Scot's Dyke


(Scot's Dike)

A historical perspective, drawn from the Ordnance Gazetteer of Scotland: A Survey of Scottish Topography, Statistical, Biographical and Historical, edited by Francis H. Groome and originally published in parts by Thomas C. Jack, Grange Publishing Works, Edinburgh between 1882 and 1885.

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Scots Dyke, The, an old ditch and embankment 3 5/8 miles in length, forming part of the march-line between England and Scotland. It struck off abruptly from the Esk at a point 4 miles to the N of Longtown, and ran W to the banks of the Sark, which, flowing southward to the Solway Firth, from the point of contact with the Scots Dyke to its efflux in the Solway forms the boundary of the two countries. The small district situated S of the Scots Dyke, and bounded on the E by the Esk and on the W by the Sark, used formerly to be known as the Debatable Land, and was claimed by both kingdoms.—Ord. Sur., shs. 11, 10, 1863-64.

An accompanying 19th C. Ordnance Survey map is available, or use the map tab to the right of this page.

Note: This text has been made available using a process of scanning and optical character recognition. Despite manual checking, some typographical errors may remain. Please remember this description dates from the 1880s; names may have changed, administrative divisions will certainly be different and there are known to be occasional errors of fact in the original text, which we have not corrected because we wish to maintain its integrity. This information is provided subject to our standard disclaimer

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