| Anglo-Scottish border | |
|---|---|
 The A1 road crossing the border between Scotland and England. Entry to Scotland is marked by threeScottish saltires and entry into England is marked by threeflags of Northumberland. | |
| Characteristics | |
| Entities |  England Scotland |
| Length | 96 miles (154 km) |
| History | |
| Established | 25 September 1237 Signing of theTreaty of York |
| Current shape | 1999 Scottish Adjacent Waters Boundaries Order 1999 |
| Treaties | Treaty of York Treaty of Newcastle 1244 Treaty of Union 1706 |
TheAnglo-Scottish border is a boundary inGreat Britain that separatesEngland andScotland. It runs for96 miles (154 km) betweenMarshall Meadows Bay on the east coast and theSolway Firth in the west.
TheFirth of Forth was theborder between thePicto-GaelicKingdom of Alba and theAnglianKingdom of Northumbria in the early10th century. It became the first Anglo-Scottish border with theannexation of Northumbria byAnglo-Saxon England in the mid-10th century. In 973, the Scottish kingKenneth II attended the English kingEdgar the Peaceful atEdgar's council in Chester. After Kenneth had reportedly done homage, Edgar rewarded Kenneth by granting himLothian.[1] Despite this transaction, the control ofLothian was not finally settled and the region was taken by the Scots at theBattle of Carham in 1018 and theRiver Tweed became thede facto Anglo-Scottish border. The Solway–Tweed line was legally established in 1237 by theTreaty of York between England and Scotland.[2] It remains the border today, with the exception of theDebatable Lands, north ofCarlisle, and a small area aroundBerwick-upon-Tweed, which wastaken by England in 1482. Berwick was not fully annexed intoEngland until 1746, by theWales and Berwick Act 1746.[3]
For centuries until theUnion of the Crowns, the region on either side of the boundary was a lawless territory suffering from the repeated raids in each direction of theBorder Reivers. Following theTreaty of Union 1706, ratified by theActs of Union 1707, which united Scotland withEngland and Wales to form theKingdom of Great Britain, the Border forms the boundary of the two legalsystems as the treaty between Scotland and England guaranteed the continued separation ofEnglish law andScots law.[4] Theage of marriage underScots law is 16, while it is 18 underEnglish law. The border settlements ofGretna Green to the west, andColdstream andLamberton to the east, were convenient forelopers from England who wanted to marry under Scottish laws, and marry without publicity.
The marine boundary was adjusted by theScottish Adjacent Waters Boundaries Order 1999 so that the boundary within theterritorial waters (up to the 12-mile (19 km) limit) is 90 metres (300 ft) north of the boundary foroil installations established by the Civil Jurisdiction (Offshore Activities) Order 1987.[5] The land border is near and roughly parallel to the 420 million-year-oldIapetus Suture.
The near-simultaneous collapse of the BrythonicKingdom of Strathclyde[6] and the disintegration of the AnglianEarldom of Bamburgh in the 11th century removed ancient realms that had long kept the regions distinct, enabling the southward expansion of GaelicAlba and the spread ofNorman rule in northern England. This expansion was driven byNorman,Breton, andFlemish forces encouraged by both Norman England and Alba, who dispossessed and colonised lands of Strathclyde, Galloway[7] andLothian toNorthumbria, Cumberland (Cumbria), andWestmorland (Westmoringas).[8] Previously, this broad region had been a complex mosaic ofBrythonic,Anglian,Gaelic—includingNorse andNorse-Gael communities and polities.[9]
The border country, historically known as theScottish Marches, is the area on either side of the Anglo-Scottish border including parts of the moderncouncil areas ofDumfries and Galloway and theScottish Borders, and parts of theEnglish counties ofCumbria andNorthumberland. It is a hilly area, with the ScottishSouthern Uplands to the north, and theCheviot Hills forming the border between the two countries to the south. From theNorman Conquest of England until the reign of James VI of Scotland, who in the course of his reign becameJames I of England while retaining the more northerly realm, border clashes were common and the monarchs of both countries relied onScottish Earls of March andLord Warden of theMarches to defend and control the frontier region.
In 1333, during theSecond War of Scottish Independence, Scotland was defeated at theBattle of Halidon Hill andEdward III occupied much of the borderlands. Edward declaredEdward 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.[10] By 1341, Perth and Edinburgh had been retaken by the Scots and Edward Balliol fled to England, effectively nullifying the supposed treaty. Edward would continue the war but would be unable to restore the puppet ruler Balliol to the throne and with theTreaty 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 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.[11]
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, Turnbull ofBedrule,Tweedie.
