Research Notes – The Dumfries Raid

by Sandra Pendlington

These notes give additional information about the raid and consider the interpretation of events by modern historians where they differ from the story above. Full references are given at the end.

Note 1: Castlemilk

Hicks (page 212) states that the Castlemilk mentioned in the Scottish parliamentary records in 1482 was in Glasgow and therefore it was too far for Richard to have reached there on the raid. Modern Castlemilk is a suburb of Glasgow named after Castlemilk House which was built in the 18th century around a 13th century tower called Cassiltoun Tower, neither of which still exists. Castlemilk House was built by a branch of the Stewart family and named after their tower near Lockerbie in Annandale, Dumfriesshire. This tower existed in 1482 and is the one mentioned in the parliamentary record. The tower no longer exists but the land was bought by the Jardine family who built an imposing mansion, Castlemilk House, on the site. The house is still standing close to where the medieval tower stood guarding the ford over the Water of Milk.

Note 2: The York Civic Records

These are the records of the City of York’s officials. They contain the minutiae of everyday occurrences as well as recording communications with the King and events of importance. There are four records that pertain to the Dumfries raid. They can be found in the York House Books (ed. Attreed).

1. 14th May: John Tonge, the mayor’s deputy (lieutenant), aldermen, sheriffs and councillors met to discuss the letter from Richard asking for men to go on a raid into Scotland. ‘the duke of Gloucester by the grace of God intends briefly in his own person to enter Scotland upon Wednesday next coming after this present date in subduing the king’s great enemy the king of Scots and his adherents.’ Because Richard had been a good lord to the city, it was thought right that men of York should go. A list of names who agree to send men follows – 32 in all. (Vol 1, p 255-56).

2. c 14th May 1482: The council met to approve the letter to be sent to Richard. (Vol 2, p 702-3).

3. 29th May 1482: Richard Yorke (mayor), aldermen, sheriffs and councillors met to discuss a letter from Richard, Duke of Gloucester thanking them for their help. It recorded the safe arrival home of the men of York (Vol 1, p 256).

4. 17th September 1483: King Richard III’s speech in York is recorded, giving confirmation that the men of York went to Dumfries. It does not say anything about them taking settlements or occupying land.

The records provide evidence that Richard himself led the raid, the date, that it was a brief raid and that the men of York went to Dumfries.

Note 3: The Cely Letter

In 1482 George Cely, who was at Calais, wrote to Prior Weston in Naples with various items of news from England.

Cely included a mention of Dumfries, (Hanham p 165) and this reference has caused confusion. The full quote is:

Pleaseth it your lordship to understand that the Duke of Albany is comen into England, and he is sworn to the King’s good grace, and the King has sent him into Scotland with 60,000 men in 3 battles, and many lords of England with him, Jesu be his good speed with them and many. There has been about 44 towns and villages burnt in Scotland, and many lords taken and slain; Dumfries (sic – Dounfryss) is burnt. (M Barnfield transcription, my emphasis).

How much of the reference applies to the May Dumfries raid and how much to the July/August invasion?

The first sentence is clearly about the Fotheringhay Treaty an the July/August invasion of south east Scotland. It has inaccuracies – the army was led by Gloucester not Albany and there were just over 20,000 men not 60,000.

With the exception of Pollard and Barnfield, the second sentence is usually interpreted by historians as being entirely about the Dumfries raid. Pollard has considered that the second sentence may be about the later invasion.

The report of George Cely in July/August 1482 that forty-four towns and villages in Scotland as well as Dumfries, had been burnt may well refer to this same action. Alternatively, it might refer to the march on Edinburgh in July, for Cely mentioned cryptically that the King had sent Albany into Scotland, and within a month devastation had been caused.’ (Pollard p 243).

Barnfield is in agreement with the version in the Scottish Branch story.

Typically, historians give either a brief quote or paraphrase it, for example

‘before the end of May and just before the Treaty of Fotheringhay, according to one of the Cely letters, Gloucester had launched an attack on Dumfries, burning the burgh and destroying forty four smaller places in the Scottish west.’ (Macdougall p 194).

Two other historians give more information about the raid.

Anne F Sutton (p 104) describes the raid as a

‘brief and damaging raid led from the west march across the Solway, and as far west as Dumfries which was burnt along with other smaller places along the way’

‘the raiders apparently met no resistance and returned unscathed; the tally of forty four places burnt (homestead and towers as well as towns and villages might be more accurate) may be a gross exaggeration of too much repetition and an over enthusiastic author. It was however a fast and bold challenge to the Scots, especially if the raiders swung north past the powerful Lochmaben Castle. Above all it was a raid launched from Richard’s West March.’

She records the brevity of the raid but attributes the 44 burnings to the Dumfries raid. She is the only historian to record Richard III’s speech at York in 1483 (footnote p 104) and to give details of the Bowness Wath as a Solway Firth crossing place (p 237).

Michael Hicks has a very different interpretation, making five points about the raid (p 211-212). In the order given by Hicks:

1. Richard raided the Scottish West March in May 1482.

2. 1483 English parliament act said that Richard had occupied land in Scotland, naming 5 dales in eastern Dumfriesshire – Annandale, Ewesdale, Wauchopedale, Eskdale and Clydesdale, concluding with the statement that ‘The York contingent had indeed reached Dumfries’.

