Forever Scotland? – and Scottish conveyancing, fishery laws, etc?

Our thanks to Ross Anderson for drawing the attention of Scots Law News to a nice little story with pictures on the BBC Cumbria website, about where England ends and Scotland begins in the Debatable Lands of the western marches.  

The tale centres on 300-acre Riddings Farm on the banks of the River Liddle near Longtown, hard on the Anglo-Scottish border.  While the great bulk of the farm is in England, a couple of acres are in Scotland, having been shifted to the south of the river only in 1861, when the latter was diverted by the railway engineers constructing the Waverley Line.  The shift of the course of the river didn’t of course change where the border was.  So farm-owner Ian Ellithorn had to retain Scottish solicitors to see to the transfer of title to his little bit of Scotland as well as English ones to deal with the rest of the property.  Scottish fishing rules also apply on both sides of the relevant stretch of the Liddle as it now runs, apparently preventing Mr Ellithorn from relaxing with rod and line on Sundays.

Mr Ellithorn says he is honoured by his ownership of such an interesting piece of land, despite the expense and hassle it has caused him.  Just wait until independence, sir!

Scots Law News is aware of a similar little bit of Scottish ground in the east march, south of the River Tweed between Coldstream and Cornhill, and to the right of the bridge as you head towards the latter settlement.  We would be glad to learn of any other wee plots that are forever Scots law bridgeheads in England.