It has a population of about 400, most of whom live on the Northumberland side of the River Irthing and Poltross Burn.
Birdoswald first appears in the written record in 1211 when a certain Walter de Beivin was farming the property, then part of the Barony of Gilsland.
The inn was later revealed by Scott to be based upon Mumps Hall in Gilsland.
Thomas Dacre, 4th Baron Dacre of Gilsland (1527/1530- 1 July 1566), married firstly Elizabeth Neville, and secondly Elizabeth Leyburne, by whom he had five children, including George Dacre, 5th Baron Dacre of Gilsland, 4th Baron Greystoke, and Anne Dacre, later Countess of Arundel (21 March 1557 – 19 April 1630).
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Her paternal grandparents were Thomas Dacre, 2nd Baron Dacre, of Gilsland, 1st Baron Greystoke, and Elizabeth Greystoke, and her maternal grandparents were George Talbot, 4th Earl of Shrewsbury, and Anne Hastings, daughter of William Hastings, 1st Baron Hastings and Katherine Neville.
It was built, at a cost of £800, and partly endowed by George Gill Mounsey of Rockcliffe, Carlisle who also erected the nearby Gilsland Spa Hotel in 1860.