strength of the Armstrongs by hanging Johnnie Armstrong of Gilnockie and thirty-one others at Caerlanrig Chapel, under questionable circumstances. In 1552, Commissioners from Scotland and England met and divided the Debatable Lands between England and Scotland, with a line, known as the Scots' Dike, drawn from Esk to Sark, abolishing the Debatable Lands' de facto independence from either crown. Since then, the Anglo-Scottish border has remained essentially unchanged. The 1552 division of the Debatable Lands, the Scots' Dike and the several changes to the status of Berwick-upon-Tweed between the thirteenth to fifteenth centuries until it finally became English in 1482, remains the only significant alterations to the border agreed in the 1237 Treaty of York, making that treaty one of, if not the oldest, border treaties still in effect today. In 1590 James VI of Scotland declared that the Debatable lands and the lands of Canonbie were annexed to the crown, and he set new leases to various landowners. See also Anglo-Scottish border Berwick-upon-Tweed Dumfriesshire History of Cumbria Liddesdale List of places in the Scottish Borders March law (Anglo-Scottish border) Scottish Marches Scots' Dike Solway Firth Treaty of York Notes References John M. Todd (2006), 'The West March on the Anglo-Scottish Border in the Twelfth Century, and the Origins of the Western Debatable Land', Northern History, 43:1, 11–19, DOI: 10.1179/174587006X86783 Attribution Further reading External links SCRAN: Johnnie Armstrong - A Reiver's Story SCRAN: Family Names: Armstrong The Debatable Land Video on the 'Monition of Cursing' stone, Carlisle. History of the Scottish Borders Military history of the United Kingdom History of Dumfriesshire Anglo-Scottish border Disputed territories in Europe Former disputed land areas