The Anglo-Scottish border () is a

border Borders are usually defined as geographical boundaries, imposed either by features such as oceans and terrain, or by political entities such as governments, sovereign states, federated states, and other subnational entities. Political borders c ...

separating

Scotland Scotland (, ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a border with England to the southeast and is otherwise surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean to the ...

and

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

which runs for 96 miles (154 km) between

Marshall Meadows Bay __NOTOC__ Marshall Meadows Bay is the northernmost point of England. It is located on the Northumberland coast, north of Berwick-upon-Tweed, and just to the south of the Anglo-Scottish border. Across the border in Scotland is the county of Berwi ...

on the east coast and the

Solway Firth The Solway Firth ( gd, Tràchd Romhra) is a firth that forms part of the border between England and Scotland, between Cumbria (including the Solway Plain) and Dumfries and Galloway. It stretches from St Bees Head, just south of Whitehaven in ...

in the west. The surrounding area is sometimes referred to as "the Borderlands". The

Firth of Forth The Firth of Forth () is the estuary, or firth, of several Scottish rivers including the River Forth. It meets the North Sea with Fife on the north coast and Lothian on the south. Name ''Firth'' is a cognate of ''fjord'', a Norse word meani ...

was the border between the Picto-

Gaelic Gaelic is an adjective that means "pertaining to the Gaels". As a noun it refers to the group of languages spoken by the Gaels, or to any one of the languages individually. Gaelic languages are spoken in Ireland, Scotland, the Isle of Man, and Ca ...

Kingdom of Alba The Kingdom of Alba ( la, Scotia; sga, Alba) was the Kingdom of Scotland between the deaths of Donald II in 900 and of Alexander III in 1286. The latter's death led indirectly to an invasion of Scotland by Edward I of England in 1296 and the ...

and the Anglian

Kingdom of Northumbria la, Regnum Northanhymbrorum , conventional_long_name = Kingdom of Northumbria , common_name = Northumbria , status = State , status_text = Unified Anglian kingdom (before 876)North: Anglian kingdom (af ...

in the early 10th century. It became the first Anglo-Scottish border with the

annexation Annexation (Latin ''ad'', to, and ''nexus'', joining), in international law, is the forcible acquisition of one state's territory by another state, usually following military occupation of the territory. It is generally held to be an illegal act ...

of Northumbria by

Anglo-Saxon England Anglo-Saxon England or Early Medieval England, existing from the 5th to the 11th centuries from the end of Roman Britain until the Norman conquest in 1066, consisted of various Anglo-Saxon kingdoms until 927, when it was united as the Kingdom o ...

in the mid-10th century. In 973, Kenneth, King of Scots attended the English king,

Edgar the Peaceful Edgar ( ang, Ēadgār ; 8 July 975), known as the Peaceful or the Peaceable, was King of the English from 959 until his death in 975. The younger son of King Edmund I and Ælfgifu of Shaftesbury, he came to the throne as a teenager following ...

, at his council in Chester. After Kenneth had reportedly done homage, Edgar rewarded Kenneth by granting him

Lothian Lothian (; sco, Lowden, Loudan, -en, -o(u)n; gd, Lodainn ) is a region of the Scottish Lowlands, lying between the southern shore of the Firth of Forth and the Lammermuir Hills and the Moorfoot Hills. The principal settlement is the Sco ...

. Despite this transaction, the control of

was not finally settled and the region was taken by the Scots at the

Battle of Carham The Battle of Carham (c. 1018) was fought between the Kingdom of Scotland and the Northumbrians at Carham on Tweed. Uhtred, son of Waltheof of Bamburgh (or his brother Eadwulf), fought the combined forces of Malcolm II of Scotland and Owen the ...

in 1018 and the

River Tweed The River Tweed, or Tweed Water ( gd, Abhainn Thuaidh, sco, Watter o Tweid, cy, Tuedd), is a river long that flows east across the Border region in Scotland and northern England. Tweed cloth derives its name from its association with the R ...

became the ''

de facto ''De facto'' ( ; , "in fact") describes practices that exist in reality, whether or not they are officially recognized by laws or other formal norms. It is commonly used to refer to what happens in practice, in contrast with ''de jure'' ("by la ...

