- published: 04 Jun 2014
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A borough is an administrative division in various countries. In principle, the term borough designates a self-governing walled town, although in practice, official use of the term varies widely.
The word borough derives from common Germanic *Burg, meaning fort: compare with bury, burgh and brough (England), burgh (Scotland), Burg (Germany), borg (Scandinavia), burcht (Dutch), boarch (West Frisian), and the Germanic borrowing present in neighbouring Indo-european languages such as borgo (Italian), bourg (French), burgo (Spanish and Portuguese), burg (Romanian), purg (Kajkavian) and durg (दर्ग) (Hindi) and arg (ارگ) (Persian). The incidence of these words as suffixes to place names (for example, Aldeburgh, Bamburgh, Tilbury, Tilburg, Strasbourg (Strossburi in the local dialect), Luxembourg, Edinburgh, Grundisburgh, Hamburg, Gothenburg) usually indicates that they were once fortified settlements.
In the Middle Ages, boroughs were settlements in England that were granted some self-government; burghs were the Scottish equivalent. In medieval England, boroughs were also entitled to elect members of parliament. The use of the word borough probably derives from the burghal system of Alfred the Great. Alfred set up a system of defensive strong points (Burhs); in order to maintain these settlements, he granted them a degree of autonomy. After the Norman Conquest, when certain towns were granted self-governance, the concept of the burh/borough seems to have been reused to mean a self-governing settlement.
There’s something coming
And its coming for you
The mob is restless
Looking for something new
You lead us here
With an eternal promise
The gallows are calling
For you to pay for this
Now that we’re left here on our own
There is nowhere left to turn
Who will see me through?
Your heroes are dead
They were all in you head
When nothing is left we’ll start again
What fitting ends
To our fearless fathers
The cost of treason
Isn't paid in dollars
With nothing left
There is nothing to lose
We’ll watch the city gates
Falling all around you
You said id never make it
That I could only fail
But I'm the one who’s standing
And what has happened to you?
Now that we’ve said goodbye to you
We’ve started something new
Your heroes are gone
They left with the dawn