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The landscapes of the Borderlands remain wild and untamed (Credit:
Chris Strickland/Getty Images)
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+ [25]Europe
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* [27]History

The tiny ‘country’ between England and Scotland

For 300 years, the Debatable Lands flourished as an anarchic no-man's
land; not independent, but too dangerous for either Scotland or England
to be able – or want – to take control of.
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* By Kirsten Henton

5 May 2020

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Nowhere does a brooding winter sky quite like the west coast of
Scotland. As I looked across the open estuary of the River Esk, pale
yellow sunlight filtered through streaks of low-lying cloud, reflected
in the mirror-like ribbons of water and ripples of sand exposed by the
retreating tide. All around, fields dipped gently to flatten out along
the shore of the channel, which snakes its way westwards to the Solway
Firth. The lowland coastline, flanked by rolling hills, expands until
the firth meets the Irish Sea, creating a natural break in the land
between Dumfries and Galloway in Scotland and Cumbria in northern
England.

Standing firm against a determined breeze, I was surveying the scene
from what marks the south-western end of the border between Scotland
and England. Peacefully admiring nature at work, it was hard to believe
that this seemingly tranquil, rural landscape was once at the edge of
one of Britain's most lawless, and for a time, bloodiest, regions: the
area known as the Debatable Lands.

[42]View image of For 300 years, the Debatable Lands was a dangerous,
anarchic no-man's land on the English-Scottish border (Credit: Credit:
Kirsten Henton)

Today, this once troublesome region is a laidback, quiet part of the
border where hardy animal breeds are reared and a sense of community
reverberates among the long-established towns and villages. This
lesser-visited corner of the UK is also where you can get close to the
story of those who called the Debatable Lands home: feuding clans known
as the Border Reivers. It’s a place where local histories and scant
ruins linger among wooded valleys, fast-flowing rivers and open
moorland that lend themselves to letting your imagination fill in some
of the blanks of its much under-told story.

And what a fascinating tale it is. The Debatable Lands is believed to
have been the last great territorial division in Britain. Here, from
the 13th to the 16th Centuries, the region's clans plundered land and
livestock and endless blood was shed. Straddling the border, the
Debatable Lands flourished as a sort of anarchic no-man's land, not
independent but too dangerous and lawless for either Scotland or
England to be able – or want – to take control of.

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This was highlighted in a remarkable parliamentary decree issued by the
governments of both countries in the mid-16th Century, some 300 years
into the Debatable Lands’ story: “All Englishmen and Scottishmen are
and shall be free to rob, burn, spoil, slay, murder and destroy, all
and every such person and persons, their bodies, property, goods and
livestock… without any redress to be made for same.”

While this decree was made into law, it was more of a legal “out” for
England and Scotland. Neither side wanted the responsibility of dealing
with the Debatable Lands; and as they could not agree on who owned it
or how it was divided, neither could be held responsible for it,
either. As Dr Anna Groundwater, principal curator, Renaissance and
Early Modern History, [46]National Museums Scotland, told me, “It was
not a valuable piece of land, high ground and poor farming potential,
so it was probably seen as not particularly worth fighting for or
defending.”

[47]View image of The famous Gretna Green Blacksmith's Shop is used for
eloping couples and weddings (Credit: Credit: Tim Graham/Getty Images)

It was also a small area, something that struck me as I examined the
map while waiting for a much-needed warming tea in the Cinebar Kitchen
in the Scottish town of Gretna. The Debatable Lands ran just more than
eight miles across at its widest, and roughly 13 miles from the
elevated north down to the sandy-flats of the south with Gretna at its
south-western tip and around one-third of the area extending into
northern England. Gretna also proved perfectly placed as a launching
pad for my foray, only a short detour from the A7, the artery that
connects Edinburgh and Carlisle and cuts through the middle of what was
the Debatable Lands.

It was probably seen as not particularly worth fighting for or
defending

Gretna and its Green may be affectionately known as [48]a safe haven
for young lovers looking to elope, but the town also has an illustrious
industrial heritage owing to the production of munitions for World War
One, which drastically reshaped the community. The architecture
reflects the early 20th Century well, such as the once-upon-a-time
colonial revival-style cinema, whose adjoining cafe I was thawing out
in.

The line between Scotland and England was established with the Treaty
of York in 1237. As Graham Robb writes in his 2018 book, The Debatable
Land: The Lost World Between Scotland and England, it is “probably the
oldest national boundary in Europe”. But when it was finalised, it
seems that it drew a line through lands that were essentially familial,
dividing some held territory in two. Therefore, the border symbolised
state-led authority and the Debatable Lands became the flashpoint of a
rebellion of sorts, where powerful families plundered each other in
both Scotland and England and neither government was committed to
sorting it out.