'' Anglo-Scottish border. The Solway–Tweed line was legally established in 1237 by the

Treaty of York The Treaty of York was an agreement between the kings Henry III of England and Alexander II of Scotland, signed at York on 25 September 1237, which affirmed that Northumberland (which at the time also encompassed County Durham), Cumberland, and ...

between England and Scotland. It remains the border today, with the exception of the

Debatable Lands The Debatable Lands, also known as debatable ground, batable ground or threip lands,. lay between Scotland and England. It was formerly in question as to which it belonged when they were distinct kingdoms. The name either signifies litigious or ...

, north of

Carlisle Carlisle ( , ; from xcb, Caer Luel) is a city that lies within the Northern England, Northern English county of Cumbria, south of the Anglo-Scottish border, Scottish border at the confluence of the rivers River Eden, Cumbria, Eden, River C ...

, and a small area around

Berwick-upon-Tweed Berwick-upon-Tweed (), sometimes known as Berwick-on-Tweed or simply Berwick, is a town and civil parish in Northumberland, England, south of the Anglo-Scottish border, and the northernmost town in England. The 2011 United Kingdom census recor ...

, which was taken by England in 1482. Berwick was not fully annexed into England until 1746, by the

Wales and Berwick Act 1746 The Wales and Berwick Act 1746 (20 Geo. II, c. 42) was an Act of the Parliament of Great Britain that created a statutory definition of England as including England, Wales and Berwick-upon-Tweed. This definition applied to all Acts passed before ...

. For centuries until the

Union of the Crowns The Union of the Crowns ( gd, Aonadh nan Crùintean; sco, Union o the Crouns) was the accession of James VI of Scotland to the throne of the Kingdom of England as James I and the practical unification of some functions (such as overseas dip ...

the region on either side of the boundary was a lawless territory suffering from the repeated raids in each direction of the

Border Reivers Border reivers were Cattle raiding, raiders along the Anglo-Scottish border from the late 13th century to the beginning of the 17th century. They included both Scotland, Scottish and England, English people, and they raided the entire border ...

. Following the Treaty of Union 1706, ratified by the

Acts of Union 1707 The Acts of Union ( gd, Achd an Aonaidh) were two Acts of Parliament: the Union with Scotland Act 1706 passed by the Parliament of England, and the Union with England Act 1707 passed by the Parliament of Scotland. They put into effect the te ...

, which united Scotland with

England and Wales England and Wales () is one of the three legal jurisdictions of the United Kingdom. It covers the constituent countries England and Wales and was formed by the Laws in Wales Acts 1535 and 1542. The substantive law of the jurisdiction is Eng ...

to form the

Kingdom of Great Britain The Kingdom of Great Britain (officially Great Britain) was a Sovereign state, sovereign country in Western Europe from 1 May 1707 to the end of 31 December 1800. The state was created by the 1706 Treaty of Union and ratified by the Acts of ...

, the Border forms the boundary of the two legal

systems A system is a group of interacting or interrelated elements that act according to a set of rules to form a unified whole. A system, surrounded and influenced by its environment, is described by its boundaries, structure and purpose and express ...

as the treaty between Scotland and England guaranteed the continued separation of

English law English law is the common law legal system of England and Wales, comprising mainly criminal law and civil law, each branch having its own courts and procedures. Principal elements of English law Although the common law has, historically, be ...

and

Scots law Scots law () is the legal system of Scotland. It is a hybrid or mixed legal system containing civil law and common law elements, that traces its roots to a number of different historical sources. Together with English law and Northern Ireland l ...

. The

age of marriage Marriageable age (or marriage age) is the general age, as a legal age or as the minimum age subject to parental, religious or other forms of social acceptance, social approval, at which a person is legitimately allowed for marriage. Age and othe ...

under

is 16, while it is 18 under

. The border settlements of

Gretna Green Gretna Green is a parish in the southern council area of Dumfries and Galloway, Scotland, on the Scottish side of the border between Scotland and England, defined by the small river Sark, which flows into the nearby Solway Firth. It was historica ...

to the west, and

Coldstream Coldstream ( gd, An Sruthan Fuar , sco, Caustrim) is a town and civil parish in the Scottish Borders area of Scotland. A former burgh, Coldstream is the home of the Coldstream Guards, a regiment in the British Army. Description Coldstream l ...

