Discover Scottish Borders - Discover the Scottish Borderlands

Mark Nicol

Historian – Filmmaker – Blogger –
Guided Tours – Group Speaker

My Latest Video / Blog

Romans in the Borders week on Discover Scottish Borders

A week’s worth of my videos on how the Romans lived and influenced the Scottish Borders area.

See all my work

About Discover Scottish Borders

Discover Scottish Borders is a website and social media stream to showcase an intrepid explorer of the Scottish Borders and the borderland between Scotland and England. I cover the Myths and legends as well as strange places – I also have a love for the wildlife that frequents this area! My website is for everyone who has a connection with the Scottish Borders, whether you live here, have visited (or even want to visit), your ancestors came from here or if you just like the look of this beautiful region!

Technically, as it stands today the Scottish Borders is a council areal formed in 1975 – Although my work is not to be confused as solely concentrating on the council area but rather the whole of the Anglo-Scottish border area that has seen some of the most extravagant moments in history of the British Isles
Historically, the term Borders has a wider meaning, referring to all of the burghs adjoining the English border, also including Dumfriesshire and Kirkcudbrightshire — as well as Northumberland, Cumberland and Westmorland in England.

Roxburghshire and Berwickshire historically bore the brunt of the conflicts with England, both during declared wars such as the Wars of Scottish Independence, and armed raids which took place in the times of the Border Reivers. Thus, across the region are to be seen the ruins of many castles, abbeys and even towns.
The Scottish Borders has seen evidence from Pictish tribes, Roman Strongholds right through to important battles and documented papers that played a vital part of the several Wars of Independence.

Mark Nicol is the driving force behind Discover Scottish Borders, meticulously researching, scouting and presenting his videos that are unique and full of informative information and bringing the Borders Regions history and tales to life that are almost forgotten.
This is all done in Mark’s free time and days off!

It all started off one day with Mark exploring the local region and producing certain videos that were a way of documenting his explorations with a little bit of a fun element to add to better viewing and in context with Mark’s personality.

Things started to get a bit more serious when, with the near completion of the Borders Railway he decided to research the tourist capabilities of the areas of Galashiels and Tweedbank. This lead to a series of videos for visitors coming off the train to explore, such as walks and places to visit.

This captured a larger audience and viewers and in turn gave Mark a thirst to seek out the history and folklore of the regions in depth. At the time of writing this Mark’s YouTube channel has close to 200 videos each with its own story to tell.

The videos reach out far a field to the like of the USA, Canada, Australia and South Africa where people have a heart in the area from previous ancestors.

Discover Scottish Borders is growing all the time and becoming the hub for information of the Borders Regions.
Recently Mark has appeared in a BBC Regional Broadcast with his own segment telling the tale of the Border Reivers.
Mark is also in demand as a speaker at local community groups where he showcases his self-learnt knowledge.

Also, Mark takes carefully selected visitors to the region who want to explore the area and see for themselves the delights the regions hold.

When starting out and developing Discover Scottish Borders, Mark’s aim was to get people out and visiting these places and seeing for themselves. This can be gauged by the amount of correspondence we receive on the interest of subject matters.

Not only that, Discover Scottish Borders has been the forerunner of encouraging bloggers and YouTubers to produce their own content of their visit to a site and the exploration they have had, leaving a greater footprint of information as so more visitors may enjoy and discover the delights of our region.

In 2018 Mark was a finalist for “Visit Scotland: Scottish Thistle Award” as Regional Ambassador. Which is basically the Oscars of Scottish Tourism.

Things are looking well for Discover Scottish Borders!

More Of My Work

In Picture: Cavers Castle/House Nr Denholm

by Mark Nicol | October 18, 2016 | Submitted Pictures | 0 Comments

Take a look at the Then and Now of this building

William Wallace’s Castle?

by Mark Nicol | August 27, 2019 | Videos | 0 Comments

A man traverses the Gameshope valley near Talla reservoir in the Scottish Borders, searching for the site of a castle said to have been the stronghold of William Wallace

Shorts – Kingfishers in Galashiels

by Mark Nicol | March 9, 2019 | Videos | 0 Comments

Bingo!!! finally managed to film a kingfisher in Galashiels!!!

