The Gilsland barony in northern Cumberland, running along Hadrian's Wall, was among the most persistently raided areas of the English West March throughout the mid-Tudor period. The barony belonged to the Dacre family and included some of the most exposed farmland in England. Scottish reivers from Liddesdale and the Debatable Land struck the Gilsland valley repeatedly, driving off cattle and occasionally burning farmsteads. The barony's population developed a semi-military character as a survival strategy.
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