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Somewhere near here was the 'Plea Shank', an area of debatable land between England and Scotland where the boundary drawn by the first Ordnance surveyors was subject to dispute by the English landowner of Makendon Estate, Ralph Carr-Ellison, who instructed his tenant farmer to run sheep on the land in defiance of the Duke of Roxburgh. Mr Carr is said to have won the argument against the OS officials, with the area of Plea Shank removed from Scottish territory and restored to its former 'debatable' status.

The name 'Plea Shank' doesn't appear to have made it onto the 1st edition map although there is a 'Plea Knowe' on the border further away to the NE NT8314 : Path junction at Plea Knowe, and a 'Plea Shank' near the line of Dere Street (formerly recorded as Watling Street) but on undisputedly Scottish land in the Borders, much further North NT7416 : Plea Shank.


The Monthly Chronicle of North-country Lore and Legend. Vol. 3 (1887) p.386-387.