BattlefieldsKerr-Scott feud — Melrose and Selkirk fighting 1526
Tudor

Kerr-Scott feud — Melrose and Selkirk fighting 1526

1526
Roxburghshire, Scotland
Also known as: Kerr Scott feud 1526 · Battle of Melrose 1526
Era
Tudor
Battle Type
Skirmish
Location
Roxburghshire, Scotland
Status
Unregistered
The Combatants

Who Fought

Defeated
Kerr clan
Forces
Kerr clan c.150–300.
VS
Victor
Scott clan
Forces
Scott clan c.150–300
Outcome
Scott clan defeated Kerr faction at skirmish near Melrose; feud continued for decades with multiple killings on both sides
The Battle

History & Significance

The Kerr-Scott feud was one of the most destructive inter-clan conflicts of the Borders, lasting from the 1520s to the 1590s. It began over a dispute about the wardenship of the Middle March and escalated into a blood feud involving hundreds of deaths. The feud made effective governance of the Borders impossible for much of the sixteenth century — neither English nor Scottish crowns could pacify a region where the leading families were at war with each other.

Questions & Answers

Frequently Asked Questions

Aubrey Research

Explore the landscape around Roxburghshire

Aubrey generates in-depth historical research for any location in Britain — drawing on Domesday records, scheduled monuments, Victorian OS maps, geological data and archaeological archives to tell the full story of a place.

Research a location near Roxburghshire