Scottish Borders

{{redirect|The Borders||Border (disambiguation)}} The '''Scottish Borders''' ({{lang-sco|the Mairches}}; {{lang-gd|Na Crìochan}}) is one of 32 [[local government (Scotland)|local government]] [[Council areas of Scotland|council areas]] of [[Scotland]]. It is bordered by [[Dumfries and Galloway]] in the west, [[South Lanarkshire]] and [[West Lothian]] in the north west, [[City of Edinburgh]], [[East Lothian]], [[Midlothian]] to the north; and the [[Metropolitan and non-metropolitan counties of England|non-metropolitan counties]] of [[Northumberland]] and [[Cumbria]] in England to the south and east. The administrative centre of the area is [[Newtown St. Boswells]]. Historically, the name Scottish Borders designated the entire border region of southern Scotland and, together with neighbouring areas of England, was part of the historical [[Anglo-Scottish border|Borders]] region. ==Geography== The Scottish Borders are located in the Eastern part of the [[Southern Uplands]]. The region is hilly and largely rural, with the [[River Tweed]] flowing west to east through the region. 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]], and forming [[Anglo-Scottish border|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 of [[Galashiels]], [[Selkirk, Scottish Borders|Selkirk]], [[Hawick]], [[Jedburgh]], [[Earlston]], [[Kelso, Scottish Borders|Kelso]], [[St Boswells]], [[Peebles]], [[Melrose, Scotland|Melrose]] and [[Tweedbank]] are located. ==History== Historically, the term [[Border country|Borders]] has a wider meaning, referring to all of the [[burghs]] adjoining the English border, also including [[Dumfriesshire]] and [[Kirkcudbrightshire]] — as well as [[Northumberland]], [[Cumberland, England|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]]. Thus, across the region are to be seen the ruins of many castles, abbeys and even towns. The area was created in 1975, by merging the [[Counties of Scotland|former counties]] of [[Berwickshire]], [[Peeblesshire]], [[Roxburghshire]] and [[Selkirkshire]] and part of [[Midlothian]], as a two-tier [[Local government areas of Scotland 1973 to 1996|region]] with the [[Local government region of Scotland|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. Although there is evidence of some [[Scottish Gaelic]] in the origins of place names such as [[Innerleithen]] ("confluence of the [[Leithen Water|Leithen]]"), [[Kilbucho]] which contain identifiably [[Goidelic]] rather than [[Britons (historical)|Brythonic]] [[Celtic languages|Celtic]] elements, the language has tended to be weak to non-existent in most parts of the region. Since the 5th century, there has been evidence of two main languages in the area: Brythonic (in the west) and [[Old English language|Old English]] (in the east), the latter of which developed into its modern forms of [[Scottish English|English]] and [[Scots language|Scots]]. ==Politics== There are two British Parliamentary constituencies in the Borders. [[Berwickshire, Roxburgh and Selkirk (UK Parliament constituency)|Berwickshire, Roxburgh and Selkirk]] covers most of the region and is represented by Liberal Democrat [[Michael Moore (UK politician)|Michael Moore]]. The western Tweeddale area is included in the [[Dumfriesshire, Clydesdale and Tweeddale (UK Parliament constituency)|Dumfriesshire, Clydesdale & Tweeddale constituency]] and is represented by Conservative [[David Mundell]]. At Scottish Parliament level, there are also two seats. The eastern constituency is [[Roxburgh and Berwickshire (Scottish Parliament constituency)|Roxburgh & Berwickshire]], which is currently represented by Conservative [[John Lamont (Scottish politician)|John Lamont]]. The western constituency is [[Tweeddale, Ettrick and Lauderdale (Scottish Parliament constituency)|Tweeddale, Ettrick & Lauderdale]] and is represented by SNP [[Christine Grahame]]. Control of the local council rests in the hands of a Conservative/Liberal Democrat/Independent coalition. The Conservatives are the biggest party on the council with 11 seats, the Liberal Democrats have 10. The SNP have six seats and the Independents have five. Two councillors form the Borders Party. {| class="wikitable" |- !colspan="2"| Political Party ! Seats |- | width="5" bgcolor="{{Conservative Party (UK)/meta/color}}" align="center"| • | [[Scottish Conservative Party]] | 11 |- | width="5" bgcolor="{{Scottish Liberal Democrats/meta/color}}" align="center"|• | [[Scottish Liberal Democrats]] | 10 |- | width="5" bgcolor="{{Scottish National Party/meta/color}}" | | [[Scottish National Party]] | 6 |- |width="5" bgcolor="{{Independent (politician)/meta/color}}" align="center"|• | [[Independent (politician)|Independent]] | 5 |- | style="width:5px;; background:brown;"| | Borders Party | 2 |} ==Transport== The region has no working railway stations. Although the area was well connected to the [[Victorian era|Victorian]] [[British railway system|railway system]], the branch lines that supplied it were closed in the decades following the [[Second World War]]. A bill has been passed by the [[Scottish Parliament]] to extend the [[Waverley Line]], which would be a commuter service from [[Edinburgh]] to [[Stow of Wedale|Stow]], [[Galashiels]] and [[Tweedbank]]. Today, the [[East Coast Main Line]] is the only railway which runs through the region, with [[Edinburgh Waverley railway station|Edinburgh Waverley]], [[Dunbar railway station|Dunbar]] and [[Berwick-upon-Tweed railway station|Berwick]] being the nearest stations on that line, all of which are outwith the Borders. To the west, [[Carlisle railway station|Carlisle]], [[Carstairs railway station|Carstairs]] and [[Lockerbie railway station|Lockerbie]] on the [[West Coast Main Line]] are the nearest. 