The River Sark or Sark Water is a river best known for forming part of the western border between Scotland 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 ...

. Most of its short length, however, is entirely in

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 ...

. It flows into the estuary of the River Esk just to the south of Gretna.

History

The Scots defeated the English at the Battle of Sark in October 1448. It was a significant victory for the Scots, who had not defeated England since the

Battle of Otterburn The Battle of Otterburn took place according to Scottish sources on 5 August 1388, or 19 August according to English sources, as part of the continuing border skirmishes between the Scots and English. The best remaining record of the bat ...

in 1388. The river has been made famous, partially by the

Robert Burns Robert Burns (25 January 175921 July 1796), also known familiarly as Rabbie Burns, was a Scottish poet and lyricist. He is widely regarded as the national poet of Scotland and is celebrated worldwide. He is the best known of the poets who hav ...

' poem, ''

Such a Parcel of Rogues in a Nation "Such a Parcel of Rogues in a Nation" is a Scottish folk song whose lyrics are taken from a poem written by Robert Burns in 1791, listed as number 5516 in the Roud Folk Song Index. It has continued to be associated with Scottish nationalism and a ...

'', which in the first verse it says:

:Fareweel to a' our Scottish fame, :Fareweel our ancient glory; :Fareweel ev'n to the Scottish name, :Sae fam'd in martial story. :Now Sark rins over Solway sands, :An'
Tweed Tweed is a rough, woollen fabric, of a soft, open, flexible texture, resembling cheviot or homespun, but more closely woven. It is usually woven with a plain weave, twill or herringbone structure. Colour effects in the yarn may be obtained ...
rins to the ocean, :To mark where England's
province A province is almost always an administrative division within a country or sovereign state, state. The term derives from the ancient Roman ''Roman province, provincia'', which was the major territorial and administrative unit of the Roman Empire ...
stands- :Such a parcel of rogues in a nation!"

The poem's subject was the alleged sale of Scotland in the Anglo-Scottish Treaty of Union. The most famous town on the Sark is

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 ...

, best known for its wedding industry. The A74(M)

motorway A controlled-access highway is a type of highway that has been designed for high-speed vehicular traffic, with all traffic flow—ingress and egress—regulated. Common English terms are freeway, motorway and expressway. Other similar terms i ...

passes over it. The area around the Sark was notoriously marshy and sandy, as much of the coast of the north west

Irish Sea The Irish Sea or , gv, Y Keayn Yernagh, sco, Erse Sie, gd, Muir Èireann , Ulster-Scots: ''Airish Sea'', cy, Môr Iwerddon . is an extensive body of water that separates the islands of Ireland and Great Britain. It is linked to the Ce ...

is. The small section between the lower end of the Sark and the River Esk is known as 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 ...

", and was formerly a haven for criminals and outlaws who wished to exploit the weakness of the two countries' border defences. The boundary between the Sark and the Esk is called 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 ...

. Its name is not connected with "

Cutty Sark ''Cutty Sark'' is a British clipper ship. Built on the River Leven, Dumbarton, Scotland in 1869 for the Jock Willis Shipping Line, she was one of the last tea clippers to be built and one of the fastest, coming at the end of a long period ...

References

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Sark Sark (french: link=no, Sercq, ; Sercquiais: or ) is a part of the Channel Islands in the southwestern English Channel, off the coast of Normandy, France. It is a royal fief, which forms part of the Bailiwick of Guernsey, with its own set of l ...

Anglo-Scottish border

1Sark