The border country is the area either side of the Anglo-Scottish border including parts of the modern council areas of Dumfries and Galloway and the Scottish Borders, and parts of the English counties of Cumbria, County Durham and Northumberland. It is a hilly area, with the Scottish Southern Uplands to the north, and the English Cheviot Hills to the south.
Before the two kingdoms were united as the Kingdom of Great Britain, the Border clans would switch allegiance between the Scottish and English thrones depending on what was most favourable for the members of the clan.
Border clans should not be confused with the Highland clan; the Border clan was a much looser structure, with far less in the way of clan culture or a recognition of clan historycitation needed. However, it is still acceptable to refer to the Border families as 'clans' as the Scots themselves appear to have used both terms interchangeably until the 19th century. A 16th century Act of the Scottish Parliament talks about the chiefs of the border clans and a late 17th century statement by the Lord Advocate also uses both terms interchangeably. Although Lowland aristocrats may have increasingly liked to refer to themselves as 'families', the idea that the term 'clan' should be used of highland families alone is a 19th century convention. [1]
Well-known Border clans include the following: Armstrong, Beattie, Bell, Carr, Dickson, Douglas, Elliot, Fenwick, Graham, Kerr, Naisbitt, Ogilvie, Robson and Scott. In addition, there were Lowland families associated with these clans, including the Ballantyne, Fraser, Jamieson, Henderson, Irvine, Jardine, Moffat, Porteous, Tweedie, and Veitch families, amongst many others.
See also
|
