The Borders: A History of the Borders from Earliest Times

by Alistair Moffat

This is the story of the a place of beginnings and endings, of differences and similarities. It is the story of England and Scotland, told not from the remoteness of London or Edinburgh or in the tired terms of national histories, but up close and personal, toe to toe and eyeball to eyeball across the tweed, the Cheviots, the Esk and the tidal races of the upper Solway. This is a tale told in blood, fun and granite-hard memory. This is the story of an ancient place; where hunter-gatherers penetrated into the virgin interior, where Celtic warlords ruled, the Romans came but could not conquer, where the glittering kingdom of Northumbria thrived, the place where David MacMalcolm raised great abbeys, where the border rivers rode into history, and where Walter Scott sat at Abbotsford and brooded on the area's rich and historic legacy.

Genres: History, Nonfiction, Scotland

586 pages, Paperback

First published April 1, 2002

About the author

Alistair Moffat is an award winning writer, historian and former Director of the Edinburgh Festival Fringe and Director of Programmes at Scottish Television.

Moffat was educated at the University of St Andrews, graduating in 1972 with a degree in Medieval History. He is the founder of the Borders Book Festival and Co-Chairman of The Great Tapestry of Scotland.

Reviews

[Elizabeth Theiss Smith · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Scottish Borders came alive for me during a week-long walk in the borderlands along St. Cuthbert’s Way, the Southern Upland Way, and the Borders Abbeys Way. My friends and I stayed at an old hotel in Melrose where we met the locals at the pub and in the shops. Walking along the Tweed River and exploring the old Roman Road, ruined abbeys, small towns, and memorials dotting the hillsides was a magnificent experience, made far more interesting by this charming, lively, regional history.

The tale begins with small bands of prehistoric hunter gatherers and ends at the beginning of the 21st Century. Moffat focuses on the lives of ordinary people, how they lived, the stories they told, the technologies they invented, and the literature they spoke and later wrote. Even in describing the battles so common in the medieval border country, Moffat shows is how they affected the common soldiers and small farmsteads as well as the political leaders.

One insight changes the way I think about British history, which I have always heard recounted as a series of invasions that changed its culture and history over time. Moffat points out that DNA from Cheddar Man matched that of a local school teacher and that while political leadership changed over time with the influx of foreigners, local people’s’ culture enjoyed a long continuity.

This was a long and not an easy read but the pages devoted to new plow technology were easily offset by the pleasures of reading about the Sir Walter Scott’s romanticized version of the Borders and why it’s wrong, learning about how medieval farmsteads worked, reading excerpts of literature and oral histories, and, most of all, filling in the answers to questions I had about the land, its people, and how time forged what I saw during my magical week of trekking the Borders.

[Ian Chapman · Rating 4 out of 5]

Chronological history, with plenty of historical anecdote in each chapter. The treatment of the Anglian kingdom of Northumbria, which covered both sides of the present border, was unusual and interesting.

[Pam Shelton-Anderson · Rating 5 out of 5]

I had an interest in the Borders since I have ancestry on both sides- Scotland and England. I really liked the discussion of the early humans to inhabit this area as it is true that many histories just note the tribes present when the Romans arrived. This books marches through the centuries with a focus on the impact of the people of the Borders, particularly those of Scotland. I also liked the insets that focused narrowly on a specific topic. Overall, I very much enjoyed this book.

[David Bisset · Rating 4 out of 5]

A big book with much fascinating detail. It is not academic history and contains many of the author's prejudices. The book is about the Scottish Borders, of course, which are not, as he asserts, equally remote from London and Edinburgh!

[Amy Fleming · Rating 4 out of 5]

A historical record of the border lands between Enland and Scotland starting from pre-history times. This was a fascinating read.

[Delway Burton · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a dense read. I would recommend it only to those who are interested in a history of The Borders, the historically tumultuous landscape between England and Scotland. This seemingly small, insignificant locale, that has exerted a disproportional effect on the history of English-speaking people. Perhaps the best section is the factual inserts he places in the text, commenting on historical details. I was a bit disappointed that he did not mention to any great extent the Ulster Plantation and the origins of the Scots-Irish, the largest immigrant group to N. America in the period 1720-1820.

[Paula Obermeier McCarty · Rating 2 out of 5]

The first few chapters were hard for me to get into (too many imaginary scenarios). The rest of the book was ok. The section on the reivers was most the most interesting to me but it went by pretty quickly. I also liked the chapter and Sir Walter Scott and his influence on border culture and the discussion of the development of the iron plow. I had hoped for more info on the migration of border Scots to Ulster but the book covered such a broad range of history that I guess it isn't too surprising that the topic was only briefly touched upon.

[David Santiuste · Rating 4 out of 5]

A sweeping history of the Anglo-Scottish Borders, ranging from the prehistoric era to modern times. As a Borderer himself Alistair Moffat writes with great enthusiasm for his subject, and he has a keen eye for a telling detail or quotation. There are many other books about the Borders, but this is surely now the best starting point for readers who would like to explore this region’s fascinating past.

[Lauren Albert · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was a long slog for me. Some of the chapters were over 60 pages long. But mostly, it was because it was clearly aimed at a different market--the fact that Moffat uses "we" is a giveaway. I wouldn't read it unless you have a good background already in Scottish and English history, particularly of the Borders.