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In 1695, a new edition of Camden's Britannia was published. Although there was little additional information on the Picts' Wall, antiquarian interest in the monument increased significantly during the early decades of the eighteenth century. This chapter explores the new interpretations of the Wall that developed during the first half of the eighteenth century, up to the Jacobite uprising of 1745–6. It examines the conceptual role of the Wall with regard to the unity and disunity of England and Scotland, the results of the Act of Union of 1707, and the concomitant revival of interest. George Smith's particular interest in the Roman fort at Castlesteads (Cumbria), exemplifies a new approach to the Wall's remains.

This chapter reviews the formation of the northern frontier of the kingdom of England from the eleventh to the later sixteenth century. Through a study of the physical and symbolic roles of the Wall, it explores the origins of the concept linking this Roman monument to the delimitation of the northern boundary of England. This theme draws upon a significant location along the Wall's line, Lanercost Priory (Cumbria). Lanercost is a medieval religious house that was founded during the later half of the twelfth century, in the contested borderlands between England and Scotland. The construction of the Priory drew both physically and conceptually upon the remains of the Picts' Wall located 700 metres to the north. During the late sixteenth century, the buildings of the converted Priory were to become the home of Christopher Dacre, one of the Elizabethan gentlemen responsible for the maintenance of order along England's northern frontier.

The Picts' Wall was a focus of considerable interest during the late sixteenth century and the first decade of the seventeenth. Late in the reign of Queen Elizabeth and during the succeeding reign of King James, playwrights, poets, historians, antiquaries, and mapmakers were intent on exploring the character and history of England and establishing an identity for the English. In this context, William Camden's influential volume Britannia used classical texts to construct an ancestral geography for the kingdom. This chapter focuses on Camden's image of the character of the Picts' Wall and compares this with the creation of a living spirit for the monument in ‘Song XXIX’ of Michael Drayton's poetical work, Poly-Olbion (1622). The chapter explores the relationship of these works to the Wall's function in bounding contemporary England, and makes some observations on the relationship between history and story in the writings of Camden and Drayton.