and Lamberton to the east, were convenient for

elope Elopement is a term that is used in reference to a marriage which is conducted in a sudden and secretive fashion, usually involving a hurried flight away from one's place of residence together with one's beloved with the intention of getting ma ...

rs from England who wanted to marry under Scottish laws, and marry without publicity. The marine boundary was adjusted by the

Scottish Adjacent Waters Boundaries Order 1999 The Scottish Adjacent Waters Boundaries Order 1999 is a statutory instrument of the United Kingdom government, defining the boundaries of internal waters, territorial sea, and British Fishing Limits adjacent to Scotland. It was introduced in a ...

so that the boundary within the

territorial waters The term territorial waters is sometimes used informally to refer to any area of water over which a sovereign state has jurisdiction, including internal waters, the territorial sea, the contiguous zone, the exclusive economic zone, and potenti ...

(up to the limit) is 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 Iapetus Suture is one of several major geological faults caused by the collision of several ancient land masses forming a suture. It represents in part the remains of what was once the Iapetus Ocean. Iapetus was the father of Atlas in G ...

History

The border country, historically known as the

Scottish Marches Scottish Marches was the term used for the Anglo-Scottish border during the late medieval and early modern eras, characterised by violence and cross-border raids. The Scottish Marches era came to an end during the first decade of the 17th century ...

, is the area either side of the Anglo-Scottish border including parts of the modern

council areas For local government purposes, Scotland is divided into 32 areas designated as "council areas" ( gd, comhairlean), which are all governed by single-tier authorities designated as "councils". They have the option under the Local Government (Ga ...

Dumfries and Galloway Dumfries and Galloway ( sco, Dumfries an Gallowa; gd, Dùn Phrìs is Gall-Ghaidhealaibh) is one of 32 unitary council areas of Scotland and is located in the western Southern Uplands. It covers the counties of Scotland, historic counties of ...

and the

Scottish Borders The Scottish Borders ( sco, the Mairches, 'the Marches'; gd, Crìochan na h-Alba) is one of 32 council areas of Scotland. It borders the City of Edinburgh, Dumfries and Galloway, East Lothian, Midlothian, South Lanarkshire, West Lothi ...

, and parts of the

English counties The counties of England are areas used for different purposes, which include administrative, geographical, cultural and political demarcation. The term "county" is defined in several ways and can apply to similar or the same areas used by each ...

Cumbria Cumbria ( ) is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in North West England, bordering Scotland. The county and Cumbria County Council, its local government, came into existence in 1974 after the passage of the Local Government Act 1972. Cumb ...

and

Northumberland Northumberland () is a county in Northern England, one of two counties in England which border with Scotland. Notable landmarks in the county include Alnwick Castle, Bamburgh Castle, Hadrian's Wall and Hexham Abbey. It is bordered by land on ...

. It is a hilly area, with the Scottish

Southern Uplands The Southern Uplands ( gd, Na Monaidhean a Deas) are the southernmost and least populous of mainland Scotland's three major geographic areas (the other two being the Central Lowlands and the Grampian Mountains and the Highlands, as illustrated ...

to the north, and the

Cheviot Hills The Cheviot Hills (), or sometimes The Cheviots, are a range of uplands straddling the Anglo-Scottish border between Northumberland and the Scottish Borders. The English section is within the Northumberland National Park. The range includes T ...

forming the border between the two countries to the south. From the

Norman conquest The Norman Conquest (or the Conquest) was the 11th-century invasion and occupation of England by an army made up of thousands of Norman, Breton, Flemish, and French troops, all led by the Duke of Normandy, later styled William the Conque ...

of England until the reign of James VI of Scotland, who in the course of his reign became

James I of England James VI and I (James Charles Stuart; 19 June 1566 – 27 March 1625) was King of Scotland as James VI from 24 July 1567 and King of England and King of Ireland, Ireland as James I from the Union of the Crowns, union of the Scottish and Eng ...

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 In medieval Europe, a march or mark was, in broad terms, any kind of borderland, as opposed to a national "heartland". More specifically, a march was a border between realms or a neutral buffer zone under joint control of two states in which diff ...

to defend and control the frontier region.

