Need Clan Douglas comments on Cowie of Gorrenberry, Clan Douglas, Elwald of Redheugh, Armystrand.

[Mark Stephen Elliott]

[William Douglas]

Thank you, Mark, for drawing my attention to:
The History of Liddesdale, Eskdale, Ewesdale, Wauchopedale and the ... - Robert Bruce Armstrong - pub D. Douglas 1883 Google Books

It contains much information on Douglas land holdings which will take me some time to assimilate.

Any volunteers?

[William Douglas]

Mark,

I would welcome your thoughts on the following:

THE DOUGLAS FRONTIER:

Elwald, Armstrong, and Eliot on the Middle March

Throughout the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries, the eastern Middle March was held not by castles alone but by families — riding men whose loyalty, knowledge of the ground, and readiness to fight made them indispensable to the great magnates who governed the frontier. Among these, none were more closely bound to the Red Douglas earls of Angus than the Elwalds, a family whose service, landholding, and later identity would shape both the Armstrong and Eliot traditions.

This is the story of how Douglas authority, Elwald service, and the evolving names Armstrong and Eliot intersect on the lands of Redheugh, Sarkside, and the Hermitage valley.

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I. The Douglas Need: Loyal Men in a Lawless District

When the Red Douglases became Wardens of the Middle March, they inherited the most volatile territory in Scotland. Liddesdale — with its fords, mosses, and escape routes into England — could not be governed from a distant castle. It required:

• men who knew every cleuch and watercourse,
• men who could raise a horse troop at a moment’s notice,
• men whose loyalty was personal, not merely feudal.

The Elwalds were exactly such a family. Their service predates the Armstrong name and stands at the root of both Armstrong and Eliot frontier identities.

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II. The Elwalds of Redheugh: The Douglas Squires

By the early 1400s, the Elwalds appear consistently in Douglas records as armed tenants and frontier captains. Their holdings were not decorative farms but militarised positions:

• Redheugh — a watchpoint above the Hermitage Water
• Sarkside — controlling routes toward the Debateable Lands
• lands along the Hermitage valley — the approach to Hermitage Castle itself

These lands were granted or confirmed by the Douglas lords in recognition of “faithful service” — a phrase that, in the Borders, meant armed defence, scouting, message‑carrying, and the enforcement of Douglas authority.

The most notable figure is Robert Elwald of Redheugh, whose tenure is explicitly tied to military service. His line forms the backbone of what would later become the Armstrong leadership of Mangerton and Gilnockie.

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III. How the Armstrong Identity Emerged from the Elwald Line

From the late fifteenth century, the Redheugh Elwalds begin to appear in records as:

• “Armstrong alias Elwald”,
• “Elwald called Armstrong”,
• “Armstrong otherwise Elwald.”

This dual naming is not a coincidence. It reflects a transition of identity, not a change of bloodline. The men who held Douglas lands at Redheugh and Mangerton — the same men who rode for the Douglases in war and feud — gradually adopted the Armstrong name as their primary designation.

Thus:

The Armstrong chiefs descend directly from the Elwalds of Redheugh, the Douglas squires of Liddesdale.

This is the only line for which Douglas land grants are explicitly recorded.

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IV. The Eliot Connection: A Different Redheugh, a Different Line

The Eliots (or Elliots) also have early individuals named Elwald — but in a different sense. Among the Elliots, Elwald appears as a forename or patronymic, not as the name of a landholding lineage.

Their own centres were:

• Stobs,
• Arkleton,
• Minto,
• Wolflee,
• and their own Redheugh — a different place from the Elwald Redheugh of Liddesdale.

The Elliots were also Douglas men, and they too held lands under Douglas authority, but their Redheugh is not the Redheugh granted to Robert Elwald. The two traditions run parallel, not intertwined.

Thus:

The Eliot connection to the Douglases is real, but it is not the same as the Elwald–Armstrong line.
The Douglas‑granted Redheugh belongs to the Elwalds who became Armstrongs.

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V. Why the Confusion Arose

Three factors blur the picture:

1. The name “Elwald” was common as a personal name across the Borders.
2. Both Armstrongs and Elliots served the Douglases, though in different districts.
3. Two different places called Redheugh appear in the record — one Elwald, one Eliot.

Only by separating these strands does the historical pattern become clear.

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VI. The Douglas Frontier System and Its Legacy

The Red Douglas earls built their Middle March power on a network of loyal riding families. The Elwalds were among the most trusted, and the lands they held — Redheugh, Sarkside, Hermitage Water — were the backbone of Douglas authority in Liddesdale.

From this system emerged:

• the Armstrong chiefs, heirs of the Elwalds of Redheugh,
• the Eliots of Stobs and Arkleton, powerful in Teviotdale,
• and a frontier culture shaped by Douglas patronage, military service, and the hard geography of the March.

The Douglas grants to the Elwalds are therefore not a footnote but a foundation: they explain the rise of the Armstrongs, the parallel strength of the Elliots, and the enduring structure of Border society.

[Mark Stephen Elliott]

The History of Liddesdale, Eskdale, Ewesdale, Wauchopedale and the ... - Robert Bruce Armstrong - pub D. Douglas 1883 Google Books