50-614: The Jedburgh Railway was a 9 + 1 ⁄ 2 -mile (15 km) single-track branch railway in the Borders , Scotland , built by the Jedburgh Railway Company . It ran from a point south of Roxburgh Junction on the Kelso Line to Jedburgh via three intermediate stations, Kirkbank , Nisbet and Jedfoot . Authorised in 1855, the line was opened in July of the next year. It was run by
100-414: A Gaelic-speaking elite in the area, the main languages in the area since the 5th century appear to have been Brythonic (in the west) and Old English (in the east), the latter of which developed into its modern forms of English and Scots . Border ballads occupied a distinctive place in literature. Many of them were rescued from oblivion by Walter Scott , who gathered materials for his Minstrelsy of
150-611: A larger population than Wark, the Coldstream men always defeated the Wark men at the game, and so the land became a permanent part of Scotland. It is a common misconception that Hadrian's Wall marks the Anglo-Scottish border. The wall lies entirely within England and has never formed this boundary. While in the west, at Bowness-on-Solway, it is less than 0.6 mi (1.0 km) south of
200-669: A region on the border between England and Scotland. It was known as the Debatable Lands and neither monarch's writ was heeded. Following the 1603 Union of the Crowns , King James VI & I decreed that the Borders should be renamed 'the Middle Shires'. In the same year the King placed George Home, 1st Earl of Dunbar in charge of the pacification of the borders. Courts were set up in the towns of
250-410: Is Midlothian South, Tweeddale and Lauderdale and is represented by SNP Christine Grahame . The council area is divided into 11 wards that elect 34 councilors: Largest settlements by population: 15,490 13,620 9,000 6,870 4,540 3,860 3,580 3,180 2,820 2,500 Anglo-Scottish border#Middle Shires The Anglo-Scottish border ( Scottish Gaelic : Crìochan Anglo-Albannach )
300-634: Is an internal border of the United Kingdom separating Scotland and England which runs for 96 miles (154 km) between Marshall Meadows Bay on the east coast and the Solway Firth in the west. The Firth of Forth was the border between the Picto - Gaelic Kingdom of Alba and the Anglian Kingdom of Northumbria in the early 10th century . It became the first Anglo-Scottish border with
350-597: Is anachronistic; such nations had no meaningful existence during the period of Roman rule. "Hadrian's Wall" is nonetheless often used as an informal reference to the modern border, often semi-humorously. Cumbria and Northumberland have amongst the largest Scottish-born communities in the world outside Scotland. 16,628 Scottish-born people were residing in Cumbria in 2001 (3.41% of the county's population) and 11,435 Scottish-born people were residing in Northumberland (3.72% of
400-543: Is represented by John Lamont of the Conservatives. The western Tweeddale area is included in the Dumfriesshire, Clydesdale & Tweeddale constituency and is represented by David Mundell of the Conservatives. At Scottish Parliament level, there are also two seats. The eastern constituency is Ettrick, Roxburgh and Berwickshire , which is currently represented by Conservative Rachael Hamilton . The western constituency
450-596: The Battle of Carham in 1018 and the River Tweed became the de facto Anglo-Scottish border. The Solway–Tweed line was legally established in 1237 by the Treaty of York between England and Scotland. It remains the border today, with the exception of the Debatable Lands , north of Carlisle , and a small area around Berwick-upon-Tweed , which was taken by England in 1482. Berwick was not fully annexed into England until 1746, by
500-532: The Early Middle Ages . The town changed hands more than a dozen times before being finally taken by the English in 1482, though confusion continued for centuries. The Wales and Berwick Act 1746 clarified the status of Berwick as an English town. In the 1950s the artist Wendy Wood moved the border signs south to the middle of the River Tweed as a protest. In 2008 SNP MSP Christine Grahame made calls in
550-504: The Local Government etc. (Scotland) Act 1994 saw the area's four districts and the regional council abolished, with a new unitary authority created covering the same area as the former Borders Region. The 1994 Act called the new council area "The Borders", but the shadow council elected in 1995 to oversee the transition changed the name to "Scottish Borders" prior to the changes coming into effect in 1996. The Scottish Borders are in
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#1732852588594600-569: The Norman conquest of England until the reign of James VI of Scotland, who in the course of his reign became James I of England while retaining the more northerly realm, border clashes were common and the monarchs of both countries relied on Scottish Earls of March and Lord Warden of the Marches to defend and control the frontier region. In 1333, during the Second War of Scottish Independence , Scotland
650-635: The North British Railway from its opening and was absorbed by that company in 1860. The line closed to passengers on 13 August 1948, the day after large-scale flooding took out the bridge over the Teviot at Nisbet . The line closed to freight on 10 August 1964. The track where the rails lay is now part of the Borders Abbeys Way walking route. The Kelso and Jedburgh railway branch lines Scottish Borders The Scottish Borders ( Scots :
