The Graham Border Reiver History

Blakmeale or Black mail was invented by Hutcheon Graham of Arthuret a notorious Reiver, who collected it each week after Sunday Evensong service in the porch of Arthuret Church; it was originally a payment of grain ("Meale"), paid at night ("Blak") to insure against the animals being stolen again and another more expensive form to actually employ the Reiver blackmailer to retreive stolen goods......not much different to our modern insurers really! However it still actually prevails today as a border custom at the livestock auctions in the payment of "Luck" money from the seller to the buyer of his animals. Nowadays it is a customary "thanks" for buying, but it's origins are in the blackmail payment being passed on to the new owner so that he could afford protection after paying for the animals as a guarantee/insurance against them being reived back again.

GRAHAM: Border Reivers

The Grahams were a Border family found in both England and Scotland, but were associated primarily with the region between Cumberland and Dumfrieshire. During the border raids of Tudor times, the Grahams were one of the most troublesome families hereabouts. Grahams were noted for their regular forays into Northumberland, where their arch enemies were the Robsons of North Tynedale. In 1552 the border Grahams were said to number five hundred and occupied thirteen fortified towers. It is claimed that the Grahams were descended from a man called Graeme, who in Roman times helped to breach the Antonine Wall, a great wall between the Rivers Clyde and Forth, but this has not been proved. It is more likely that the Grahams were of Norman French origin and settled in the south of England at Grantham in Linolnshire from which they took their name. The name De Grantham was corrupted to De Graham and later shortened to Graham. The Grahams moved to Scotland in the twelfth century, where a William De Graham is recorded in 1127. Grahams were accepted as Scottish following a marriage into the native Scottish family of Strathearn and they made Auchterader their seat. Following the Union of England and Scotland in the seventeenth century many troublesome border country Grahams were transported to Ireland and were forbidden to return. There they were joined by hundreds of other transported border tribesman including Eliots, Kerrs and Armstrongs.