3. 1482 Scottish parliament act that described the reinforcement of 4 fortresses in Annandale and the Hermitage in Roxburghshire and says that ‘While Gloucester’s achievements must have been exaggerated – could the English have ethnically cleansed the whole of this area, it must be true, since king and parliament accepted Gloucester’s claim.’

4. Richard and his men could not have reached the Hermitage or Clydesdale.

5. In late June or early July, 44 towns and villages in Scotland, including Dumfries were burnt ‘and many lordys takyn and slayn’, he adds that ‘no names were recorded’. Since Richard is known to be elsewhere, Lord Dacre conducted the raid.

Only Pollard has considered that the second sentence could be a continuation of the first sentence with the mention of Dumfries as an afterthought. Sutton’s account is reasonably accurate with information others do not include but has followed most historians in attributing the 44 burnings to the Dumfries raid.

Hicks’s interpretation is very different. He connects the raid to two acts of parliament – one English and one Scottish. Point 2 refers to the establishment of a palatinate in lands occupied by the English in the 1482 raid in the dales of eastern Dumfriesshire.  Point 3 refers to the reinforcement of the four fortresses in Annandale. In point 5 he diverts completely from the consensus that the burnings and slaying were done during the May 1482 Dumfries raid and attaches them to a raid led by Richard’s deputy in June/July. He is the only historian to consider the slaying saying that no names were recorded.

Hicks’s interpretation of events in Dumfriesshire is inaccurate in several places. He is correct to say that Richard and his men could not have reached the Hermitage but that is a misinterpretation of the Scottish parliament record that says the Hermitage was reinforced to be ready for action. He is also correct to say that Richard could not have reached Castlemilk and Clydesdale in Glasgow, but neither were in the Glasgow area.  Castlemilk was in Annandale and the southern part of Clydesdale in northern Dumfriesshire. That record is taken from the English parliamentary act of 1483 and is part of the intended palatinate. Southern Clydesdale was probably included because the most troublesome grayne, the Johnsons, had their base there. Except for Annandale, which was seen by Edward IV as English, having been ‘given’ to him in the Treaty of Fotheringhay, the other dales mentioned in the 1483 act were in the debatable lands. This was not, as some historians say, an aggressive power building act of Richard, Duke of Gloucester, but a military plan to deal with the incursions from the graynes and prevent the raiding that was doing so much damage in the English West March, that the King and parliament clearly saw was reasonable.

Summary

Why are there such problems with interpreting the Cely letter? The reason could be that historians have not considered both sentences together. It the two sentences are read together it is clear that the first is about Albany’s arrival and the July/August invasion. The most likely interpretation of the first part of the second sentence is that it too refers to the invasion and not the Dumfries raid.

Are there records of burnings during the invasion? Yes – Hall’s Chronicle has a list of 64 settlements in Berwickshire and Roxburghshire (although the actual number of burnings is in doubt). Other than the burning of Dumfries town, there is no evidence that other settlements in Dumfriesshire were burnt.

Is there any record of Scottish lords being taken and slain during the invasion or in Dumfriesshire? Yes – the favourites of James III were taken and hung at Lauder Bridge on 22nd July 1482 by the Scottish rebels. No evidence has been found of Dumfriesshire lords being killed in 1482 – most were still alive after the event, although research is continuing.

Suggested timeline: March – June 1482

After a new interpretation of the evidence, this is the most likely timeline for the Spring of 1482.

Acknowledgements

Marie Barnfield of the Richard III Society for giving me access to her 1482 timetable of Richard, Duke of Gloucester and for her helpful comments in the interpretation of Cely’s letter.

A J Hibbard and Mhairi Macleod of the Scottish Branch for their comments and insight

Stuart Thompson MBE of Annan Common Ridings for his help with fording the Solway.

Suggestions for future reading

For information about Dumfriesshire and the Reivers:

Fraser, G M (1989) The Steel Bonnets: The Story of the Anglo-Scottish Reivers. Pub. Harper Collins, UK

Kirkpatrick of Closeburn, National Library of Scotland https://deriv.nls.uk/dcn23/9564/95641358.23.pdf

McCulloch, A (2018) Dumfriesshire: A Frontier Region. Pub. Birlinn Ltd, Edinburgh

Moffat, A (2017) The Reivers: The Story of the Border Reivers. Pub. Birlinn Ltd, Edinburgh

For the Scottish perspective:

Macdougall, N (2009), James III. Birlinn Ltd, Edinburgh

Scottish Parliamentary Records: https://www.rps.ac.uk

References used in this article

Attreed, L C (1991) York House Books 1461-1490 Vol 1. Pub. Alan Sutton Publishing, Stroud, Gloucestershire

Hanham, A (1978) The Cely Letters 1472-1488. Early English Text Society. Vol 47, No 1 (1978) pp 172-179

Hicks, M (2019) Richard III: The Self-made King. Pub. Yale University Press

Pollard, A J (1996) Richard III and Scotland in the North of England in the age of Richard III. Ed. A J Pollard. Pub. Sutton, Stroud, Gloucestershire.

Sutton A F (2021) The King’s Work: The Defence of the North under the Yorkist Kings 1471-1485. Pub. Richard III & Yorkist History Trust, Donnington.