England the United Kingdom, largely concentrated around London, the South East, and conurbations in the Midlands, the North West, the North East, and Yorkshire, which each developed as major industrial regions during the 19th century. The Kingdom of England – which after 1535 included Wales – ceased being a separate sovereign state on 1 May 1707, when the Acts of Union put into effect the terms agreed in the Treaty of Union the previous year, resulting in a political union with the Kingdom of Scotland to create the Kingdom of Great Britain. In 1801, Great Britain was united with the Kingdom
History of rugby union in Scotland launched and the trophy is known as the "Melrose Cup" in memory of Ned Haig's invention. In 1895, there was a schism within the game of rugby in neighbouring England which saw the sport divided into rugby union which remained amateur and rugby league which permitted payments to players. However, no such split took place in Scotland where the clubs continued to play rugby union. Fourteen Scottish players would cross over and play rugby league in England before amateurism was abandoned. While rugby league is not as popular as rugby union in Scotland, it has maintained a continuous presence for