A Tale of 2 Tribes

by Mark Nicol | July 21, 2016 | Videos | 0 Comments

A man finds out how people of the past influenced modern Scottish borders culture

Shorts – Black Douglas Outlaw King

by Mark Nicol | November 15, 2018 | Videos | 0 Comments

The Black Douglas in the new Netflix movie Outlaw King

Turnbull Family Origins

by Mark Nicol | October 14, 2020 | Videos | 0 Comments

A man searches for ancient fortified sites associated with the notorious Border Reiver family of the Turnbulls.

Buckholm Tower (and a Ghost Story)

by Stuart Wilson | October 20, 2017 | Bloggings | 0 Comments

In pictures – Buckholm Tower and a Ghost Story

Shorts – Body Snatchers & Jougs

by Mark Nicol | December 26, 2018 | Videos | 0 Comments

Taking a look at the interesting and macabre artefacts in Eckford Church yard.

Whytbank Tower – Scottish Borders Haunted Towers

by Stuart Wilson | November 1, 2017 | Bloggings, Videos | 0 Comments

A man investigates the eerie Whytbank Tower, Clovenfords in the Scottish Borders with some alarming results.

Knights Templar in the Scottish Borders

by Mark Nicol | December 17, 2016 | Videos | 0 Comments

A man investigates the Knights Templars in the Scottish Borders with some dramatic results

William Wallace’s View

by Stuart Wilson | January 15, 2021 | Uncategorized | 0 Comments

A man wonders what William Wallace has been looking at for 200 years

Lost Border Reiver Towers

by Mark Nicol | February 6, 2019 | Videos | 0 Comments

A man searches for three lost and forgotten Reiver strongholds in the Scottish Borders. All brought to his attention by one passage in an ancient and obscure book.

Hill Fort Bagging in the Scottish Borders

by Mark Nicol | October 27, 2020 | Bloggings | 0 Comments

A man discovers several hill forts in a five mile walk from Peebles

Shorts – Cauldshiels hill fort and the Catrail

by Mark Nicol | October 20, 2018 | Videos | 0 Comments

A look at Cauldshiels Hill, hill fort and the stand-off with the Rink fort and Catrail across the valley

The Poems of Will H Ogilvie

by Stuart Wilson | March 25, 2016 | Bloggings | 0 Comments

Will H Ogilvie was born at Holefield Farm near Kelso, Scotland in 1869.

Old Melrose WW2 Bunker

by Stuart Wilson | October 18, 2017 | Bloggings | 0 Comments

In pictures – Our visit to Old Melrose WW2 Bunker

Pray For Otters In Galashiels

by Mark Nicol | March 6, 2016 | Videos | 0 Comments

A man takes us on the emotional roller coaster of a journey that is spotting otters in the Scottish Borders.

Gala Aisle Gravestone Translation

by Mark Nicol | August 9, 2019 | Videos | 0 Comments

A man finds the translation of a 17th century Latin inscribed gravestone in Galashiels, which remembers the battle of Dunbar

Scottish Borders Isolation

by Mark Nicol | November 9, 2016 | Videos | 0 Comments

A man gets lost among the hills in the Scottish Borders after the first flurry of snow in 2016, with dramatic consequences

Hermitage Castle ghost??

by Mark Nicol | October 28, 2015 | Videos | 0 Comments

A man unwittingly captures a strange figure on film at Hermitage Castle while filming a video about the Borders Reivers.

Day and Extended Tours

I operate day tours and extended tours originating in the Scottish Borders and outreaching to the rest of Scotland & parts of England to tell the tales of the Anglo-Scots Borderlands

The Itinerary is customised to aid history buffs, spiritual seekers, family heritage research and general appreciation of the Scottish Borders beautiful landscapes and rolling hills

Find out more

Group Speaking

I am also available to provide talks for groups who are interested in the history of the Borders Region

As you can see, Mark has a real passion for the unknown and forgotten history and presents his videos in a unique way to engage an audience and bring a fun way of keeping the Borders Spirit alive”

Contact me

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