700-698: The Scottish Marches , is the area on either side of the Anglo-Scottish border including parts of the modern council areas of Dumfries and Galloway and the Scottish Borders , and parts of the English counties of Cumbria and Northumberland . It is a hilly area, with the Scottish Southern Uplands to the north, and the Cheviot Hills forming the border between the two countries to the south. From
750-642: The Scottish Parliament for Berwick to become part of Scotland again. Berwick's MP Anne-Marie Trevelyan has resisted any change, arguing that: "Voters in Berwick-upon-Tweed do not believe it is whether they are in England or Scotland that is important." At the River Tweed the border runs down the middle of the river, however between the villages of Wark and Cornhill the Scottish border comes south of
800-700: The Wales and Berwick Act 1746 . For centuries until the Union of the Crowns , the region on either side of the boundary was a lawless territory suffering from the repeated raids in each direction of the Border Reivers . Following the Treaty of Union 1706 , ratified by the Acts of Union 1707 , which united Scotland with England and Wales to form the Kingdom of Great Britain , the Border forms
850-558: The annexation of Northumbria by Anglo-Saxon England in the mid-10th century. In 973, the Scottish king Kenneth II attended the English king Edgar the Peaceful at Edgar's council in Chester . After Kenneth had reportedly done homage, Edgar rewarded Kenneth by granting him Lothian . Despite this transaction, the control of Lothian was not finally settled and the region was taken by the Scots at
900-590: The Borders Regional Council between 1975 and 1996. Since 2007 elections have been held every five years under the single transferable vote system, introduced by the Local Governance (Scotland) Act 2004 . Election results since 1995 have been as follows: There are two British Parliamentary constituencies in the Scottish Borders; Berwickshire, Roxburgh and Selkirk covers most of the region and
950-571: The English; the French ambassador acting as umpire. The Scots' Dike was built as the new frontier, with stones set up bearing the arms of England and of Scotland. Berwick is famous for its hesitation over whether it is part of Scotland or England. Berwickshire is in Scotland while the town is in England, although both Berwick and the lands up to the Firth of Forth belonged to the Kingdom of Northumbria in
1000-529: The Mairches , lit. 'the Marches '; Scottish Gaelic : Crìochan na h-Alba ) is one of 32 council areas of Scotland . The council area occupies approximately the same area as the historic shires of Berwickshire , Peeblesshire , Roxburghshire , and Selkirkshire . It is bordered by West Lothian , Edinburgh , Midlothian , and East Lothian to the north, the North Sea to the east, Dumfries and Galloway to
1050-527: The Middle Shires and known reivers were arrested. The more troublesome and lower classes were executed without trial; known as " Jeddart justice " (after the town of Jedburgh in Roxburghshire ). Mass hanging soon became a common occurrence. In 1605 he established a joint commission of ten members, drawn equally from Scotland and England, to bring law and order to the region. This was aided by statutes in 1606 and 1609, first to repeal hostile laws on both sides of
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#17328525885941100-565: The Middle Shires had been brought under central law and order. By the early 1620s the Borders were so peaceful that the Crown was able to scale down its operations. Despite these improvements, the Joint Commission continued its work, and as late as 25 September 1641 under King Charles I , Sir Richard Graham , a local laird and English MP, was petitioning the Parliament of Scotland "for regulating
1150-530: The Scottish Border , which appeared in 1802 and 1803. Border traditions and folklore, and the picturesque incidents of which the country was so often the scene, appealed strongly to James Hogg ("the Ettrick Shepherd"), John Wilson , writing as "Christopher North", and John Mackay Wilson , whose Tales of the Borders , published in 1835, enjoyed popular favour throughout the 1800s. Until September 2015,
1200-475: The area as well as to Berwick-upon Tweed in Northumberland . The area is served by the main local newspapers: Southern Reporter and The Border Telegraph . The council has been under no overall control since 1999. Since the 2022 election the council has been run by an administration of the Conservatives and three of the independent councillors. The first election to the Borders Regional Council
1250-509: The border with England for the last twenty miles or so of its length. The term Central Borders refers to the area in which the majority of the main towns and villages of Galashiels , Selkirk , Hawick , Jedburgh , Earlston , Kelso , Newtown St Boswells , St Boswells , Peebles , Melrose and Tweedbank are located. Two of Scotland's 40 national scenic areas (defined so as to identify areas of exceptional scenery and to ensure their protection from inappropriate development) lie within
1300-508: The border with Scotland, in the east it is as much as 68 miles (109 km) away. For centuries the wall was the boundary between the Roman province of Britannia (to the south) and the Celtic lands of Caledonia (to the north). However Britannia occasionally extended as far north as the later Antonine Wall . Furthermore, to speak of England and Scotland at any time prior to the ninth century
