“A sound head, an honest heart, and an humble spirit are the three best guides through time and to eternity.” -- Sir Walter Scott
===================================================================The Scottish Borders, an area of Scotland that borders the City of Edinburgh, Dumfries and Galloway, East Lothian, Midlothian, South Lanarkshire, West Lothian and, to the southwest, south, and east, the English counties of Cumbria and Northumberland.
+ The Borders has had a rough history: centuries of war and plunder have left a battle-scarred landscape, exemplified by the ruins of the Border abbeys. Their wealth was an irresistible magnet during cross-frontier wars, and they were destroyed and rebuilt numerous times. Today these massive stone shells are the region's finest attraction. (Hermitage Castle encapsulates the region's turbulent history quite well.) Yet, the Borders is also genteel. Welcoming villages with ancient traditions pepper the countryside and grandiose mansions await exploration. It is great walking and cycling country too, the hills lush with shades of green.
+ The Borders is a landscape strewn with sturdy hill forts, ancient castles, and ruined abbeys that hints at the tumult of the past. It is quite at odds with the pretty rolling, sheep-studded hills and quiet valleys that make the area seem agreeably placid to today’s visitors. At its heart are the ruins of four medieval abbeys with Jedburgh, the most complete -- the best to visit first for its insights into monastic life. Of the others, Melrose is both the pick of the bunch and also close to Abbotsford, the sometime home of the Romantic novelist Sir Walter Scott, and a splendid receptacle for his engrossing collection of historical curios. There are fine country houses to visit, notably Mellerstain for its exquisite Robert Adam interiors, and Manderston, the enjoyable swan song of the Edwardian Country House. Anglers should note that the River Tweed is also one of Scotland’s finest salmon-fishing rivers.
+ The location of the Borders along the English border roughly coincides with the drainage basin of the River Tweed. Its rounded hills and undulating plateaus (including the Lammermuir Hills, the Moorfoot Hills, the Tweedsmuir Hills, and the Cheviot Hills) form a section of the Southern Uplands that is dissected by the valleys of the Tweed and its tributaries. Most of the population lives in these valleys, including the Teviotdale and the Lauderdale. The valley of the Tweed broadens in the east to form a fertile agricultural plain known as the Merse. Scottish Borders comprises the historic counties of Berwickshire, Peeblesshire,
Roxburghshire, Selkirkshire and the southern fringes of the historic counties of East Lothian and Midlothian.
+ Activities and attractions that are popular with tourists include trout and salmon fishing, grouse hunting, and the moorland scenery. Hadrian’s Wall (shown here), a line of fortification along the council area’s southern boundary, marks the Roman Empire’s northern border in Britain.
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