Reiver curse

Between 1450 and 1610 in the borders of England and Scotland, which were then two separate nations having war with each other, were living groups of criminals known as reivers. The English crown has destroyed all documentation related to reivers, so we don't know much about them. We know, however, that they were a great nuisance to Scotland and especially to then Archibishop of Glasgow, Gavin Dunbar, who was so angry with them that he cursed them in 1525.

The curse against the Reivers condemned them to "perpetually to the deep pit of hell, there to remain with Lucifer" and their bodies to be "hanged, then ripped and torn by dogs, swine, and other wild beasts, abominable to all the world".

The curse also called all Christians to not have any contact with the Reivers and be excluded from church services (including confession).

The curse also says "May the earth open, split and cleave, and swallow them straight to hell" and "May all the malevolent wishes and curses ever known, since the beginning of the world, to this hour, light on them".

Gordon Young, an artist whose family were reivers, created the "cursing stone", a granite stone artwork carved with the Reivers' Curse. To celebrate the new millennium in the end of the 20th century, the council of the Carlisle town decided to use the ancient stone as artwork and placed it between the castle and the museum. After it was placed there, the town suffered misfortunes of biblical propotions, including floods, pestilence, foot-and-mouth disease, explosions, a great fire and job losses. In 2005 city councillor Jim Tootle wanted to destroy the cursing stone.