Second War of Scottish Independence

In 1333, during the

Second War of Scottish Independence The Second War of Scottish Independence broke out in 1332 when Edward Balliol led an English-backed invasion of Scotland. Balliol, the son of a former Scottish king, was attempting to make good his claim to the Scottish throne. He was opposed b ...

, Scotland was defeated at the

Battle of Halidon Hill The Battle of Halidon Hill took place on 19 July 1333 when a Scottish army under Sir Archibald Douglas attacked an English army commanded by King Edward III of England () and was heavily defeated. The year before, Edward Balliol had seized ...

and

Edward III Edward III (13 November 1312 – 21 June 1377), also known as Edward of Windsor before his accession, was King of England and Lord of Ireland from January 1327 until his death in 1377. He is noted for his military success and for restoring r ...

occupied much of the borderlands. Edward declared

Edward Balliol Edward Balliol (; 1283 – January 1364) was a claimant to the Scottish throne during the Second War of Scottish Independence. With English help, he ruled parts of the kingdom from 1332 to 1356. Early life Edward was the eldest son of John Ba ...

the new King of Scots, in exchange for the 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 the supposed treaty. Edward would continue the war but was unable to restore the puppet ruler Balliol to the throne and with the

Treaty of Berwick (1357) The Treaty of Berwick, signed at Berwick-upon-Tweed, England, on 3 October 1357, officially ended the Second War of Scottish Independence. In this second phase of the Wars of Scottish Independence, which began in 1333, King Edward III of England ...

Scottish independence was once again acknowledged with any pretence to territorial annexations dropped.

Clans

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 of Highland families alone is a 19th-century convention. Historic Border clans include the following:

Armstrong Armstrong may refer to: Places * Armstrong Creek (disambiguation), various places Antarctica * Armstrong Reef, Biscoe Islands Argentina * Armstrong, Santa Fe Australia * Armstrong, Victoria Canada * Armstrong, British Columbia * Armstrong ...

, Beattie, Bannatyne, Bell, Briar,

Carruthers Carruthers, sometimes Caruthers, is a Scottish people, Scottish surname and Clan Carruthers, clan, originating from the lands of Carruthers in Dumfriesshire. The place name is derived from the Cumbric language, Cumbric elements ''ker'' ("fort") and ...

Douglas Douglas may refer to: People * Douglas (given name) * Douglas (surname) Animals *Douglas (parrot), macaw that starred as the parrot ''Rosalinda'' in Pippi Longstocking *Douglas the camel, a camel in the Confederate Army in the American Civil W ...

Elliot Elliot (also spelled Eliot, Elliotte, Elliott, Eliott and Elyot) is a personal name which can serve as either a surname or a given name. Although the given name has historically been given to males, females have increasingly been given the name ...

Graham Graham and Graeme may refer to: People * Graham (given name), an English-language given name * Graham (surname), an English-language surname * Graeme (surname), an English-language surname * Graham (musician) (born 1979), Burmese singer * Clan ...

, Hedley of Redesdale, Henderson,

Hall In architecture, a hall is a relatively large space enclosed by a roof and walls. In the Iron Age and early Middle Ages in northern Europe, a mead hall was where a lord and his retainers ate and also slept. Later in the Middle Ages, the gr ...

, Home or Hume,

Irvine Irvine may refer to: Places On Earth Antarctica *Irvine Glacier *Mount Irvine (Antarctica) Australia *Irvine Island *Mount Irvine, New South Wales Canada *Irvine, Alberta * Irvine Inlet, Nunavut United Kingdom *Irvine, North Ayrshire, Scotla ...

, Jardine,

Johnstone Johnstone ( sco, Johnstoun,
gd, Baile Iain) is a town ...

Kerr Kerr may refer to: People *Kerr (surname) *Kerr (given name) Places ;United States *Kerr Township, Champaign County, Illinois *Kerr, Montana, A US census-designated place *Kerr, Ohio, an unincorporated community *Kerr County, Texas Other uses ...

Little Little is a synonym for small size and may refer to: Arts and entertainment * ''Little'' (album), 1990 debut album of Vic Chesnutt * ''Little'' (film), 2019 American comedy film *The Littles, a series of children's novels by American author John P ...

