Editing Scottish Borders (section)

==Language and literature==
Although there is evidence of some [[Scottish Gaelic]] in the origins of place names such as [[Innerleithen]] ("confluence of the [[Leithen Water|Leithen]]"), [[Kilbucho]] and [[Longformacus]], which contain identifiably [[Goidelic]] rather than [[Britons (historical)|Brythonic]] [[Celtic languages|Celtic]] elements and are an indication of at least a Gaelic-speaking elite in the area, the main languages in the area since the 5th century appear to have been [[Cumbric|Brythonic]] (in the west) and [[Old English language|Old English]] (in the east), the latter of which developed into its modern forms of [[Scottish English|English]] and [[Scots language|Scots]].

[[Border ballad]]s occupied a distinctive place in literature. Many of them were rescued from oblivion by [[Walter Scott]], who gathered materials for his ''Minstrelsy of the Scottish Border'', which appeared in 1802 and 1803. Border traditions and folklore, and the picturesque incidents of which the country was so often the scene, appealed strongly to [[James Hogg]] ("the Ettrick Shepherd"), [[John Wilson (Scottish writer)|John Wilson]], writing as "Christopher North", and [[John Mackay Wilson]], whose ''Tales of the Borders'', published in 1835, enjoyed popular favour throughout the 1800s.{{sfn|Chisholm|1911|p=246}}