Civil War and the Resurgence of Anglo-Scottish Border Mentalities in the British Middle Shires, 1639–1645

Abstract

For centuries the Anglo-Scottish borderlands were a region of weak government, endemic violence, border fortresses, and periodic full-scale wars. After the 1603 Union of the Crowns joined Scotland with England and Ireland, James VI & I attempted to pacify the “Middle Shires” of his new realm of “Great Britain.” Despite an apparently successful pacification, using the resources of both the Scottish and English states, the outbreak of the British Civil Wars in 1638 resulted in the region once again becoming militarized. This militarization followed many of the characteristics of the pre-1603 border security system: the renovation of border fortresses, cross-border raids, powerful noble magnates with cross-border political alliances, and the theft or attempted theft of cattle as a means of waging war.