Tales of the Borders - John Mackay Wilson

Tales of the Border is comprised of stories that were originally written for and printed in the nineteenth century serial publication “Tales of the Borders,” active weekly in the UK 1834-1840. Although attributed to John Mackay Wilson, this collection was selected and curated by James Tait, the former editor of the Scottish newspaper the Kelso Chronicle. Wilson, who authored many of the included stories, is primarily significant as the founder of “Tales of the Border.”  He was the principal author and driving force of the periodical for the first eleven months of its existence, but his unfortunately early death in 1935 at the age of 31 brought his contributions to an end.  The remaining issues of “Tales” that came to be published, consequently, were authored by a variety of other writers, many of whom are included in these pages. Hailing from Berwick, the northernmost town in England, both Wilson and his tales take great interest in much contested border between England and Scotland: “