1350-511: The border, and then to more easily prosecute cross-border raiders. Reivers could no longer escape justice by crossing from England to Scotland or vice versa. The rough-and-ready Border Laws were abolished and the folk of the middle shires found they had to obey the law of the land like all other subjects. In 1607 James felt he could boast that "the Middle Shires" had "become the navel or umbilic of both kingdoms, planted and peopled with civility and riches". After ten years King James had succeeded;
1400-588: The border. From early on, the two sovereigns agreed on the duty to regulate the borders. The Scottish Marches system was set up, under the control of three wardens from each side, who generally kept the peace through several centuries until being replaced by the Middle Shires under James VI/I . Prior to 1975 the area that is now Scottish Borders was administered as the four separate counties of Berwickshire , Peeblesshire , Roxburghshire , and Selkirkshire , plus part of Midlothian . An elected county council
1450-471: The boundary of the two legal systems as the treaty between Scotland and England guaranteed the continued separation of English law and Scots law . The age of marriage under Scots law is 16, while it is 18 under English law . The border settlements of Gretna Green to the west, and Coldstream and Lamberton to the east, were convenient for elopers from England who wanted to marry under Scottish laws, and marry without publicity. The marine boundary
1500-492: The brunt of the conflicts with England, both during declared wars such as the Wars of Scottish Independence , and armed raids which took place in the times of the Border Reivers . During this period, at the western end of the border there was a strip of country, called the "Debatable Land", because the possession of it was a constant source of contention between England and Scotland until its boundaries were adjusted in 1552. Thus, across
1550-537: The council following the 1996 reforms was Drew Tulley, who had been the last leader of the former Ettrick and Lauderdale District Council. The leaders since 1996 have been: Scottish Borders Council is based at the Council Headquarters in Newtown St Boswells. The building had been the headquarters of Roxburghshire County Council prior to 1975, and subsequently served as the served as the main office of
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1600-574: The disorders in the borders". Conditions along the border generally deteriorated during the Commonwealth and Protectorate periods, with the development of Moss-trooper raiders. Following the Restoration , ongoing border lawlessness was dealt with by reviving former legislation, renewed continually in eleven subsequent acts, for periods ranging from five to eleven years, up until the late 1750s. The Debatable Lands lay between Scotland and England to
1650-576: The eastern part of the Southern Uplands . The region is hilly and largely rural, with the River Tweed flowing west to east through it. The highest hill in the region is Broad Law in the Manor Hills . In the east of the region, the area that borders the River Tweed is flat and is known as 'The Merse'. The Tweed and its tributaries drain the entire region with the river flowing into the North Sea at Berwick-upon-Tweed in Northumberland , and forming
1700-456: The late 13th century, with the creation by Edward I of England of the first Lord Warden of the Marches to the early 17th century and the creation of the Middle Shires, promulgated after the personal union of England and Scotland under James VI of Scotland (James I of England)—the area around the border was known as the Scottish Marches . For centuries the Marches on either side of the boundary
1750-460: The north of Carlisle , the largest population centre being Canonbie . For over three hundred years the area was effectively controlled by local clans , such as the Armstrongs , who successfully resisted any attempt by the Scottish or English governments to impose their authority. In 1552 commissioners met to divide the land in two: Douglas of Drumlanrigg leading the Scots; Lord Wharton leading
1800-500: The region are to be seen the ruins of many castles, abbeys and even towns. The only other important conflict belongs to the Covenanters ' time, when the marquess of Montrose was defeated at the Battle of Philiphaugh in 1645. Partly for defence and partly to overawe the freebooters and moss-troopers who were a perpetual threat until they were suppressed later in the 17th century, castles were erected at various points on both sides of
1850-563: The region are: In terms of television, the area is cover by BBC Scotland broadcasting from Glasgow and ITV Border which broadcast from Gateshead . Television signals are received from the Selkirk TV transmitter. Radio stations are provided by BBC Radio Scotland which broadcast the local opt-out from its studios in Selkirk . The commercial radio station, Radio Borders broadcasts from Edinburgh but still broadcast local news bulletins to
1900-575: The region had no working railway stations. Although the area was well connected to the Victorian railway system , the branch lines that supplied it were closed in the decades following the Second World War . A bill was passed by the Scottish Parliament to extend the Waverley Line , which aimed to re-introduce a commuter service from Edinburgh to Stow , Galashiels and Tweedbank . This section of
