Cockburnspath

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Cockburnspath lies near the North Sea coast between Berwick-upon-Tweed and Edinburgh in Scotland. The village is at the eastern extremity of the Southern Upland Way, a long-distance footpath from the west to east coast of Scotland. At nearby Cove there is a small fishing harbour.

The area has many archeological remains which indicate it has been lived in and fought over since the Bronze Age. It lies close to the old invasion route from England into Scotland. Cockburnspath was initially known as Kolbrand’s Path.

The lands of Cockburnspath were part of the dowry given by James IV of Scotland to Margaret Tudor (daughter of Henry VII of England) on their marriage in 1503. This was known as the Marriage of the Thistle and the Rose, representing the Scottish and English national symbols.The 16th century market cross in the heart of the village has carved emblems of a thistle on two of its faces and a rose on the other two.

The marriage cemented the signing of the Treaty of Perpetual Peace between Scotland and England in 1502; sadly the peace was short-lived and James was killed at the Battle of Flodden, just across the border in Northumberland, in 1513. This dynastic marriage did, however, lead to the Union of the Crowns in 1603 when James VI of Scotland also became James I of England, on the death of Elizabeth I of England.

James Hutton, the father of geology did much of his fieldwork in this area, particularly at Siccar Point, during the late 18th century. He challenged the Creationist beliefs well before Darwin. In the 19th century Cockburnspath was a favourite summer haunt of many Scottish artists who painted the village, farm workers and the surrounding scenery.

The parish church has an unusual round tower. There is also a mediaeval Collegiate Church at Dunglass, within the parish, which is maintained by Historic Scotland and is open to the public.

Nearby Fast Castle was the fictional setting for Walter Scott's novel The Bride of Lammermuir, which in turn inspired Donizetti's opera Lucia di Lammermuir. Lammermuir is the area of high moorland running west from the village on which the Border abbeys had their sheep farms, or walks, in the Middle Ages.