Editing Selkirkshire (section)

==History==
[[File:Statue of Sir Walter Scott - geograph.org.uk - 696700.jpg|100px|left|thumb|Statue of [[Sir Walter Scott]], sheriff of the county, outside old courthouse in Selkirk.]]
In the 1st Century [[Anno Domini|AD]] Selkirk formed part of the lands of the native people who hunted it rather than settled there. Neither the [[Roman Empire|Romans]], [[Angles (tribe)|Angles]], or the [[Saxons]] cleared much of the forestry there and for centuries Selkirk 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. During the military occupation of Scotland by [[Edward I of England]], the forest was granted to the [[Earl of Gloucester]].

[[File:Selkirk - A different view of the Town Square - geograph.org.uk - 1524806.jpg|thumb|Selkirk Market Place: the tall building on the right is the Bank of Scotland Buildings, the former offices of Selkirkshire County Council]]

In the [[Middle Ages]] the area that would become Selkirkshire formed part of the [[Provinces of Scotland|province]] of [[Tweeddale]]. The origins of the shire are obscure, but sometime around the twelfth century the area of Tweeddale was divided into two [[sheriffdom]]s: [[Peeblesshire]] to the north and Selkirkshire or Ettrick Forest to the south.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Chalmers |first1=George |title=Caledonia |date=1810 |publisher=Cadell and Davies |location=London |page=963 |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=j8Q_AAAAcAAJ&dq=history+of+selkirkshire&pg=PA991 |access-date=17 December 2022 |chapter=Of Selkirkshire}}</ref> The first recorded sheriff of Selkirkshire was Andrew de Synton, who was appointed by [[William the Lion]] (d. 1214).<ref name=EB1911>[[Encyclopædia Britannica]] 1911 edition, article on Selkirkshire.</ref> Synton in the parish of [[Ashkirk]], just east of the village centre, was an enclave of Selkirkshire surrounded by [[Roxburghshire]].<ref>Ordnance Survey One-inch to the mile maps of Scotland, 1st Edition, Jedburgh, pul. 1864</ref>

Later, the [[Earl of Pembroke]] assumed the hereditary sheriffdom. Under and after King [[Robert I of Scotland|Robert the Bruce]], the [[Earl of Douglas|Earls of Douglas]], and later [[Earls of Angus]] administered the county. In 1501 John Murray (d. 1510), laird of Falahill, was made sheriff of Selkirkshire and on 30 Nov. 1509 he obtained a grant of the hereditary sheriffdom of Selkirkshire.<ref>Dictionary of National Biography, 1885-1900, Volume 39, by Thomas Finlayson Henderson</ref> His descendant [[Sir James Murray, Lord Philiphaugh|Sir James Murray]] was deprived of office in 1681 for being remiss in punishing [[conventicle]]s, but at the [[Glorious Revolution]] was raised to the [[Court of Session|session]] bench as Lord Philiphaugh and reinstated as sheriff. His son [[John Murray (died 1753)]] was the hereditary Sheriff of Selkirk from 1708 to 1734, when he was returned unopposed as MP for Selkirkshire, having resigned his hereditary sheriffdom to one of his sons.<ref>Web site of History of Parliament Online http://www.historyofparliamentonline.org/volume/1690-1715/constituencies/selkirkshire retrieved Feb 2016</ref> When in 1747 the [[Heritable Jurisdictions (Scotland) Act 1746|heritable jurisdictions were abolished]], Murray of Philiphaugh received £4,000 in compensation. The Sheriff-Deputes, previously appointed by the hereditary sheriffs, were now appointed by the crown and acted in place of the hereditary sheriffs <ref>Peebles and Selkirk. Cambridge County Geographies. By George Pringle, Cambridge, 1914. p. 119</ref> One such sheriff of Selkirkshire was [[Sir Walter Scott]] who was appointed Sheriff-Depute in 1799, an office he held until his death in 1832.<ref>See http://www.walterscott.lib.ed.ac.uk/biography/chronology.html retrieved Feb 2016</ref>