[49]View image of Alexander Armstrong – aka Lang Sandy – was the last
chief of the Scottish Armstrong clan in the Debatable Lands (Credit:
Credit: Kirsten Henton)

The region became a no-go zone, a hazardous region frequented by the
Border Reivers; “reiving” being a Scots word for plundering or raiding.
Reivers busied themselves with a cat-and-mouse style game of stealing
each other’s livestock. As Groundwater points out, that this occurred
both “across the border and within each kingdom” shows that it was “not
only English versus Scottish but internal crime, too”. Although raids
weren’t confined solely to the Debatable Lands, most of the bloodiest
took place in this untouchable territory, and it essentially became
Britain’s fourth country, sitting alongside England, Wales and
Scotland: a miniature, no-go area abiding by its own rules.

[It is] probably the oldest national boundary in Europe

The wild, often barren landscape, punctuated only by small communities,
certainly adds to the effect. Towns such as Canonbie and Langholm are
now local centres for fishing and hiking but grew from the remains of
family settlements within the Debatable Lands. There are other
well-marked ways of getting personal with the outdoors here. The
coast-to-coast [50]Reivers Cycle Route, for example, is a 173-mile
stretch from that takes in many Borderland highlights including the
Debatable Lands, although, you can pick and choose sections.

Taking another brief detour from the A7, I found myself in Rowanburn, a
village with a well-kept public garden and the unmissable imposing
wooden carving of Lang Sandy, so-called for his considerable height at
more than 6ft, very tall for the 16th Century. Full name Alexander
Armstrong, he was the last chief of the all-powerful Scottish Armstrong
clan in the Debatable Lands, and a much revered and feared reiver. He
long resisted attempts at pacification by the Crown and was eventually
hanged with his 11 sons in around 1610, a fate that was to befall many
of the region’s reivers.

[51]View image of Gilnockie Tower is one of the finest remaining
examples of a lowland Pele tower (Credit: Credit: Kirsten Henton)

The place I really wanted to visit, however, was nearby [52]Gilnockie
Tower. Mere minutes from Rowanburn, I was soon ambling up the driveway
to what is one of the finest remaining examples of a lowland Pele tower
– a compact fortified keep built for defence, unique to the border
region – and now home to the Clan Armstrong Centre, a small museum and
essential Debatable Lands stopping point.

Confusingly it’s also known as Hollows Tower due to its adjacent
location to Hollows Village, something that Ian Martin, project manager
at the tower, explained as we headed inside the depths of the more than
500-year-old building.

Perhaps because there are few tangible remains from the period,
Gilnockie Tower is a space in which the Debatable Lands comes alive.
It’s every bit the defensive tower, from its impenetrably thick stone
walls to its tiny high windows and roof-top lookout where you can
easily picture a guard keeping watch. The tower, which endeavours to
open all year, houses a small exhibition and cafe, and, as Martin tells
me, offers tours (booked in advance) that “are designed to take people
well into the 16th Century, deep enough to give them a flavour of
family life at that difficult period”, including, for example, everyday
conditions and the daily chores and traditional dining habits of those
living through this unruly time.

[53]View image of The Reiver Trail walking route takes in a number of
important reiver sites (Credit: Credit: Kirsten Henton)

Discussing my route along the A7, Martin tells me that there’s a desire
to see a more concerted effort in attracting visitors to the region:
“As you drive up the road to Canonbie, Gilnockie Tower, Langholm and on
through the Borderlands,” he said, “the history of the textile
industry, both woven and knitted wear, is presented in some wonderful
exhibitions [in the likes of Hawick, close to the Debatable Lands].
Much more of these experiences are being developed, all in the effort
to open up a visitor route through the A7 corridor that has
fundamentally been ignored for years.”

The region’s remoteness, however, was of no concern to the reivers of
their day. The Debatable Lands existed in its isolated manner until,
officially speaking, 1551, when an agreement between the two countries
prompted the building of Scots’ Dike in 1552, which “settled the exact
boundary between the countries of Scotland and England,” according to
Martin. This man-made embankment, little of which is visible today, was
a three-and-a-half-mile-long barrier that finally divided the Debatable
Lands in two.

It was initially more symbolic than practical, as this barrier did
nothing to stem the flow of reiving. It wasn’t until 1603 that the
border areas became a real focus for the unifying monarch, King James
VI & I, King of Scotland and the first Stuart King of England,
following the Union of the Crowns. New wardens were put in charge of
tidying up the region and prominent reivers were rounded up. Some, like
Lang Sandy, were hanged, many were exiled, and the process of
instilling a semblance of law and order began in earnest.

[54]View image of The landscapes of the Borderlands remain wild and
untamed (Credit: Chris Strickland/Getty Images)

Winding northwards up the A7, with Gilnockie Tower in the rear-view
mirror, I struggled to get my head around how this small patch of land,
the most debatable of areas, had excelled at such remarkable
lawlessness with colourful characters and tales to boot, while,
simultaneously, remaining so very under the radar.

And that’s where the appeal in the Debatable Lands lies; the intrigue
of this unfathomable period and, by association, the surrounding towns
and villages of the Borderlands, whose natural landscapes remain –
almost – as wild and untamed as in the days of the reivers.

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