Teviothead Kirk

Submitted by Alan Marsden on Sat, 31/01/2026 - 00:00

In the grounds of Teviothead Parish Church in the hamlet of Carlenrig in Teviotdale, Scotland, lies a peculiar stone monument. The kirk building itself is quite uninteresting, but the monument commemorates something from more gripping, and violent times. Here, the most famous of Border Reivers, Johnnie Armstrong, Laird of Gilnockie, aka ‘Black Jock’, lies buried. Reivers were thuggish thieves and raiders who plagued the Anglo-Scottish borders for generations, owing loyalty to neither crown and despoiling the subjects of both. In the 1520s, Black Jock’s activity was so annoying to the English that it would have caused warfare between the two kingdoms, had not the Scottish King James V intervened and brought the situation under control. In 1530, the 18-year-old monarch allegedly invited Black Jock to a meeting to discuss the matter, but instead seized him and promptly hanging him and his confederates. Good riddance, I say, though he was a popular figure in the locality and something of a folk hero. Another memorial, by the kirk, states:

John murdered was at Carlenrigg,

And all his gallant companie,

But Scotland’s heart was ne’er sae wae,

To see sae mony brave men die.

Before the hangman tightened the noose, the old Crime Boss allegedly said:

“I am but a fool to seek grace at a graceless face. But had I know, sir, that you would have taken my life this day, I should have lived on the Borders in spite of King Harry and you both, for I know King Harry would down-weigh my best horse with gold to know that I were condemned to die this day.”

The whole speech sounds a little fanciful, though his description of James Stuart set me wondering. ‘Seeking grace from a graceless face’ is a powerful expression; an angry, hard face will grant no mercy, and a cold, spiteful countenance will cede no kindness. Upon those who come to Jesus Christ seeking grace and mercy, however, He smiles and bestows His favour; to those who defy Him, either at His return or at the judgement seat, they shall see the scorching, fiery eyes of fury and the throbbing, glowing feet of burnished bronze.

Seek His grace while He offers it.