Place:Scottish Borders, Scotland

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NameScottish Borders
Alt namesBORsource: Curious Fox: UK Counties and Shires [online] (2002). accessed 16 Dec 2002
Crìochan na h-Albasource: Wikipedia
Scot Bordsource: Gazetteer of Great Britain (1999) xviii
TypeUnitary authority
Coordinates55.583°N 3.25°W
Located inScotland     (1996 - )
See alsoRoxburghshire, Scotlandtraditional county joining to create the Borders Region in 1975
Selkirkshire, Scotlandtraditional county joining to create the Borders Region in 1975
Peeblesshire, Scotlandtraditional county joining to create the Borders Region in 1975
Berwickshire, Scotlandtraditional county joining to create the Borders Region in 1975
Midlothian, Scotlandtraditional county of which part joined to create the Borders Region in 1975
source: Getty Thesaurus of Geographic Names


the text in this section is copied from an article in Wikipedia

The Scottish Borders ('the Marches'; ) is one of 32 council areas of Scotland. It borders the City of Edinburgh, Dumfries and Galloway, East Lothian, Midlothian, South Lanarkshire, West Lothian and, to the south-west, south and east, the English counties of Cumbria and Northumberland. The administrative centre of the area is Newtown St Boswells.

The term Scottish Borders, or normally just "the Borders", is also used to designate the areas of southern Scotland and northern England that bound the Anglo-Scottish border.

History

the text in this section is copied from an article in Wikipedia

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 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 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 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.

The council area was created in 1975, by merging the historic counties of Berwickshire, Peeblesshire, Roxburghshire, and Selkirkshire and part of Midlothian, as a two-tier region with the districts of Berwickshire, Ettrick and Lauderdale, Roxburgh, and Tweeddale within it. In 1996 the region became a unitary authority area and the districts were wound up. The region was created with the name Borders. Following the election of a shadow area council in 1995 the name was changed to Scottish Borders with effect from 1996.

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This page uses content from the English Wikipedia. The original content was at Scottish Borders. The list of authors can be seen in the page history. As with WeRelate, the content of Wikipedia is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.