Moss-trooper
Encyclopedia
Moss-troopers were bandits who operated in Scotland
during and after the period of the English Commonwealth in the mid-17th century.
Many moss-troopers were disbanded or deserting soldiers from one of the Scottish armies of the Wars of the Three Kingdoms. They had kept their weapons and lived a life of banditry, attacking both civilians and Parliamentary soldiers for supplies during the Royalist rising of 1651 to 1654 when English Parliamentarian troops under George Monck occupied Scotland. Moss-troopers usually operated in small bands, either on the fringes of the Highlands
or in the border regions
. Many Highland laird
s complained of moss-troopers' cattle-stealing and of how they incurred military reprisals against the Highlands as a whole.
Some moss-troopers may have had a national-political as well as an economic motivation, believing that they were resisting the Cromwellian occupation of Scotland - much as their Irish contemporaries, the "tories", in part resisted English occupation.
Scotland
Scotland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Occupying the northern third of the island of Great Britain, it shares a border with England to the south and is bounded by the North Sea to the east, the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, and the North Channel and Irish Sea to the...
during and after the period of the English Commonwealth in the mid-17th century.
Many moss-troopers were disbanded or deserting soldiers from one of the Scottish armies of the Wars of the Three Kingdoms. They had kept their weapons and lived a life of banditry, attacking both civilians and Parliamentary soldiers for supplies during the Royalist rising of 1651 to 1654 when English Parliamentarian troops under George Monck occupied Scotland. Moss-troopers usually operated in small bands, either on the fringes of the Highlands
Scottish Highlands
The Highlands is an historic region of Scotland. The area is sometimes referred to as the "Scottish Highlands". It was culturally distinguishable from the Lowlands from the later Middle Ages into the modern period, when Lowland Scots replaced Scottish Gaelic throughout most of the Lowlands...
or in the border regions
Anglo-Scottish border
The Anglo-Scottish border is the official border and mark of entry between Scotland and England. It runs for 154 km between the River Tweed on the east coast and the Solway Firth in the west. It is Scotland's only land border...
. Many Highland laird
Laird
A Laird is a member of the gentry and is a heritable title in Scotland. In the non-peerage table of precedence, a Laird ranks below a Baron and above an Esquire.-Etymology:...
s complained of moss-troopers' cattle-stealing and of how they incurred military reprisals against the Highlands as a whole.
Some moss-troopers may have had a national-political as well as an economic motivation, believing that they were resisting the Cromwellian occupation of Scotland - much as their Irish contemporaries, the "tories", in part resisted English occupation.
See also
- rapparees - Irish guerrillas who fought for James II after the Revolution of 1688Glorious RevolutionThe Glorious Revolution, also called the Revolution of 1688, is the overthrow of King James II of England by a union of English Parliamentarians with the Dutch stadtholder William III of Orange-Nassau...
and who on his defeat degenerated into brigands - reivers - predecessors of the mosstroopers in the Scottish borders
- Sergeant Mor, who fought on after the 1745 rebellion until his capture and execution in 1753.