Border Country is the name used to describe the area that lies on each side of the border between England and Scotland. It covers roughly the unitary authorities of Northumberland and Cumberland in England; and two council areas—Dumfries and Galloway, and Scottish Borders—in Scotland. The Liddesdale valley and the Cheviot Hills form a natural border between England and Scotland. The Border Country was the site of a number of conflicts between Scots and English forces between the 1100’s and the 1600’s. The area also became known as the Debatable Lands.
The Border Country is an area of great natural beauty. It has inspired many writers. Robert Burns wrote many of his finest poems at Ellisland Farm, in Dumfries and Galloway. As a young man, the novelist Sir Walter Scott explored the Border Country and collected old ballads there. He published the ballads as Minstrelsy of the Scottish Border (1802-1803).
