Overview

The Solway Country - the lands surrounding the inner Solway Firth - constitutes one of the many small regional worlds of the British Isles that are remarkable for the ways in which their landscapes evoke a powerful sense of territorial identity rooted not only in their physical appeal, but also in the richness and distinctiveness of their human history and geography. The Solway Country is an archetypical but hitherto little known exemplar of places like these.This book captures the spirit and substance of the Solway Country's allure by means of a series of layered narratives dealing with its natural milieu, its past social and political turmoil, its changing forms of rural and agrarian life, and its responses to the industrial and urban forces that were unleashed in Britain after the eighteenth century. The Solway Country has the added charm of being partly in England and partly in Scotland, so that its personality partakes of elements of both. At the same time, the region exhibits a composite geographic unity derived from the central physical feature of the Solway Firth itself and from the many common aspects of local life and livelihood that have left deep imprints on the landscape. This unity is expressed symbolically in the peculiar hybrid culture of ballads and songs that emerged alongside the theft, murder, and mayhem that raged in the Anglo-Scottish marchlands in the days of the border reivers.

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9781443889025

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Reviews

The author argues convincingly that the region around the Solway Firth has 'a split personality but a cohesive identity'. Its distinctiveness lies partly in the shared geographical similarities either side of the border, partly in the historical differences and partly in its common status as a liminal marchland. The book provides a good overview of the history and geography of this region through outlining 'the ways in which the lie of the land and its accumulated residues of human occupation give rise to a unique but dynamic image'. [...] The book contains many clear informative maps, especially tracing settlement patterns and also some fascinating snippets of information. Professor Colin Richards Cumberland and Westmorland Antiquarian and Archaeological Society Newsletter, 79 (2015) It is a book that will appeal to those who want an overview of the region and have an interest in how our landscape has evolved from deep geological time to the present day. Solway Country will be of a particular interest to those who have a familiarity with the history of one side of the Solway but have yet to discover the delights of the other side. Tidelines 43 (2015)

Author Information

Allen J. Scott was raised in Carlisle where he attended St. Cuthbert's, the Creighton, and the Grammar Schools. Subsequent to his undergraduate and graduate education in England and the United States, he pursued an academic career, and has held appointments at universities in Europe, North America, and Asia. In 2012, he retired from the University of California at Los Angeles where he was Professor of Geography and Policy Studies and where he continues to hold the honorary rank of Distinguished Research Professor. He currently lives in Paris and Los Angeles, but is frequently to be found pottering around the Solway Country.

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