Selkirkshire was a county in Scotland. It bordered Peeblesshire to the west, Midlothian to the north, Berwickshire to the north-east, Roxburghshire to the east, and Dumfriesshire to the south. The county town was The Royal Burgh of Selkirk.

History

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In the 1st Century AD Selkirkshire formed part of the lands of the Gadeni who hunted it rather than settled there. Neither the Romans nor the Saxons cleared much of the forestry there and for centuries Selkirkshire was known for its forest coverage. Indeed an alternative name for the county was Ettrick Forest. Under the Scottish kings the forest was regarded as Royal. Despite this it was not until the reign of James V that sheriffs were appointed to administer the county on the Crown's behalf. Under Edward I of England, the forest was granted to the Earl of Gloucester. Later, the Earl of Pembroke assumed the hereditary sheriffdom. Under Robert Bruce, the Clan Douglas administered the county on behalf of the Crown.

Folk ballads written of the county commemorate the Battle of Philiphaugh in 1645, the 'Dowie Dens' at Yarrow and Tibbie Shiels at St Mary's Loch.

Further reading

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The archeology and historic buildings of the county were documented in 1957 by the Royal Commission on the Ancient and Historical Monuments in Scotland. There is also a History of Selkirkshire by T. Craig Brown, published in 1886.

Counties of Scotland