Moffat Moffat ( gd, Mofad) is a burgh and parish in Dumfriesshire, now part of the Dumfries and Galloway local authority area in Scotland. It lies on the River Annan, with a population of around 2,500. It was a centre of the wool trade and a spa town. ...

, Nesbitt, Ogilvy, Porteous, Routledge, Scott,

Thompson Thompson may refer to: People * Thompson (surname) * Thompson M. Scoon (1888–1953), New York politician Places Australia *Thompson Beach, South Australia, a locality Bulgaria * Thompson, Bulgaria, a village in Sofia Province Canada * ...

, Tweedie.

Scottish Marches

During late medieval and early modern eras—from the late 13th century, with the creation by

Edward I of England Edward I (17/18 June 1239 – 7 July 1307), also known as Edward Longshanks and the Hammer of the Scots, was King of England and Lord of Ireland from 1272 to 1307. Concurrently, he ruled the duchies of Aquitaine and Gascony as a vassa ...

of the first

Lord Warden of the Marches The Lord Warden of the Marches was an office in the governments of Scotland and England. The holders were responsible for the security of the border between the two nations, and often took part in military action. They were also responsible, alo ...

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 VI and I (James Charles Stuart; 19 June 1566 – 27 March 1625) was King of Scotland as James VI from 24 July 1567 and King of England and Ireland as James I from the union of the Scottish and English crowns on 24 March 1603 until hi ...

(James I of England)—the area around the border was known as the

. 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 the

and neither monarch's writ was heeded.

Middle Shires

Following the 1603

King James VI & I James VI and I (James Charles Stuart; 19 June 1566 – 27 March 1625) was King of Scotland as James VI from 24 July 1567 and King of England and Ireland as James I from the union of the Scottish and English crowns on 24 March 1603 until hi ...

decreed that the Borders should be renamed 'the Middle Shires'. In the same year the King placed

George Home, 1st Earl of Dunbar George Home, 1st Earl of Dunbar, KG, PC (ca. 155620 January 1611) was, in the last decade of his life, the most prominent and most influential Scotsman in England. His work lay in the King's Household and in the control of the State Affairs of ...

in charge of 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 of

Jedburgh Jedburgh (; gd, Deadard; sco, Jeddart or ) is a town and former royal burgh in the Scottish Borders and the traditional county town of the historic county of Roxburghshire, the name of which was randomly chosen for Operation Jedburgh in su ...

Roxburghshire Roxburghshire or the County of Roxburgh ( gd, Siorrachd Rosbroig) is a historic county and registration county in the Southern Uplands of Scotland. It borders Dumfriesshire to the west, Selkirkshire and Midlothian to the north-west, and Berw ...

). 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.See: Border Reivers#Legislation 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; 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 The Parliament of Scotland ( sco, Pairlament o Scotland; gd, Pàrlamaid na h-Alba) was the legislature of the Kingdom of Scotland from the 13th century until 1707. The parliament evolved during the early 13th century from the king's council o ...

"for regulating the disorders in the borders". Conditions along the border generally deteriorated during the

Commonwealth A commonwealth is a traditional English term for a political community founded for the common good. Historically, it has been synonymous with "republic". The noun "commonwealth", meaning "public welfare, general good or advantage", dates from the ...

and

Protectorate A protectorate, in the context of international relations, is a State (polity), state that is under protection by another state for defence against aggression and other violations of law. It is a dependent territory that enjoys autonomy over m ...

periods, with the development of

Moss-trooper Moss-troopers were brigands of the mid-17th century, who operated across the border country between Scotland and the northern English counties of Northumberland and Cumberland during the period of the English Commonwealth, until after the Restora ...

raiders. Following the

Restoration Restoration is the act of restoring something to its original state and may refer to: * Conservation and restoration of cultural heritage ** Audio restoration ** Film restoration ** Image restoration ** Textile restoration * Restoration ecology ...

, on-going 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.

Controversial territories

The Debatable Lands

The

lay between Scotland and England to the north of

, the largest population centre being

Canonbie Canonbie ( gd, Canonbaidh) is a small village in Dumfriesshire within the local authority area of Dumfries and Galloway in Scotland, south of Langholm and north of the Anglo-Scottish border. It is on the A7 road from Carlisle to Edinburgh, and ...

