THE REIVERS RETURNThe Today Programme had one of its rather patronising jokey items about the Border Reivers this morning. Apparently people with traditional Reiver surnames: Armstrong, Robson, Trotter, Elliot, Graham etc are being asked to provide DNA samples as part of a project to identify to what extent their are still clusters of old Borders' families with continuous occupation of an area since the bad old days. One Robson was commenting smugly that a business called, appropriately enough 'Robson the Butchers' was operating in Newcastle. And we of course have Trotters the Butchers in Duns. And as far as one strand of the Trotters are concerned they have gone from butchers with a small'b'to a Lord Lieutenancy in not quite three generations -more like 33.
One of speakers pointed out that there were two interpretations of Reivers: the Walter Scott version of noble Sons of the Heath, with a strong code of chivalry, opposing oppression-sort of Robin Hoods some what outwith Sherwood Forest. The other version being, not to put to fine a point upon it: rural pyschopaths. The truth he claimed was poor people desperately surviving in a war zone:
War zone? Indeed for about 400 years. But who was doing the fighting and whose war was it anyhow?
Are, now your asking:
The rural pyschopaths, perhaps
