Editing Peel tower (section)

== History ==
Peels were built in [[Scotland]], [[Northumberland]], [[Cumberland, England|Cumberland]], [[Westmorland]], [[County Durham]], the [[North Riding of Yorkshire]], and as far south as [[Lancashire]], in response to the threat of attack from the English, Scots and the [[Border Reivers]] of both nationalities.<ref>{{cite book|last1=Fraser|first1=G. M.|title=The Steel Bonnets: the Story of the Anglo-Scottish Border Reivers|date=1971|publisher=Pan|location=London}}</ref>

In Scotland, a line of these towers was built in the 1430s across the [[River Tweed|Tweed]] valley from [[Berwick-upon-Tweed|Berwick]] to its source, as a response to the dangers of invasion from the [[Scottish Marches|Marches]]. In the upper Tweed valley, going downstream from its source, they were as follows: Fruid, [[Hawkshaw, Scottish Borders|Hawkshaw]], [[Oliver Castle|Oliver]], [[Polmood]], [[Kingledoors]], [[Mossfennan]], [[Wrae Tower]], Quarter, [[Stanhope, Peeblesshire|Stanhope]], [[Drumelzier]], Tinnies, [[Dreva on Tweed|Dreva]], [[Stobo Castle|Stobo]], Dawyck, Easter Happrew, [[Lyne, Scottish Borders|Lyne]], Barnes, Caverhill, [[Neidpath Castle|Neidpath]], [[Peebles]], [[Horsburgh Castle|Horsburgh]], [[Nether Horsburgh Castle]], [[Cardrona, Scottish Borders|Cardrona]], [[The Kirna|Kirna(Kirnie)]], Elibank.

By an Act of the [[Parliament of England]] in 1455, each of these towers was required to have an iron basket on its summit and a [[smoke signal|smoke]] or fire signal, for day or night use, ready at hand.<ref>Stewart (2017),p.19</ref> Apart from their primary purpose as a warning system, these towers were also the homes of the [[laird]]s and [[landlord]]s of the area, who dwelt in them with their families and retainers, while their followers lived in simple huts outside the walls. The towers also provided a refuge so that, when cross-border raiding parties arrived, the whole population of a village could take to the tower and wait for the marauders to depart.