. For over three hundred years the area was effectively controlled by local

clans A clan is a group of people united by actual or perceived kinship and descent. Even if lineage details are unknown, clans may claim descent from founding member or apical ancestor. Clans, in indigenous societies, tend to be endogamous, meaning ...

, 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 Baron Wharton is a title in the Peerage of England, originally granted by letters patent to the heirs male of the Thomas Wharton, 1st Baron Wharton, 1st Baron, which was forfeited in 1729 when the last male-line heir was declared an outlaw. The B ...

leading the English; the French ambassador acting as umpire. The

Scots' Dike The Scots' Dike or dyke is a three and a half mile / 5.25 km long linear earthwork, constructed by the English and the Scots in the year 1552Mack, James Logan (1926). ''The Border Line'', p.94. Oliver & Boyd to mark the division of the Deb ...

was built as the new frontier, with stones set up bearing the arms of England and of Scotland.

Berwick-upon-Tweed

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

belonged to the

in the Early Middle Ages. The town changed hands more than a dozen times before being finally Capture of Berwick (1482), taken by the English in 1482, though confusion continued for centuries. The

clarified the status of Berwick as an English town. In the 1950s the artist Wendy Wood (artist), Wendy Wood moved the border signs south to the middle of the

as a protest. In 2008 Scottish National Party, SNP Member of the Scottish Parliament, MSP Christine Grahame made calls in 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."

The Ba Green

At the River Tweed the border runs down the middle of the river, however between the villages of Wark on Tweed, Wark and Cornhill-on-Tweed, Cornhill 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 of

(to the North of the river) would play mob football with the men of Wark (to the South of the river) at Ba game, Ba, 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.

Hadrian's Wall misconception

Hadrian's Wall and old tree, Melkridge Common - geograph

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 south of the border with Scotland, in the east it is as much as away. For centuries the wall was the boundary between the Roman Empire, Roman province of ''Roman Britain, Britannia'' (to the south) and the Celts, 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 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.

Migration

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 UK Census, 2001 (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%. 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.{{https://thoughtcontrolscotland.com/2019/05/22/are-english-settlers-in-the-highlands-nicer-than-those-in-the-borders-and-if-so-why/

List of places on the border, or associated with it

On the border

{{columns-list, colwidth=30em, * Carter Bar *

* Pennine Way *

* St Cuthbert's Way * Union Bridge (Tweed)

England

Cumbria

{{main, Cumbria {{columns-list, colwidth=30em, * Arthuret * Blackpool Gate *

* Hethersgill * Historic counties of England, County of Cumberland * Kershopefoot * Longtown, Cumbria, Longtown * Skitby * Stapleton, Cumbria, Stapleton

Northumberland

{{main, Northumberland {{columns-list, colwidth=30em, * Ancroft * Barmoor Castle * Barrow Burn * Beadnell * Belford, Northumberland, Belford *

, and the former Berwick-upon-Tweed (borough), borough * Bowsden * Branxton, Northumberland, Branxton * Byrness * Carham * Catcleugh Reservoir * Chatton * Chillingham Castle * Cornhill-on-Tweed * Crookham, Northumberland, Crookham * Doddington, Northumberland, Doddington * Duddo and Duddo Tower * Etal and Etal Castle * Fowberry Tower * Goswick * Greystead * Haggerston, Northumberland, Haggerston and Haggerston Castle * Horncliffe * Howtel * Islandshire * Kielder, Northumberland, Kielder, Kielder Forest and Kielder Water * Kilham, Northumberland, Kilham * Kirknewton, Northumberland, Kirknewton * Lilburn, Northumberland, Lilburn and Lilburn Tower * Lindisfarne and Lindisfarne Castle * Lowick, Northumberland, Lowick * Middleton, Northumberland, Middleton * Milfield * Mindrum * Norham and Norham Castle * North Sunderland * Otterburn, Northumberland, Otterburn * Redesdale & River Rede * Scremerston * Spittal, Northumberland, Spittal * Twizell Castle * Wark on Tweed * Wooler * Yeavering

Scotland

Dumfries and Galloway

{{main, Dumfries and Galloway {{columns-list, colwidth=30em, * Auchenrivock Tower *

