Clan Armstrong

Apr 21, 2026 - 17:41
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Clan Armstrong

top: removed 'without further ado'

← Previous revision Revision as of 12:09, 21 April 2026
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{{see also|Johnnie Armstrong}}
{{see also|Johnnie Armstrong}}
{{see also|Kinmont Willie Armstrong}}
{{see also|Kinmont Willie Armstrong}}
In around 1425 John Armstrong, brother of Armstrong of Mangerton in Liddesdale built a strong tower. The Armstrongs were able to raise three thousand horsemen and were said to be at one point in control of the debatable lands. In 1528, [[Baron Dacre|Lord Dacre]], who was the English [[Lord Warden of the Marches|Warden of the Marches]], attacked the Armstrongs' tower but the Armstrongs retaliated and burned Netherby. The power of the Armstrongs was seen by [[James V of Scotland]] as a threat to his own authority. According to tradition, James tricked [[Johnnie Armstrong|John Armstrong]] of Gilnockie to a meeting at [[Hawick]] where the king hanged the Armstrong laird without further ado. King James continued his treatment of the Armstrongs when they failed to support him in 1542 at the [[Battle of Solway Moss]] and the Sixteenth Century saw their reputation for lawlessness grow in tandem with their refusal to acknowledge either the Scottish or English crown. Yet the Armstrongs' depredations never matched the violence of disputes among clans led by Crown officers, such as the Johnstones and Maxwells (successive Wardens of the West March), whose Battle of Dryfe Sands resulted in hundreds of casualties and deaths.
In around 1425 John Armstrong, brother of Armstrong of Mangerton in Liddesdale built a strong tower. The Armstrongs were able to raise three thousand horsemen and were said to be at one point in control of the debatable lands. In 1528, [[Baron Dacre|Lord Dacre]], who was the English [[Lord Warden of the Marches|Warden of the Marches]], attacked the Armstrongs' tower but the Armstrongs retaliated and burned Netherby. The power of the Armstrongs was seen by [[James V of Scotland]] as a threat to his own authority. According to tradition, James tricked [[Johnnie Armstrong|John Armstrong]] of Gilnockie to a meeting at [[Hawick]] where the king hanged the Armstrong laird. King James continued his treatment of the Armstrongs when they failed to support him in 1542 at the [[Battle of Solway Moss]] and the Sixteenth Century saw their reputation for lawlessness grow in tandem with their refusal to acknowledge either the Scottish or English crown. Yet the Armstrongs' depredations never matched the violence of disputes among clans led by Crown officers, such as the Johnstones and Maxwells (successive Wardens of the West March), whose Battle of Dryfe Sands resulted in hundreds of casualties and deaths.


Owing to their notoriety and possibly the animus of James I, the Armstrongs could sometimes serve as a political signifier, as with James' diminutive jester Archie Armstrong (in mockery of his namesake, the family's last laird) and Shakespeare's Fortinbras in Hamlet (as a coded figure of foreign threat). The [[Union of the Crowns]] in 1603 ended the clan's independence as well as the [[Anglo-Scottish Wars]] of the Borders. Finally, in 1610, clan leader Archibald Armstrong was hanged in [[Edinburgh]] in reprisal for a raid on [[Penrith, Cumbria|Penrith]], England followed by a brutal campaign by the Crown to pacify the Borders. As a result, families were scattered with many of them seeking new homes in [[Ulster]], particularly in [[County Fermanagh]]. Armstrong is now amongst the fifty most common names in Ulster. There has been no trace of the various Armstrong chiefs since the clan was dispersed in the 17th century. Despite their tense relationship with the Stewart crown, a number of Armstrongs are recorded as officers in the royalist armies serving Charles I in the Wars of the Three Kingdoms. "Robert Armstrong, Gent, one
Owing to their notoriety and possibly the animus of James I, the Armstrongs could sometimes serve as a political signifier, as with James' diminutive jester Archie Armstrong (in mockery of his namesake, the family's last laird) and Shakespeare's Fortinbras in Hamlet (as a coded figure of foreign threat). The [[Union of the Crowns]] in 1603 ended the clan's independence as well as the [[Anglo-Scottish Wars]] of the Borders. Finally, in 1610, clan leader Archibald Armstrong was hanged in [[Edinburgh]] in reprisal for a raid on [[Penrith, Cumbria|Penrith]], England followed by a brutal campaign by the Crown to pacify the Borders. As a result, families were scattered with many of them seeking new homes in [[Ulster]], particularly in [[County Fermanagh]]. Armstrong is now amongst the fifty most common names in Ulster. There has been no trace of the various Armstrong chiefs since the clan was dispersed in the 17th century. Despite their tense relationship with the Stewart crown, a number of Armstrongs are recorded as officers in the royalist armies serving Charles I in the Wars of the Three Kingdoms. "Robert Armstrong, Gent, one
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