Hay, D., 'England, Scotland and Europe: The Problem of the Frontier', Transactions of the Royal Historical Society 25 (1975), 77-91

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Quick Summary

The medieval Anglo-Scottish border was a tract of territory with a cultural coherence that was separated in some sense from both England and Scotland 

  • ‘Inter-feuding’ and ‘intermarriage’ were a unifying feature of Border life
  • One in three inhabitants on the English side of the border were Scots
  • England and Scotland shared common linguistic, literary and religious traditions
Key Conclusion

Hay explores the medieval Anglo-Scottish frontier – the border region between England and Scotland – and argues that the region was a self-contained cultural entity. The article concludes the border was a tract of territory separated in some sense from the counties on either side of it. The ‘inter-feuding’ and ‘intermarriage’ between Scots and English were a ‘unifying feature of Border life’ that existed from the time of the Normans onwards (p. 89). This provides a reminder to historians that ‘Our present concern with sharp lines on maps conditions us in all sorts of ways which may interrupt a clear view of political and cultural contacts in earlier times’ (p. 77).

Content Overview

It was not until the Treaty of York in 1237 that something resembling a border was actually recognised. Continued hostilities meant that the frontier had to be guarded, and Wardens of the Marches were appointed in both England and Scotland – they were charged with the task of defence, but also the difficult task of managing the borders in peacetime. The combination of pastoral farming and banditry led to ‘vendettas and rapine’ that made policing the area virtually impossible. Hay identifies several features that gave the borders a cultural coherence, such as shared grazing land where inhabitation was prohibited, as well as the fact that perhaps one in three inhabitants on the English side of the border were Scots.

Further Findings

Hay observers that shepherds and lords could communicate across the frontier much more easily than a citizen of Edinburgh and a Londoner could: ‘The pastoral economy itself meant that for months at a time men whose permanent dwellings were perhaps twenty miles apart came together on one sheiling ground during the summer’ (p. 83). Furthermore, England and Scotland shared a commons linguistic background, a common religious tradition and a common literature (p. 89). Hay ends with a broader observation that frontiers are ‘man-made and therefore admirable subjects for an historical approach’, and a moralistic lesson: ‘Let remind our students [that]… Nothing is inevitable, not even patriotism, not even a frontier’ (p. 91).

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