* Gilnockie Tower * Gretna, Dumfries and Galloway, Gretna *

* Langholm * Rowanburn

Borders

{{main, Scottish Borders {{columns-list, colwidth=30em, * Allanton, Scottish Borders, Allanton * Ayton, Scottish Borders, Ayton * Birgham * Cessford Castle * Chirnside *

* Dinlabyre * Duns, Scottish Borders, Duns * Eccles, Scottish Borders, Eccles * Eden Water * Edgerston * Ednam * Edrington * Edrom * Ettrick, Scotland, Ettrick * Eyemouth * Fogo, Scottish Borders, Fogo * Foulden, Scottish Borders, Foulden * Galashiels * Hawick * Hermitage, Scottish Borders, Hermitage and Hermitage Castle * Hilly Linn * Hilton, Berwickshire, Hilton * Hume Castle * Hutton, Scottish Borders, Hutton *

* Kelso, Scottish Borders, Kelso * Kirk Yetholm & Town Yetholm * Ladykirk, Scottish Borders, Ladykirk * Lamberton * Leitholm * Liddesdale * Mordington * Morebattle * Mowhaugh * Newcastleton * Oxnam * Paxton, Scottish Borders, Paxton * Roxburgh and Roxburgh Castle * Saughtree * Selkirk, Scottish Borders, Selkirk * Southdean * Swinton, Scottish Borders, Swinton * Timpanheck * Whitsome

Rivers

{{columns-list, colwidth=30em, * Carham Burn * River Esk, Dumfries and Galloway, River Esk * River Rede * River Sark * River Teviot *

* Whiteadder Water * Liddel Water * Kershope Burn

Mountains

{{columns-list, colwidth=30em, * The Cheviot * Carter Bar & Carter Fell * Windy Gyle

Notes

{{notelist, refs= Three examples of a humorous reference to Hadrian's Wall: * "and there are plans for an electrified fence along Hadrian's Wall to prevent emigration from the rump republic" ({{harvnb, Sandbrook, 2012 quoting Robert Moss in ''The Collapse of Democracy'' (1975)); * "a situation that the (notional) electrification of Hadrian's Wall is unlikely to change" {{harv, Ijeh, 2014; * A cartoon: "Hadrian's Wall Extension Plan" showing an extension of Hadrian’s Wall around the coastline of England and Wales {{harv, Hughes, 2014.

References

{{reflist

References

* {{citation , last=Hughes , first=Alex , author-link=Alex Hughes (cartoonist) , date=5 September 2014, title=Hadrian's Wall Extension Plan , publisher=alexhughescartoons.co.uk , url=http://www.bdonline.co.uk/what-did-scotland-do-for-architecture?/5070540.article , access-date=15 December 2014 * {{citation , last=Ijeh , first=Ike , date=27 August 2014 , title=What did Scotland do for architecture? , journal=Building Design Online , url=http://www.bdonline.co.uk/what-did-scotland-do-for-architecture?/5070540.article , access-date=7 October 2016 * {{citation , last=Sandbrook , first=Dominic , author-link=Dominic Sandbrook , year=2012 , chapter=Chapter 6: Could it happen here? , title=Seasons in the Sun: The Battle for Britain, 1974–1979 , edition=illustrated , publisher=Penguin , location=UK , isbn=9781846140327 , pag
about 214
}

External links

{{EB1911 poster, Borders, The, The Borders {{commons category-inline, Border of England-Scotland

at Hodgson Clan
The world's oldest border?
from Jay Foreman (comedian), Jay Foreman's "Map Men" series {{Borders of the United Kingdom {{DEFAULTSORT:Anglo-Scottish Border Anglo-Scottish border, 1237 establishments in England 13th century in England 13th century in Scotland Geography of England Geography of Scotland English law Scots law 1237 establishments in Scotland Geographic history of the United Kingdom

History

Second War of Scottish Independence

Clans

Scottish Marches

Middle Shires

Controversial territories

The Debatable Lands

Berwick-upon-Tweed

The Ba Green

Hadrian's Wall misconception

Migration

List of places on the border, or associated with it

On the border

England

Cumbria

Northumberland

Scotland

Dumfries and Galloway

Borders

Rivers

Mountains

See also

Notes

References

References

Further reading

External links