The Borders: A History of the Borders from Earliest Times

by Alistair Moffat

Overview

A “beautifully written” history of the Scottish Borders—from the Ice Age to present day—by the author of Scotland: A History from Earliest Times (Boston Sunday Herald).
 
This is the story of the border: 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 and the Romans came but could not conquer, where the glittering kingdom of Northumbria thrived, where David MacMalcolm raised great abbeys, and where Walter Scott sat at Abbotsford and brooded on the area’s rich and historic legacy.
 
“Highly readable—a lively, clear style.” —Northern History
 
“Quirky, learned and utterly absorbing.” —Allan Massie, award-winning author of The Royal Stuarts

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780857901149
Publisher:	Birlinn, Limited
Publication date:	12/20/2019
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
Pages:	586
Sales rank:	20,034
File size:	4 MB
Age Range:	18 Years

About the Author

Alistair Moffat was born and bred in the Scottish Borders. A former Director of the Edinburgh Festival Fringe, Director of Programmes at Scottish Television and founder of the Borders Book Festival, he is also the author of a number of highly acclaimed books. From 2011 he was Rector of the University of St Andrews. He has written more than thirty books on Scottish history.

Alistair Moffat was born and bred in the Scottish Borders. A former Director of the Edinburgh Festival Fringe, Director of Programmes at Scottish Television and founder of the Borders Book Festival, he is also the author of a number of highly acclaimed books. From 2011 he was Rector of the University of St Andrews. He has written more than thirty books on Scottish history, and lives in the Scottish Borders.

Table of Contents

List of Illustrations viii

Preface ix

Acknowledgements xi

Map xiv

1 Rivers Run Through 1

2 The Wildwood 16

3 Language And Silence 60

4 Romanitas 103

5 Both Sides The Tweed 152

6 All The Faithful Sons Of Holy Mother Church 183

7 The Battlelands 249

8 Riding Times 314

9 Dangerous Rapture 356

10 Day In, Day Out 385

11 Walter Scott And The Ignored Ground 430

12 The Singing Country 453

13 Oo 500

14 The Dawn Of A New Century 553

15 Postscript 569

Bibliography 573

Index 581

Editorial Reviews

Quirky, learned and utterly absorbing'

Allan Massie

Beautifully written, a fine book'

Sunday Herald

Highly readable - a lively, clear style'

Northern History