history

...so just how old is Hawick?

It's a long story...

Hawick began around the 11th Century. It's name is said to come from the Anglo Saxon - haga wic - the settlement, or wick, surrounded by the hawthorn hedge. A Norman family, the Lovels, arrived shortly after the Conquest and constructed the earthwork known as the Mote before building the more substantial Tower in the 12th Century. Nearby the original building of St Mary's Church was dedicated in 1214 by Adam, Bishop of Caithness. Location at a bridge over the Slitrig Water was more important than a crossing of the marshy and malarial Teviot. The village remained small for centuries, overshadowed by the settlement at Cavers a few miles east, which was owned by more influential families - the Baliols, the Earl of Mar, and the Douglases. However in 1537, Hawick's lord, Sir James Douglas, Baron Drumlanrig, gave a charter to the little town which allowed it to hold markets, and this encouraged growth.

The limits of the town until the 18th Century were marked by the four 'Ports' or gates, and these are still marked by plaques which give a measure of the small size of the settlement. The beginnings of the hosiery or knitwear industry in 1771 led to rapid growth, with Pringle being founded in 1815. The railway line reached Hawick from Edinburgh in 1849 (and from Carlisle in 1862), more and more factories were built, and by 1891 there were 19500 inhabitants.

This is a fascinating town, full of history. Start your tour on top of the Mote. Get an impression of the early defences, then walk down through the West Port to St Mary's and its churchyard. Here the importance of the bridges becomes apparent, with three crossing the Slitrig. The middle one - the auld brig o' Hawick - was the most important, and is the hardest to find: nowadays just a roadway leading towards Drumlanrig's Tower and High Street from the bottom of the church steps. This is the Heart of Hawick.

Visit the museum and the Tourist Information Centre within Tower Mill. Continue along High Street to the Scottish baronial style Town Hall. Here the Mercat Cross at one time stood, and at this point the visitor can almost extend arms across the street to touch both of the plaques for North Port and South Port. Only a little further along, above the Waverley Bar, can be seen the South Port plaque. This was a narrow town, with its focus for centuries around the St Mary's and Tower area, and this is still the scene for many of the ceremonials linked with the annual Common Riding celebrations in May and June. The Common Riding commemorates an event in Hawick history when a band of local youths came upon a party of English raiders and 'routed them and took their colour' at Hornshole a few miles beyond the town, in 1514 the year after the battle of Flodden, when 'all were sunk in deep dejection'. A series of ride-outs take place when townsfolk visit outlying areas, reminiscent of confirming that the boundaries of the 'common land' had not been encroached on.

Lovel Court behind Drumlanrig's Tower has also proved to be a fine location for events associated with the Reivers Festival in March. Drumlanrig's Tower holds exhibitions on local history or celebrating local personalities. Visit the Hizzy display, commemorating local motorcycle ace Steve Hislop, eleven times Isle of Man TT champion and twice British Superbike champion, who died age 41 in 2003. Steve's bronze statue stands in Wilton Lodge Park near Hawick Museum, alongside that of his predecessor Jimmy Guthrie. This museum houses displays of the town's textile industry, and the adjacent Scott Gallery is the venue for impressive art and photographic displays.

This is a fascinating town. History, the evidence of which is all around. A rich culture, especially in music, with a bulging Hawick songbook. A calendar filled with festivals and events.

Hawick - The Queen of the Borders.