![[The Merse looking south]](images/merse1.jpg)
At 155km in length, the River Tweed is the ninth
longest river in the UK, and the fourth longest in Scotland. So much for
the engrossing statistics. The Merse is that part of the Tweed valley north
of the river, south of the Lammermuir Hills, and east of... some other hills.
The name comes from the Old English mersc, which meant a marsh.
This only serves to emphasize the Anglian origins of this particular region
and this is confirmed by the placenames of the area.
Until the 17th century, although the Merse had favourable soils and less rainfall than the surrounding areas, it was poorly drained. The boggy nature of the ground even hindered the Scots army at the battle of Halidon Hill in 1333. The marshes in the Eastern March also meant that raiders from England had to pass along known causeways, although the area was frequently traversed by both English and Scots armies. Sir John Carey (1556?-1617), one of the English commanders of the garrison at Berwick, writing to Elizabeth I's principal advisor Lord Burghley, called the Scots in the Merse
'our good neighbours, who supply our markets with beef, mutton, veal, pork and all kinds of pullyn, without which we could not live'
![[The Merse looking south-east]](images/merse2.jpg)
The advent of improved drainage led to the area
becoming one of the leading agricultural regions in Scotland, and it was
that that produced the undulating countryside we can see today. At its western
end, the Merse is dominated by the Eildon Hills above Melrose, although
Hume Castle is another prominent landmark - its excellent
position, which now provides fine views across the Merse, served in earlier
times as the eyes of the Borders.
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