Today Mount's Bay in Cornwall is a popular holiday destination and an area of outstanding natural beauty. The bay is a natural safe haven for ships and in the late 16th century a number of small fishing villages nestled along its coast, Mousehole, Newlyn, Penzance and Marazion. The bay was, and still is, dominated by the Castle on St. Michael's Mount which can be reached via a causeway from Marazion at low tide.

Following the English defeat of the Armada in 1588 the war between England and Spain had rumbled on inconclusively on sea and land. In 1590 King Philip II invaded France and gained a foothold in Brittany. In January 1595 English troops had helped to prevent the Spanish taking Brest. However when these troops were withdrawn Spanish ships were able to sail the channel and western approaches unhindered.

On July l0th 1595, Sir Francis Godolphin had written to the Earl of Essex concerning the defence of the Isles of Scilly; "I rest of the same mind that it needeth a stronger garrison, for the gathering of those Spaniards seemeth as a cloud that is like to fall shortly in some part of Her Majesty's dominions". His fears turned out to be justified. From the middle of July there were sightings of Spanish ships to both the north and south of the Cornish coast. The Spanish were picking out a target.

There is a small tract of land in the western borders of England and Scotland which was ‘threpe’, ‘batable’ or debateable for over a century: between the years 1449 and 1552.

The Debateable Land, some twelve miles long and three to four miles wide, was of questionable origin and it is highly probable that it was an area contested by both countries long before 1449. Both countries laid claim to it in its entirety but, as its ownership was disputed, both denied responsibility for the activities of the people who, in order to escape from the mainstream of society, made their way there with some alacrity.

It was the haunt of the very worst of Border Reiver society: men on the run for crimes unanswered and ‘broken’ men: those denounced by their own surname (family) or clan.

Today what was the Debateable Land is part in Cumbria, England and part in Dumfries and Galloway, Scotland.

The March Wardens would meet to review the ‘Bills of Complaint’, the written accusations against the Reivers naming the plaintiff, the date of the raid and the number of beasts stolen.

Should the initial meeting of the Wardens pass without incident, and they agree on the number of ‘Bills’ that would be heard that day, then the trials of the men harboured in the ranks of the land-sergeants and bailiffs would begin.

The Border Laws held sway in the Border lands of England and Scotland for over three hundred years. From the meeting of the twenty-four English knights and a similar number from Scotland in 1249 to the union of the two crowns in 1603 they were the mainstay of authority, law and justice on the English Scottish Border.

The need for a system of criminal law independent of that which already existed in both countries was apparent from the deliberations of 1222 and 1248 when it was recognised that justice would always be ‘prejudiced’.