It’s down and out in the Scottish borders (5)
I believe the answer is:
south
'it's down' is the definition.
I can't tell whether this defines the answer.
'out in the scottish borders' is the wordplay.
'in the' means one lot of letters goes inside another.
'borders' suggests removing the centre (only the edge or border letters remain).
'scottish' with its centre taken out is 'sh'.
'out' going inside 'sh' is 'SOUTH'.
'and' is the link.
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for south that I've seen before include "Down on a map" , "1949 musical by Rodgers and Hammerstein, made into a film in 1958" , "Direction to the right of sunrise" , "Card player" , "Compass point" .)