshire and Galloway) | Bell 485 |
| Bromfield | Bromfields | Scottish | Scottish East (Berwickshire, the Merse) | Under 10 |
| Burn | Burnes | Scottish | Scottish Middle (Teviotdale) | Under 10 |
| Carlyle | Carlills | Scottish | Scottish West (Dumfriesshire and Galloway) | Carlyle 14 |
| Carnaby | Carnabies | English | English Middle (Northumberland) | Under 10 |
| Carruthers | Carruders | Scottish | Scottish West (Dumfriesshire and Galloway) | Carruthers 52 |
| Charlton | Charletons | English | English Middle (Tynedale) | Charlton 14 |
| Cranston | Crinstons | Scottish | Scottish East (Berwickshire, the Merse) | Cranston 18 |
| Craw | Craws | Scottish | Scottish East (Berwickshire, the Merse) | Under 10 |
| Crozier | Crosers | Scottish | Scottish Middle (Liddesdale) | Crozier 13 |
| Curwen | Carwennes | English | English West (Cumberland) | Under 10 |
| Davison | Davisons | Scottish | Scottish Middle (Teviotdale) | Davison 23 |
| Dixon | Dixons | Scottish | Scottish East (Berwickshire, the Merse) | Dixon 64 |
| Dodd | Dodds | English | English Middle (Tynedale) | Dodd 12 |
| Douglas | Dowglasses | Scottish | Scottish Middle (Liddesdale) | Douglas 205 |
| Dunn | Dunnes | English | English East (North Northumberland); English Middle (Redesdale) | Dunn 146 |
| Elliot | Elwoods | Scottish | Scottish Middle (Liddesdale) | Elliot 63; Elliott 104 |
| Fenwick | Fenickes | English | English Middle (Northumberland) | Fenwick 16 |
| Forster | Fosters | Both sides | English East (North Northumberland); English West (Cumberland); Scottish Middle (Liddesdale) | Forster 16; Foster 78 |
| Gilchrist | Gilcries | Scottish | Scottish Middle (Teviotdale) | Gilchrist 92 |
| Graham | Graemes, Grames | Both sides | English West (Cumberland); Scottish West (Dumfriesshire and Galloway) | Graham 508 |
| Gray | Graies | English | English East (North Northumberland) | Gray 466 |
| Hall | Halls | Both sides | English Middle (Redesdale); Scottish Middle (Liddesdale) | Hall 213 |
| Hedley | Hedleys | English | English Middle (Redesdale) | Hedley 12 |
| Heron | Hernes | English | English Middle (Northumberland) | Heron 49 |
| Home | Humes | Scottish | Scottish East (Berwickshire, the Merse) | Hume 56 |
| Irvine | Urwens | Scottish | Scottish West (Dumfriesshire and Galloway) | Irvine 169; Irving 49 |
| Johnson | Johnsons | English | English East (North Northumberland) | Johnson 204 |
| Johnstone | Johnsons | Scottish | Scottish West (Dumfriesshire and Galloway) | Johnston 428; Johnstone 246 |
| Kerr | Carrs | Scottish | Scottish Middle (Teviotdale); Scottish Middle (Liddesdale) | Kerr 449 |
| Laidlaw | Ladlers | Scottish | Scottish Middle (Liddesdale) | Laidlaw 39 |
| Little | Littles | Scottish | Scottish West (Dumfriesshire and Galloway) | Little 129 |
| Lowther | Loders | English | English West (Cumberland) | Under 10 |
| Maxwell | Maxwells | Scottish | Scottish West (Dumfriesshire and Galloway) | Maxwell 131 |
| Milburn | Milburnes, Milbornes | English | English Middle (Redesdale); English Middle (Tynedale) | Under 10 |
| Musgrave | Musgraves | English | English West (Cumberland) | Under 10 |
| Nixon | Nixons | Both sides | English West (Cumberland); Scottish Middle (Liddesdale) | Nixon 33 |
| Ogle | Ogles | English | English Middle (Northumberland) | Under 10 |
| Oliver | Olivers | Scottish | Scottish Middle (Liddesdale) | Oliver 62 |
| Potts | Potts | English | English Middle (Redesdale) | Potts 15 |
| Pringle | Pringles | Scottish | Scottish Middle (Teviotdale) | Pringle 37 |
| Reed | Reades | English | English Middle (Redesdale) | Reed 33; Read 18 |
| Ridley | Ridleis | English | English Middle (Northumberland) | Ridley 18 |
| Robson | Robsons | Both sides | English Middle (Tynedale); Scottish Middle (Liddesdale) | Robson 75 |
| Routledge | Rutlitches | English | English West (Cumberland) | Under 10 |
| Rutherford | Rudderfords | Scottish | Scottish Middle (Liddesdale) | Rutherford 74 |
| Salkeld | Sawfeldes | English | English West (Cumberland) | Under 10 |
| Scott | Scottes | Scottish | Scottish Middle (Liddesdale) | Scott 711 |
