Sir John Carmichael

Sir John Carmichael (died 16 June 1600) was the Keeper of Liddesdale.

He was appointed warden of the Scottish West March, and was to make truce with the English Warden. He fought in the Raid of the Redeswire, decisively beating the English and also captured Sir John Forster, the English Warden and commander, who was an outlaw at the time.

He was murdered by members of Clan Armstrong on 16 June 1600 who ambushed him as he rode to Langholm to attend a warden court.^[1]

After the murder, James VI told the English diplomat in Edinburgh that Carmichael had been a "better Englishman than a Scotsman," meaning that he had shown partiality to England on the border.^[2]

References

1. Humphrys, Julian (June 2010). BBC History magazine. Bristol Magazines Ltd. ISSN 1469-8552.
2. Calendar State Papers Scotland, vol.13 part 2, Scottish Record Office (1969), p.658

•  Stephen, Leslie, ed. (1887). "Carmichael, John (d.1600)". Dictionary of National Biography 9. London: Smith, Elder & Co.