[[File:County Buildings, Ettrick Terrace - geograph.org.uk - 3543595.jpg|thumb|[[County Buildings, Selkirk|County Buildings]], Ettrick Terrace, Selkirk]]
[[File:Coat of Arms of Selkirkshire County Council.svg|thumb|Coat of arms of Selkirkshire County Council.]]
Selkirkshire County Council was created in 1890 under the [[Local Government (Scotland) Act 1889]], which established elected county councils across Scotland. The 1889 Act also instigated a review of boundaries, particularly where [[burgh]]s straddled county boundaries. The boundary review for Selkirkshire concluded in 1891 and made a number of mostly minor changes. The most significant change was that the burgh of [[Galashiels]] was brought entirely within Selkirkshire, where it had previously been partly in [[Roxburghshire]].<ref>{{cite web |title=Selkirkshire Scottish County |url=https://www.visionofbritain.org.uk/unit/10210884#tab02 |website=A Vision of Britain through Time |publisher=GB Historical GIS / University of Portsmouth |access-date=17 December 2022}}</ref> Selkirkshire County Council met at the [[County Buildings, Selkirk|County Buildings]] on Ettrick Terrace in Selkirk, which had been built in 1870 as a [[sheriff court]] and meeting place for the [[Commissioners of Supply]], the main administrative body for the county prior to the creation of the county council.<ref>{{cite news |title=First Meeting of County Council |url=https://www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk/ |access-date=17 December 2022 |work=Southern Reporter |date=20 February 1890 |location=Selkirk |page=3}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |title=The budget rise in Selkirkshire |url=https://www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk/ |access-date=17 December 2022 |work=Southern Reporter |date=14 September 1944 |location=Selkirk |page=6 |quote=...at a meeting of Selkirk County Council in the County Buildings, Selkirk, on Thursday evening...}}</ref><ref>{{Historic Environment Scotland|num=LB43747|desc=Selkirk Sheriff Court and Justice of the Peace Court, including gatepiers, railings and boundary walls|cat=B|access-date=17 December 2022}}</ref> The council's staff were based at the Bank of Scotland Buildings in the Market Place in Selkirk.<ref>{{London Gazette|issue=19011|page=576|date=23 July 1971|city=e}}</ref><ref>{{Historic Environment Scotland|num= LB43793|desc=Bank Of Scotland, 6 Market Place, Selkirk|access-date=18 July 2021}}</ref> 

The county council was abolished in 1975 under the [[Local Government (Scotland) Act 1973]], which reorganised local government in Scotland into upper-tier regions and lower-tier districts. Selkirkshire became part of the [[Scottish Borders|Borders]] region and part of the [[Ettrick and Lauderdale]] district.<ref name=1973act>{{cite legislation UK|type=act|act=Local Government (Scotland) Act 1973|year=1973|chapter=65|accessdate=22 November 2022}}</ref>

At the time of the local government reorganisation in 1975, the posts of [[lord-lieutenant]] of Selkirkshire and lord-lieutenant of [[Roxburghshire]] were both held by [[John Scott, 9th Duke of Buccleuch]]. The new district of Ettrick and Lauderdale and the neighbouring district of [[Roxburgh (district)|Roxburgh]] became nominally separate [[lieutenancy areas of Scotland|lieutenancy areas]], although the Duke of Buccleuch was appointed to both positions, effectively continuing the pre-1975 arrangement.<ref>{{cite legislation UK|type=si|si=The Lord-Lieutenants Order 1975|year=1975|number=428|accessdate=27 November 2022}}</ref> When local government was reorganised again in 1996, the two lieutenancies were formally united into a single lieutenancy area called [[Roxburgh, Ettrick and Lauderdale]].<ref>{{cite legislation UK|type=si|si=The Lord-Lieutenants (Scotland) Order 1996|year=1996|number=731|accessdate=16 December 2022}}</ref>

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