Photo by Karen Bryan

Hawick is the largest town in Scotland’s Borders Region. The Rough Guide to World Parties recently voted the city’s June Annual Ridings festival of the best festivals in the world.

The Ridings follows the ancient custom of riding around the town boundaries in order to look out for dawn raids. The proceedings last for several days. Events include the reinactment of the capture of the English flag in 1514, various ceremonies, and horse racing.

You can find our about local history at the Hawick Museum. Since 1910, the museum has been housed in Wilton Lodge, a grand Victorian mansion. Clotheshorses should know that Hawick is also known the “Home of Cashmere,” with a tradition of producing high quality knitwear. Peter Scott has an outlet shop in the town.

One of the new Hawick landmarks is the James Thomson Bridge—a modern footbridge—which crosses the River Teviot. The bridge is named after James Thomson (1827 - 1888) a local poet and songwriter best known for composing the lyrics to the “Star o’ Rabbie Burns,” the only song not written by the great baird to be sung at traditional Burns suppers.

Thomson also wrote songs and poems about the Hawick Ridings. A statue of Thomson, sculpted by local artist Bill Landles, sits at the bridge. Landles’ great great grandmother was a friend of Thomson’s. The two once lived in the same row of tenement flats. When the row of houses was demolished, Thomson carved Landles’ great great grandmother a goblet out of a wooden roof beam. A cast of the goblet sits prominently at the front of the statue today.

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