The beauty and storytelling of the Scottish Borders

No debate

The debate is long over of course but though unequivocally Scottish, the Borders has a culture quite its own, forged by an affinity with the land and the horse, upon which the unruly Borders families of old, the Reivers, defended what was theirs and raided what wasn't.

As you drive into the region you'll straightaway notice that the welcoming road signs depict a helmeted soldier and a horse. This history of skirmish and defence is in the very sinew and fibre of the place. And indeed the highlights of each year are the Common Ridings, the most famous of which take place at Hawick, Selkirk and Lauder. The roots of these festivals go back to the days when the men of the town rode the marches, or boundaries of the common land surrounding the town to scour for signs of raiders and check defences. An annual ride-out still takes place led by a Cornet, a young man of the community, whose honour it is to carry the standard of the town. In the old days it was a true rite of passage, for carrying a flagpole in your stirrup for four or five hours is a minor Herculean labour. Today he is relieved of this burden after the opening pageant but then there are no longer any marauders to see off.

The Common Ridings start in June with the Lauder Common Riding also taking place on the first Saturday in August each year. At Lauder you'll also find one of the great Borders castles - Thirlestane, in the park of which are held one of Scotland's most spectacular International Horse Trials. Earlier in the year the Borders holds its Festival of the Horse, with guided rides, racing at Kelso, riding for the disabled and Horse Trials at another famous Borders castle - Floors Castle.

Scotland's leading short break destination

It's not only the superb riding and wealth of horse events that attract people to the Borders. The many ranges of hills the Eildons, the Cheviots, the Lammermuirs, the Moorfoots and the Pentlands also offer excellent hill-walking opportunities and the region has its own Festival of Walking that focuses each year on a different locale.

There's history in all shapes and sizes too. Four ruined abbeys Dryburgh, Jedburgh, Melrose and Kelso fire the imagination as to the extent of former ecclesiastical glory. Traquair House is the oldest inhabited and most romantic house in Scotland: it has the cot that James VI lay in and closed gates that tell a tale of die-hard romanticism. When Bonnie Prince Charlie left Traquair one summer's evening in 1745, the head of the house said the gates would not be opened again until a Stuart monarch sat upon the throne. Shut and locked they've stayed ever since.

Luckily there are other ways in. Not only is the house fascinating but the setting is enchanting and the summer fair a must, if you're in the vicinity. Other attractions include the castles mentioned above; Neidpath and Ayton castles, Abbotsford, Mellerstane and Paxton House; and the towns of Peebles and Melrose are particularly delightful.

With so much to see and do and being on the doorstep of Edinburgh, Glasgow and the north of England it's little wonder that the Borders bills itself as Scotland's leading short break destination. And there's two things that have yet to be mentioned: rugby and fishing.

If you happen to wonder where all that reiving testosterone gets channelled into in the absence of moonlit sallies south of the border the answer is rugby. The game is in the borderer's blood and not only does the region supply many players who play at national level there is a thriving and fanatically supported local season focusing in particular on the rugby sevens.

From the fray and fury of rugby to a more watchful, contemplative sport: fishing. The River Tweed graces the valleys of the Borders, counterpoint to the rugged hills, its wide waters aglimmer with the dart and leap of trout and salmon and it's justifiably the favourite beat for many a fly fisher.

Weaving it all together

The Tweed and other Borders rivers are also the mainstay of the traditional weaving, textile and paper industries. Famous names in knitwear, cashmere and tartan like Pringle, Belinda Robertson, Lochcarrron and Lyle and Scott all hail from the Borders, centring on the towns of Hawick and Galashiels.

And weaving together all these strands that go to make a distinctive culture are the writers, picking up too on the local folklore and tales of magic. A famous wizard, Michael Scott, lived in Aikwood Tower in the thirteenth century and the poet Thomas the Rhymer was entranced by a fairy queen in the same century and spent seven years in the fairy world.

The tradition of writers that boasts James Hogg, Allan Ramsay, John Buchan and Hugh MacDiarmid along with Sir Walter Scott lives on today. Scotland's foremost Gaelic poet Aonghas Macneacail has made his home in the Lowlands. It's a place that inspires writers even if it's just a postcard home saying 'wish you were here'.