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Reivers rustled cattle in the remote and sparsely populated borderlands between England and Scotland

Peculiar border laws evolved, such as cross-border marriages being forbidden, on pain of death, without the agreement of both wardens. The tradition of ‘hot trod’ allowed, to someone whose cattle had been stolen, six days in which to recover his property. To do this he had to carry a burning peat on the tip of a lance and announce his intentions with ‘hue and cry, hound and horn’. This wouldn’t offer him any special protection, and he might be robbed, beaten, captured, ransomed or killed, but at least everyone knew why he was passing through. Anyone fleeing for their life could seek sanctuary in a church, while anyone who had committed heinous crimes could seek absolution at a monastery on payment of a fee! Protection rackets operated, and the English language derives words such as ‘blackmail’ and ‘bereaved’ from this era.

The Allendale ‘Tar Barling’, when ‘Old Year’s Night’ is celebrated with a stirring fire festival (Day 1)