During late medieval and early modern eras—from the late 13th century, with the creation byEdward I of England of the firstLord 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 underJames VI of Scotland (James I of England)—the area around the border was known as theScottish Marches.
For centuries the Marches on either side of the boundary 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 a region on the border between England and Scotland. It was known as theDebatable Lands and neither monarch's writ was heeded.[citation needed][12]
Following the 1603Union of the Crowns,King James VI & I decreed that the Borders should be renamed 'the Middle Shires'. In the same year the King placedGeorge Home, 1st Earl of Dunbar in charge of the pacification of the borders. Courts were set up in the towns of 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 ofJedburgh inRoxburghshire). 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 the border, and then to more easily prosecute cross-border raiders.[13] Reivers could no longer escape justice by crossing from England to Scotland or vice versa.[14] 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; 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 underKing Charles I,Sir Richard Graham, a local laird and English MP, was petitioning theParliament of Scotland "for regulating the disorders in the borders".[15] Conditions along the border generally deteriorated during theCommonwealth andProtectorate periods, with the development ofMoss-trooper raiders. Following theRestoration, 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.[13]
TheDebatable Lands lay between Scotland and England to the north ofCarlisle,[16] the largest population centre beingCanonbie.[17] For over three hundred years the area was effectively controlled by localclans, such as theArmstrongs, who successfully resisted any attempt by the Scottish or English governments to impose their authority.[18] In 1552 commissioners met to divide the land in two: Douglas ofDrumlanrigg leading the Scots;Lord Wharton leading the English; the French ambassador acting as umpire. TheScots' Dike was built as the new frontier, with stones set up bearing the arms of England and of Scotland.[19][20]
Berwick is famous for its hesitation over whether it is part of Scotland or England.[21]Berwickshire is in Scotland while the town is in England, although both Berwick and the lands up to theFirth of Forth belonged to theKingdom of Northumbria in theEarly Middle Ages.[22] The town changed hands more than a dozen times before being finallytaken by the English in 1482, though confusion continued for centuries. TheWales and Berwick Act 1746 clarified the status of Berwick as an English town. In the 1950s the artistWendy Wood moved the border signs south to the middle of theRiver Tweed as a protest.[23] In 2008SNPMSPChristine Grahame made calls in theScottish Parliament for Berwick to become part of Scotland again.[24] Berwick's former MPAnne-Marie Trevelyan 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."[25]
At the River Tweed the border runs down the middle of the river, however between the villages ofWark andCornhill the Scottish border comes south of 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 ofColdstream (to the North of the river) would playmob football with the men of Wark (to the South of the river) atBa, and the winning side would claim the Ba Green for their country. As Coldstream grew to have 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.[26][27][28]
It is acommon misconception thatHadrian's Wall marks the Anglo-Scottish border. The wall lies entirely within England and has never formed this boundary.[29][30] While in the west, at Bowness-on-Solway, it is less than 0.6 mi (1.0 km) south of 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 theRoman province ofBritannia (to the south) and theCeltic lands ofCaledonia (to the north). HoweverBritannia occasionally extended as far north as the laterAntonine Wall. Furthermore, to speak of England and Scotland at any time prior to the ninth century is anachronistic; such nations had no meaningful existence during the period of Roman rule.
"Hadrian's Wall" is nonetheless sometimes used as an informal reference to the modern border, often semi-humorously.[a]
Cumbria and Northumberland have amongst the largest Scottish-born communities in the world outside Scotland. 16,628 Scottish-born people were residing in Cumbria in2001 (3.41% of the county's population) and 11,435 Scottish-born people were residing in Northumberland (3.72% of the county's population); the overall percentage of Scottish-born people in England is 1.62%.[31]Consequently, almost 9% of Scotland's population is English-born (459,486), with higher than average percentages of English-born people in both Dumfries & Galloway and the Scottish Borders council areas, respectively, reaching as high as 35% or higher English-born.[32]
For the purposes of the Englishconflict of laws, every country in the world which is not part ofEngland and Wales is a foreign country and its foreign laws. This means that not only totally foreign independent countries such as France andRussia... are foreign countries but alsoBritish Colonies such as theFalkland Islands. Moreover, the other parts of the United Kingdom—Scotland and Northern Ireland—are foreign countries for present purposes, as are the otherBritish Islands, theIsle of Man,Jersey, andGuernsey.
It was Berwick which became the focal point for the direct action of one of the first modern Scottish nationalists, Wendy Wood in the 1950s. Controversially...she was regularly arrested for moving the border signs over the Tweed.
Media related toBorder between England and Scotland at Wikimedia Commons
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