Reive

[The earl] commands all within his charge to abstain from reiving or stealing from the subjects of Scotland. For such riefs as have been made upon them, the Queen minds to have the same mended by justice.

Spine-chilling tales of reiving raids are a legendary legacy of these violent times, when careless murder, theft and pillage were everyday professions.

So, although many borderers regularly engaged in reiving, most were also part-time agriculturalists, raising crops such as oats and rye, as well as livestock.