Debatable Lands

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The Debatable Lands, also known as Debatable ground or batable ground was land lying between England and Scotland, formerly in question to which it belonged, when they were distinct kingdoms. It signifies the same thing as litigous, or disputable ground.

The Debatable Lands extended from the Solway Firth near Carlisle to Langholm. They were around ten miles long from north to south and four miles wide. The boundaries were marked by the rivers Liddel and Esk in the east and the River Sark in the west. For over three hundred years they were effectively controlled by local clans, such as the Armstrongs, who successfully resisted any attempt by the Scottish or English governments to impose their authority. It has been said that the Armstrongs alone could put 3,000 men in the field. They launched frequent raids on farms and settlements outside the Debatable Lands. The profits from these raids enabled them to become major landowners.

In 1551 the Crown officers of England and Wales, in an attempt to clear out the trouble makers, declared that "All Englishmen and Scottishmen, after this proclamation made, are and shall be free to rob, burn, spoil, slay, murder and destroy all and every such persons, their bodies, buildings, goods and cattle as do remain or shall inhabit upon any part of the said Debateable Land without any redress to be made for the same."

When the two thrones were united in 1603, King James VI of Scotland became James I of England. He embarked on the so-called "Pacification of the Borders" and purged the Border reivers, destroying their fortified tower houses, rounding up families and sending them to Ireland and elsewhere.