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 Airport|Edinburgh]] and [[Newcastle Airport|Newcastle]], both of which are international airports. The main roads to and from the region are: *The [[A1 road (Great Britain)|A1]], which runs along the east coast from [[London]] to [[Edinburgh]]; passing near [[Eyemouth]]. *The [[A7 road (Great Britain)|A7]] which runs north to south from [[Edinburgh]] to [[Carlisle, Cumbria|Carlisle]] and the [[M6 motorway|M6]]; passing through [[Galashiels]], [[Selkirk, Scottish Borders|Selkirk]] and [[Hawick]]. *The [[A68 road|A68]] running from [[Darlington]] to [[Edinburgh]]; passing through [[Jedburgh]], [[Newtown St. Boswells]], [[Earlston]] and [[Lauder]]. *The [[A72 road (Great Britain)|A72]], which runs east to west from Galashiels to [[Hamilton, South Lanarkshire|Hamilton]]; passing through [[Innerleithen]] and [[Peebles]] ==Towns and villages== [[Image:Scottish Borders Council Regional Headquarters.jpg|thumb|Part of the Scottish Borders Council offices at [[Newtown St. Boswells]]]] *[[Abbey St. Bathans]], [[Allanton, Scottish Borders|Allanton]], [[Ancrum]], [[Ashkirk]] *[[Broughton, Scottish Borders|Broughton]], [[Burnmouth]] *[[Cardrona, Scottish Borders|Cardrona]], [[Chirnside]], [[Clovenfords]], [[Cockburnspath]], [[Coldingham]], [[Coldstream]] *[[Denholm]], [[Dryburgh]], [[Duns]] *[[Earlston]], [[Edrom]], [[Eddleston]], [[Ettrick, Scotland|Ettrick]], [[Ettrickbridge]], [[Eyemouth]] *[[Foulden, Berwickshire|Foulden]] *[[Galashiels]], [[Grantshouse]], [[Greenlaw]] *[[Hawick]], [[Heriot, Scottish Borders|Heriot]], [[Hutton, Scottish Borders|Hutton]] *[[Innerleithen]] *[[Jedburgh]] *[[Kelso, Scottish Borders|Kelso]], [[Kirk Yetholm]] *[[Lauder]], [[Lilliesleaf]], [[Longformacus]] *[[Melrose, Scotland|Melrose]] *[[Newcastleton]], [[Newstead, Scottish Borders|Newstead]], [[Newtown St. Boswells]] *[[Peebles]], [[Preston, Scottish Borders|Preston]] *[[Roxburgh (village)|Roxburgh]] *[[Selkirk, Scottish Borders|Selkirk]], [[St. Abbs]], [[St. Boswells]], [[Stow of Wedale|Stow]], [[Stichill]] *[[Teviothead]], [[Town Yetholm]], [[Traquair House|Traquair]], [[Tweedbank]], [[Tweedsmuir]] *[[Walkerburn]], [[West Linton]], [[Whitsome]] *[[Yair, Scottish Borders|Yair]] ==Places of interest== {{columns-list|2| *[[Abbotsford House]] *[[Bowhill House]] *[[Cheviot Hills]] *[[Cessford Burn]] *[[Coldingham Bay]] *[[Dawyck Botanic Garden]] *[[Dryburgh Abbey]] - [[Historic Scotland]] *[[Duns Castle]] *[[Edin's Hall Broch]] *[[Ettrick Forest]] *[[Eyemouth]] *[[Floors Castle]] *[[Glentress Forest]] - [[Forest Enterprise]] *[[Greenknowe Tower]] *[[Harmony Garden, Scottish Borders|Harmony Garden]] - [[National Trust for Scotland]] *[[Hawkshaw, Scottish Borders|Hawkshaw]] - ancestral home of the [[Porteous family]] *[[Hermitage Castle]] - [[Historic Scotland]] *[[Jedburgh Abbey]] - [[Historic Scotland]] *[[Kailzie Gardens]] *[[Kelso Abbey]] *[[Lammermuir Hills]] *[[Lauderdale]] *[[Manderston]] *[[Megget Reservoir]] *[[Mellerstain House]] *[[Melrose Abbey]] - [[Historic Scotland]] *[[Mire Loch]] *[[Monteviot]] *[[Neidpath Castle]] *[[Nisbet House|Nisbet, Berwickshire]] *[[Nisbet, Roxburghshire]] *[[Paxton House, Berwickshire|Paxton House]] *[[Pennine Way]] - [[National Trails (United Kingdom)|National Trails]] *[[Priorwood Garden]] - [[National Trust for Scotland]] *[[Robert Smail's Printing Works]] - [[National Trust for Scotland]] *[[Scots' dike]] *[[Smailholm Tower]] - [[Historic Scotland]] *[[Southern Upland Way]] - [[National Trails (United Kingdom)|National Trails]] *[[St Abb's Head|St. Abbs Head]] *[[St Mary's Loch|St. Mary's Loch]] *[[St. Ronans Wells]] *[[Teviotdale]] *[[Thirlestane Castle]] *[[Traquair House]] *[[Trimontium (Newstead)|Trimontium]] *[[Waterloo Monument]] *[[Wedderburn Castle]] }} ==See also== *[[Scottish Marches]] *[[Anglo-Scottish border]] *[[Debatable lands]] *[[List of places in the Scottish Borders]] *[[Scottish Lowlands]] *[[Alexander_Jeffrey]], historian of Scottish Borders ==External links== *[http://www.scots-online.org/grammar/sscots.htm Borders' Dialect] *[http://www.scotslanguage.com/tags/view/28/792 Scots Language Centre page on Borders' Dialect] *[http://www.scotborders.gov.uk/ Scottish Borders Council] {{Scotland subdivisions}} {{Former local government regions of Scotland}} {{coord missing|Scottish Borders}}