The Scottish Borders
Views to the south toward the Scotland and England
Border in distance after a light dusting of snow.
Local road after a snow shower 2005. The Eildon Hills
in the distance.
View to the east and the G Line from the QTH at around
4am summer 2004. Buried in a valley below the mist flows the River
Tweed.
The Scottish Borders and Northumberland form part of
the most beautiful areas in the North East of England and South
East of Scotland. In the morning the mist and sunrise can create
a magical atmosphere however history tells of a wild band of men
and women some centuries ago.
For over 350 years up to the end of the 16th century
what are now Northumberland, Cumbria, The Scottish Borders and
Dumfries & Galloway rang to the clash of steel and the thunder
of hooves. Robbery and blackmail were everyday professions, raiding,
arson, kidnapping, murder and extortion an accepted part of the
social system.
While the monarchs of England and Scotland ruled the comparatively
secure hearts of their kingdoms, the narrow hill land between
was dominated by the lance and the sword. The tribal leaders from
their towers, the broken men and outlaws of the mosses, the ordinary
peasants of the valleys, in their own phrase, 'shook loose the
Border'. They continued to shake it as long as it was political
reality, practising systematic robbery and destruction on each
other. History has christened them the Border Reivers. They gave
blackmail and bereaved to the English language.
The stamp of the Reivers is still to be seen on the
Border Lands - in it's architecture, culture and people. From
the secretive fortified towns and farms to names that once struck
fear into men's hearts - Armstrongs, Grahams, Kerrs, Nixons, Robsons
- the legacy of the Reivers remains.
The two verticals glint in the evening sun as a storm
cloud passes over.
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