1950-585: The region: At the census held on 27 March 2011, the population of the region was 113,870 (final total), an increase of 6.66% from the 106,764 enumerated at the previous (2001) census. The Census of 20 March 2022 produced a population of 116,821. Although there is evidence of some Scottish Gaelic in the origins of place names such as Innerleithen ("confluence of the Leithen "), Kilbucho and Longformacus , which contain identifiably Goidelic rather than Brythonic Celtic elements and are an indication of at least
2000-549: The river to enclose a small riverside meadow of approximately 2 to 3 acres (about a hectare). This piece of land is known as the Ba Green. It is said locally that every year the men of Coldstream (to the North of the river) would play mob football with the men of Wark (to the South of the river) at Ba , and the winning side would claim the Ba Green for their country. As Coldstream grew to have
2050-539: The route re-opened on 6 September 2015, under the Borders Railway branding. The other railway route running through the region is the East Coast Main Line , with Edinburgh Waverley , Dunbar and Berwick being the nearest stations on that line, all of which are outwith the Borders. Since 2022, after much discussion a railway station was re-opened at Reston which is within the region and serves Eyemouth . To
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2100-527: The south-west, South Lanarkshire to the west, and the English ceremonial counties of Cumbria and Northumberland to the south. The largest settlement is Galashiels , and the administrative centre is Newtown St Boswells . The term Borders sometimes has a wider use, referring to all of the counties adjoining the English border, also including Dumfriesshire and Kirkcudbrightshire , as well as Northumberland , Cumberland and Westmorland in England. Roxburghshire and Berwickshire historically bore
2150-534: The supposed treaty. Edward would continue the war but would be unable to restore the puppet ruler Balliol to the throne and with the Treaty of Berwick (1357) Scottish independence was once again acknowledged with any pretence to territorial annexations dropped. A 16th-century Act of the Scottish Parliament talks about the chiefs of the border clans, and a late 17th-century statement by the Lord Advocate uses
2200-635: The terms "clan" and "family" interchangeably. Although Lowland aristocrats may have increasingly liked to refer to themselves as "families", the idea that the term "clan" should be used for Highland families alone is a 19th-century convention. Historic Border clans include the following: Armstrong , Beattie, Bannatyne, Bell, Briar, Carruthers , Douglas , Elliot , Graham , Hedley of Redesdale, Henderson, Hall , Home or Hume , Irvine , Jardine , Johnstone , Kerr , Little , Moffat , Nesbitt , Ogilvy , Porteous , Robson, Routledge, Scott , Thompson , Tweedie . During late medieval and early modern eras—from
2250-489: The west, Carlisle , Carstairs and Lockerbie are the nearest stations on the West Coast Main Line . The area is served by buses which connect the main population centres. Express bus services link the main towns with rail stations at Edinburgh and Carlisle. The region also has no commercial airports; the nearest are Edinburgh and Newcastle , both of which are international airports. The main roads to and from
2300-585: Was adjusted by the Scottish Adjacent Waters Boundaries Order 1999 so that the boundary within the territorial waters (up to the 12-mile (19 km) limit) is 90 metres (300 ft) north of the boundary for oil installations established by the Civil Jurisdiction (Offshore Activities) Order 1987. The land border is near and roughly parallel to the 420 million-year-old Iapetus Suture . The border country, historically known as
2350-426: Was an area of mixed allegiances, where families or clans switched which country or side they supported as suited their family interests at that time, and lawlessness abounded. Before the personal union of the two kingdoms under James, the border clans would switch allegiance between the Scottish and English crowns depending on what was most favourable for the members of the clan. For a time a powerful local clan dominated
2400-464: Was defeated at the Battle of Halidon Hill and Edward III occupied much of the borderlands. Edward declared Edward Balliol the new King of Scots, in exchange for much of southern Scotland and absolute supplication, but this was not recognised by the majority of the Scottish nobility who remained loyal to David II and conflict continued. By 1341, Perth and Edinburgh had been retaken by the Scots and Edward Balliol fled to England, effectively nullifying
2450-516: Was established for each county in 1890 under the Local Government (Scotland) Act 1889 . The county councils were abolished in 1975 under the Local Government (Scotland) Act 1973 , which established a two-tier structure of local government comprising upper-tier regions and lower-tier districts. A region called Borders was created covering the area. The region contained four districts, called Berwickshire, Ettrick and Lauderdale , Roxburgh , and Tweeddale . Further local government reform in 1996 under
2500-399: Was held in 1974, initially operating as a shadow authority alongside the outgoing authorities until the new system came into force on 16 May 1975. A shadow authority was again elected in 1995 ahead of the reforms which came into force on 1 April 1996. Political control of the council since 1975 has been as follows: Borders Regional Council Scottish Borders Council The first leader of
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