Border Tales

Introduction

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Despite their turbulent lives, the Borderers had a rich culture of poems and music. There was a strong oral tradition of ballads and storytelling. Border Ballads are folk-poems that recount tales of reiving heroes and give an invaluable insight into those times. Many of the Border Ballads were adapted and preserved by Sir Walter Scott in the Minstrelsy of the Scottish Border, published in 1869.

Ballads, sometimes accompanied by music, were told with great relish by storytellers at social gatherings. Remember - many people at that time were illiterate and books were rare and expensive.

The stories in the Border Tales are based on local legends about some of the Border Reiver raids that took place around Hexham during the sixteenth century.

Documented evidence of the Fray of Hautwessel (Haltwhistle) comes from the memoirs of Sir Robert Carey who was Warden of the English Middle March at the time. You can find his report under Historical Sources.