| Selby | Selbies | English | English East (North Northumberland) | Under 10 |
| Shaftoe | Shafters | English | English Middle (Northumberland) | Under 10 |
| Stapleton | Stapiltons | English | English Middle (Tynedale) | Under 10 |
| Storey | Stories | English | English East (North Northumberland); English West (Cumberland) | Storey 20 |
| Tait | Tattes | Scottish | Scottish Middle (Teviotdale) | Tait 154 |
| Taylor | Tailors | English | English West (Cumberland) | Taylor 751 |
| Trotter | Trotters | Scottish | Scottish East (Berwickshire, the Merse) | Trotter 19 |
| Turnbull | Trombles | Scottish | Scottish Middle (Liddesdale) | Turnbull 116 |
| Turner | Turners | Scottish | Scottish Middle (Liddesdale) | Turner 212 |
| Wallace | Walisses | English | English East (North Northumberland) | Wallace 344 |
| Ward | Vardes | English | English East (North Northumberland) | Ward 201 |
| Widdrington | Withringtons | English | English Middle (Northumberland) | Under 10 |
| Young | Yongs | Scottish | Scottish Middle (Teviotdale) | Young 579 |
Border Reiver Surnames FAQ
Does an Armstrong, Elliot or Kerr surname mean I am descended from a Border Reiver?
No. These surnames are associated with Border Reiver history, but a surname alone cannot establish descent from a particular riding family or individual. Build the connection through certificates, parish records, census entries and carefully matched places.
Were Border Reivers Scottish or English?
Border Reivers lived on both sides of the Anglo-Scottish border. Their loyalties often followed family and local alliances, so English and Scottish branches could cooperate or feud with one another.
When did Scottish Border surnames become established?
Many Border kin groups emerged around the 12th century and became deeply rooted during the long period of Anglo-Scottish conflict. Individual surnames, branches and spellings have their own histories, so no single founding date fits them all.
What are the most famous Border Reiver surnames?
Armstrong, Elliot, Graham, Scott, Kerr, Maxwell, Johnstone, Bell, Crozier, Rutherford, Turnbull and Robson are among the best-known names associated with the Border Reivers. The wider list is much longer and includes families from both Scotland and northern England.
What were the six Border Marches?
The Marches were the frontier districts on each side of the Anglo-Scottish border: West, Middle and East in Scotland, and West, Middle and East in England. Each had a warden who kept order and met his opposite number at truce days. The system ended after the Union of the Crowns in 1603.
What happened to the Border Reivers?
After 1603, James VI and I renamed the frontier the Middle Shires and set up a commission in 1605 that hanged and banished the worst offenders. In 1606, 50 Graham families were sent to Roscommon, and many riding families later settled in Ulster, especially Fermanagh. By the early 1620s the Borders were largely at peace.
A Surname Is the Start of the Story
Border family names endure because they connect people to a frontier history of movement, allegiance and survival. Armstrong, Elliot, Graham, Scott and Kerr may open a door into that history, but the rewarding work lies in identifying the particular people behind the name.
Keep the legend and the evidence in separate columns. If they eventually meet, you may have found something special. If they do not, you still have a more accurate family story, which is a better inheritance than a borrowed one.
Sources
- Calendar of Border Papers, volume 1: July 1583 (British History Online)
- Tom Moss, Reiver names: the 1583 names on the Marches (reivershistory.co.uk)
- Border reivers (Wikipedia)
- Scottish Marches (Wikipedia)
- Warden of the Marches (Wikipedia)
- Battle of Dryfe Sands (Wikipedia)
- National Records of Scotland, Most Common Surnames 2025, published 26 May 2026
- Robert Bell, ‘Sheep stealers from the north of England’: the Riding Clans in Ulster, History Ireland, 1994
- The History of the Border Reivers (Historic UK)
- The Borders Region (Clan Irving)
- The Middle March of England (reivers.info)
- The East March of England (reivers.info)
