The wild history of Ettrick Forest

Ettrick Forest features heavily in The Dance of Vipers, as it’s the home of Will Baird’s gang. It once covered an enormous swathe of Southern Scotland – about 600 square miles of Peeblesshire and Selkirkshire and could hide whole armies – such as William Wallace’s guerilla forces in 1297.

After the Scots’ victory at Bannockburn, Robert the Bruce gifted the land to his allies the Douglases. Then, when they clashed with the Stewarts in later centuries, it reverted to the crown as a royal hunting ground. Gradually, it was stripped of its wood and was eventually turned over to sheep, so that it barely exists today (the last of the original trees were cut down a few years ago, near Galashiels.)

However, back in 1517, when The Dance of Vipers is set, the area was still a wild world of its own. Not only was it used as a hunting ground, it served as a hiding place for notorious reivers such as Adam Scott of Tushielaw and William Cockburn of Henderland. This made it a great setting to evoke some tension, as Antoine and Turnbull chase after Will Baird. Although as they creep through the dense greenery, they often wonder whether they are the hunters or the prey.