Page 89 - (DK Eyewitness) Travel Guide - Scotland
P. 89
SC O TLAND REGION B Y REGION 87
SOUTHERN
SCOTLAND
Southern Scotland is a blend of attractive landscapes and historic
houses, castles and abbeys. Sadly, many of these ancient buildings
exist only in fortified or ruined form due to the fron tier wars that
dated from the late 13th century. The rounded hills of the Scottish
Borders and the more rugged peaks of Dumfries & Galloway bore
the brunt of this fierce conflict between Scotland and England.
In 1296 Scotland committed itself to the great dramas of Scottish history have
the Wars of Independence against the been played out in the South. Robert the
English, and it was Southern Scotland that Bruce’s guerrilla army defeated an English
suffered the most. The strife caused by the force at Glen Trool in 1307, but Flodden,
many bat tles lasted for three centuries, as near Coldstream, was the scene of the
first Scottish self-deter mination, and then country’s worst military reverse in 1513,
alliances with France, led to strained when King James IV of Scotland and
relations between Scotland and its thou sands of his men fell in battle. Today,
southern neighbour, England. Dryburgh, the quiet countryside around the Borders
one of the area’s magnificent 12th-century market towns, and the beautiful
abbeys, was burned twice by the English, mountain scenery in Dum fries & Galloway,
first in 1322 and then again in 1544. seem to belie such violent history. The
The virtual independence of the Borders area is now known for its manufacturing
district brought further conflict. Powerful of textiles and for promoting its literary
families had operated under local laws set associations, as Sir Walter Scott lived at
in place since the mid-12th century, and Abbotsford, near St Boswells. But it is
when Scottish kings were not fighting the the ruins of the great Border abbeys,
English, they led raids into the Border castles and battlegrounds that serve as
country to try and bring it back under a reminder of Southern Scotland’s
central control. Over the years, some of turbulent past.
Fishing in the tranquil waters of the River Tweed, which weaves its way through the Border country
Ruins of 12th-century Jedburgh Abbey, one of many abbeys destroyed during conflicts with England
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