Scottish Borders The Mairches (Scots) Crìochan na h-Alba (Scottish Gaelic)
Coordinates: 55°21′36″N 2°29′24″W / 55.36000°N 2.49000°W / 55.36000; -2.49000
Sovereign state	United Kingdom
Country	Scotland
Lieutenancy areas	Berwickshire, Roxburgh, Ettrick and Lauderdale, Tweeddale
Admin HQ	Newtown St Boswells
Government
• Body	Scottish Borders Council
• MPs	John Lamont (Conservative – Berwickshire, Roxburgh and Selkirk) David Mundell (Conservative – Dumfriesshire, Clydesdale and Tweeddale)
• MSPs	Christine Grahame (SNP – Midlothian South, Tweeddale and Lauderdale) Rachael Hamilton (Conservative – Ettrick, Roxburgh and Berwickshire)
Area
• Total	1,827 sq mi (4,732 km2)
• Rank	Ranked 6th
Population  (2021)
• Total	116,020
• Rank	Ranked 18th
• Density	64/sq mi (25/km2)
ONS code	S12000026
ISO 3166 code	GB-SCB

Topographic map of Scottish Borders and Lothian

The Scottish Borders (Scots: the Mairches, lit. 'the Marches'; Scottish Gaelic: Crìochan na h-Alba) is one of 32 council areas of Scotland.^[1] It is bordered by West Lothian, Edinburgh, Midlothian, and East Lothian to the north, the North Sea to the east, Dumfries and Galloway to the south-west, South Lanarkshire to the west, and the English ceremonial counties of Cumbria and Northumberland to the south. The largest settlement is Galashiels, and the administrative centre is Newtown St Boswells.

The term "Scottish Borders", is also used to designate the areas of southern Scotland and northern England that bound the Anglo-Scottish border, namely Dumfries and Galloway, Scottish Borders, Northumberland, and Cumbria. The county occupies approximately the same area as the historic shires of Berwickshire, Peeblesshire, Roxburghshire, and Selkirkshire.

Geography

The Scottish Borders are in the eastern part of the Southern Uplands.^[2]

The region is hilly and largely rural, with the River Tweed flowing west to east through it. The highest hill in the region is Broad Law in the Manor Hills. In the east of the region, the area that borders the River Tweed is flat and is known as 'The Merse'.^[3] The Tweed and its tributaries drain the entire region with the river flowing into the North Sea at Berwick-upon-Tweed in Northumberland, and forming 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 and villages of Galashiels, Selkirk, Hawick, Jedburgh, Earlston, Kelso, Newtown St Boswells, St Boswells, Peebles, Melrose and Tweedbank are located.

Two of Scotland's 40 national scenic areas (defined so as to identify areas of exceptional scenery and to ensure their protection from inappropriate development)^[4] lie within the region:^[5]

• The Eildon and Leaderfoot National Scenic Area covers the scenery surrounding Eildon Hill, usually called the Eildons because of the three 'peaks', and extends to include the town of Melrose and Leaderfoot Viaduct.^[6]
• The Upper Tweeddale National Scenic Area covers the scenery surrounding the upper part of the River Tweed between Broughton and Peebles.^[7]

History

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.^[8] 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.^[9]

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.^[9]

Governance

Scottish Borders Council
Leadership
Convener	Watson McAteer, Independent since 19 May 2022
Leader	Euan Jardine, Conservative since 19 May 2022[13]
Chief Executive	David Robertson since January 2023[14]
Structure
Seats	34 councillors
Political groups	Administration (17)   Conservative (14)   Independent (3) Other parties (17)   SNP (9)   Independent (4)   Liberal Democrat (3)   Green (1)
Elections
Voting system	Single transferable vote
Last election	5 May 2022
Next election	2027
Meeting place
Council Headquarters, Bowden Road, Newtown St Boswells, Melrose, TD6 0SA
Website
www.scotborders.gov.uk

Wards

Map of the area's wards

The council area is divided into 11 wards that elect 34 councilors:

Ward Number	Ward Name	Location	Seats
1	Tweeddale West		3
2	Tweeddale East		3
3	Galashiels and District		4
4	Selkirkshire		3
5	Leaderdale and Melrose		3
6	Mid Berwickshire		3
7	East Berwickshire		3
8	Kelso and District		3
9	Jedburgh and District		3
10	Hawick and Denholm		3
11	Hawick and Hermitage		3

Population

At the census held on 27 March 2011, the population of the region was 114,000 (provisional total), an increase of 6.78% from the 106,764 enumerated at the previous (2001) census.

Language and literature

Although there is evidence of some Scottish Gaelic in the origins of place names such as Innerleithen ("confluence of the Leithen"), Kilbucho and Longformacus, which contain identifiably Goidelic rather than Brythonic Celtic elements and are an indication of at least a Gaelic-speaking elite in the area, the main languages in the area since the 5th century appear to have been Brythonic (in the west) and Old English (in the east), the latter of which developed into its modern forms of English and Scots.

Border ballads occupied a distinctive place in literature. Many of them were rescued from oblivion by Walter Scott, who gathered materials for his Minstrelsy of the Scottish Border, which appeared in 1802 and 1803. Border traditions and folklore, and the picturesque incidents of which the country was so often the scene, appealed strongly to James Hogg ("the Ettrick Shepherd"), John Wilson, writing as "Christopher North", and John Mackay Wilson, whose Tales of the Borders, published in 1835, enjoyed popular favour throughout the 1800s.^[9]

Transport

Until September 2015, the region had no working railway stations. Although the area was well connected to the Victorian railway system, the branch lines that supplied it were closed in the decades following the Second World War. A bill was passed by the Scottish Parliament to extend the Waverley Line, which aimed to re-introduce a commuter service from Edinburgh to Stow, Galashiels and Tweedbank. This section of the route re-opened on 6 September 2015, under the Borders Railway branding. The other railway route running through the region is the East Coast Main Line, with Edinburgh Waverley, Dunbar and Berwick being the nearest stations on that line, all of which are outwith the Borders. Since 2014 there has been discussion^[25] of re-opening the station at Reston which is within the region and would serve Eyemouth. To the west, Carlisle, Carstairs and Lockerbie are the nearest stations on the West Coast Main Line.

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 and Newcastle, both of which are international airports.

The main roads to and from the region are:

• The A1, which runs along the east coast from London to Edinburgh; passing near Eyemouth.
• The A7 which runs north to south from Edinburgh to Carlisle and the M6; passing through Galashiels, Selkirk and Hawick.
• The A68 running from Darlington to Edinburgh; passing through Jedburgh, St Boswells, Earlston and Lauder.
• The A72, which runs east to west from Galashiels to Hamilton; passing through Innerleithen and Peebles

Settlements

Galashiels

Hawick

Peebles

Kelso

Selkirk

Jedburgh

Eyemouth

Innerleithen

Duns

Melrose

East Lothian

Nort-humberland

Cumbria

Dumfries and Galloway

South
Lan.

West
Lothian

City of Edinburgh

Midlothian

The largest settlements in Scottish Borders

Largest settlements by population:

Places of interest

See also

• Borders College
• Scottish Marches
• Anglo-Scottish border
• Debatable lands
• List of places in the Scottish Borders
• Scottish Lowlands
• Alexander Jeffrey, historian of Scottish Borders

Notes and references

• This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). "Borders, The". Encyclopædia Britannica. Vol. 4 (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. pp. 245–246.

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to
Scottish Borders.

• Scottish Borders at Curlie
• Borders' Dialect Archived 4 January 2019 at the Wayback Machine
• Scots Language Centre page on Borders' Dialect
• Scottish Borders Council
• Region Website