A Timeline of Invasions That Shaped the Scottish Borders

Jun 22, 2025

The Southern Uplands of Scotland, where the counties of Peebles and Selkirk rest, are more than just rolling hills and quiet river valleys. They are one of the most historically layered regions in Britain—lands once walked by Iberians, Celtic tribes, Romans, Angles, Norsemen, and more. While many think of the Borders only in terms of medieval clan skirmishes or textile towns, the true story reaches back millennia, with waves of migrations and invasions that carved their mark into the land, the people, and their way of life.

This blog takes you on a journey through time—charting the key peoples who came, settled, clashed, and left their imprint on the Borders. In each layer of settlement, we find not only cultural change, but also physical and demographic shifts that shaped modern-day Peebles and Selkirk.

The Iberians: The First Inhabitants

Before the Celts, before the Romans, before recorded history—the Southern Uplands were home to a people we now refer to as the Iberians. Little is definitively known about them, but archaeological evidence—stone circles, burial cairns, and early hill forts—suggests a pre-Celtic society with distinct customs and technologies.

The Iberians were likely Neolithic to early Bronze Age farmers and hunter-gatherers. Their lasting legacy lies mostly in physical remains rather than cultural continuity, as later waves of migrants and invaders absorbed or displaced them. Some speculate that elements of their DNA still linger in the modern population.

Timeline Snapshot:
📍 Circa 4000–1200 BCE
🔎 Legacy: Megalithic sites, ancient settlements, early tribal structure

The Celtic Arrivals: Goidels and Brythons

Next came the Celtic migrations, in two distinct waves:

The Goidels (Gaelic Celts): Possibly arriving from Ireland, they brought an early form of the Gaelic language and culture.
The Brythons (Cymric Celts): Arriving later from continental Europe, these Celts spoke a Brittonic language and spread throughout southern Scotland.

In the Borders region, the Brythonic Celts had the greatest impact, as evidenced by the dominance of Cymric place names. These communities built hill forts, practiced advanced agriculture, and forged warrior societies. Their culture would dominate the region for centuries, resisting both Roman and Anglo-Saxon encroachment for a time.

Timeline Snapshot:
📍 Circa 1000 BCE – 100 CE and beyond
🔎 Legacy: Names like Caerlee, Torwood, and Traquair; Celtic tribal structures

The Romans: Empire at the Edge

The Roman Empire never fully conquered what is now Scotland, but their influence reached deep into the Borders. Roman legions invaded southern Scotland around 79 CE, building forts, roads, and watchtowers—though they never subdued the highlands.

The region now occupied by Peebles and Selkirk became a frontier zone. While major settlements were rare, the Roman presence introduced roads, Latin inscriptions, coins, and trade goods. They brought a new layer of civilization—centralized governance, military organization, and architecture.

Still, their hold was always tenuous. Resistance from native tribes like the Selgovae and Votadini remained strong.

Timeline Snapshot:
📍 Circa 79–211 CE (Roman presence in southern Scotland)
🔎 Legacy: Military camps, trade routes, brief urbanization influence

The Angles: The Rise of Northumbria

After Rome’s withdrawal in the 5th century, Britain fractured. Into this power vacuum stepped the Angles, a Germanic people who settled much of what is now northern England and southeastern Scotland. The region became part of the Anglian Kingdom of Northumbria.

Northumbria’s reach extended well into the Borders, bringing with it early Christianity, Old English language, and a structured feudal system. Many modern place names—especially those ending in -ton, -burgh, or -worth—come from this era. Towns like Galashiels and Selkirk grew from small Anglo-Saxon outposts.

The Anglian influence was profound. Unlike the Romans, they stayed, settled, and shaped the local identity. Their presence laid the foundation for what would become Lowland Scots culture.

Timeline Snapshot:
📍 Circa 500–850 CE
🔎 Legacy: Town structures, Christian churches, Anglo-Saxon place names

The Norsemen: Raiders and Settlers

The Viking Age brought yet another wave of invaders—the Norsemen, arriving from Scandinavia in longboats. While their strongest impact was felt in northern Scotland, the Southern Uplands were not spared.

Unlike the Angles, the Norse mostly came as raiders in the early 800s, but many later settled, farmed, and intermarried with local populations. Their legacy is most clearly seen in place names and surviving vocabulary.

Terms like scaur, fell, holm, rig, and hope—which describe features of the land—are of Norse origin. These settlers also contributed to rural customs, tools, and even farming techniques.

Though their political dominance was short-lived, the Norse left a lasting cultural and linguistic imprint—especially in more remote, mountainous areas like those near Selkirk.

Timeline Snapshot:
📍 Circa 800–1000 CE
🔎 Legacy: Norse place names, land-use vocabulary, hybrid cultural traditions

Layers That Still Shape Today

What makes the Scottish Borders unique is that none of these groups completely replaced the ones before them. Instead, each wave layered over the last, forming a complex cultural and historical tapestry.

You can see this layered history today in:

Place names combining Celtic, Norse, and English elements (Knockknowes, Venlawhill).
Ruins that date from the Iron Age through to the medieval period.
Regional identities that still carry echoes of ancient peoples.
Demographic and land-use patterns that stretch back to the time of the Brythons and Angles.

From ancient Iberian settlements to Norse hilltop farms, each culture brought something that remained—even if just in memory, myth, or map.