Carlisle is a city and the largest settlement in Cumbria, North West England. It is part of the City of Carlisle local government district, and acts as the administrative centre for both this district and Cumbria County Council. The population of the urban area of Carlisle was 71,773 according to the 2001 census, with about 100,734 living in the wider district. Historically the county town of Cumberland, Carlisle developed importance as a military stronghold due to its position at the Anglo-Scottish border; Carlisle Castle, still relatively intact, was built in 1092 by William Rufus, and having once served as a prison for Mary, Queen of Scots. The Curse of Carlisle is a 16th century curse that was first invoked by Archbishop Dunbar of Glasgow in 1525 against cross-border families, known as the Border Reivers, who lived by stealing cattle and pillage. The curse was not directly aimed at Carlisle or its people. For the millennium celebrations, the local council commissioned a 14-tonne granite artwork inscribed with all 1,069 words of the curse. In 1998 some Christians, among other projects, began campaigning to prevent the City of Carlisle from installing the stone.[citation needed] In the wake of this controversy, superstition about the stone grew and a number of the town's setbacks were blamed on the curse stone, including an outbreak of foot-and-mouth disease, a flood, various crimes, rising unemployment statistics and even the fate of Carlisle United, which was relegated out of its league. In March 2005, Liberal Democrat city councillor Jim Tootle, on the request of a Christian citizen,[citation needed] proposed the stone either be moved outside the city boundaries or destroyed altogether. The high priest of the British white witches, Kevin Carlyon, proclaimed that such actions would give the curse more power. He commented that: "A curse can only work if people believe in it. I think at the moment the sculpture is a nice piece of history, but if the council destroys it, they would be showing their belief in the curse". A council meeting on March 8, 2005 rejected Tootle's proposal, a move welcomed by council leader Mike Mitchelson, who had earlier questioned whether moving the stone was a good use of council funds. More on Carlisle 

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