Hawick is the largest of the Scottish Border towns you reach when you are traveling on the A7 main route to Edinburgh. It is a very popular stop-over base for anyone traveling on this route as it is so close to the English border. Much like Grenta Green, Hawick is renowned today for grabbing bargains in knitwear and fabrics. Popular quality knitwear names like Peter Scott still operate in this town.
Being situated so close to the English border, sees Hawick as having a very turbulent history. Cross-border warfare was rife, particularly during the 16th century, and this is celebrated in March with the Hawick Reiver's Festival. Legendary families known as the Border Riders, the Turnbulls, Scotts and Armstrongs, all hail from Hawick.
Scottish border towns are alive with tales, and one of the Greatest Scottish writers of all time drew most of his inspiration from these towns, Sir Walter Scott! He drew this inspiration from the ballads of the borders and these dates back to when Scotland was known as "The Debatable Land" in all its wild beauty.
Although the debate is long over, it is still not forgotten and although towns such as Hawick are Scottish through and through, they still have their own culture. This culture was forged by an affinity with horses, the land and unruly border families, who took what they wanted and defended what was theirs.
Wherever you go in this region you will come upon signs which depict a mounted soldier, wearing a helmet. This is the very fiber of Scottish border towns, the skirmish and defense. Highlights of this history takes place every year when border towns get together for the festival of the Common ridings. These stem back from when men would ride the boundaries of common land to check defenses and look for raider. The most famous of these festivals take place in Hawick, Lauder and Selkirk. However fortunately there are no longer any raiders to see off. Hawick is also an entry to many hilly ranges including The Cheviots, the Lammermuirs and the Eildons and is one of the most popular short break destinations in the UK.
Find your next Hawick hotel - here
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Simon_Haughtone
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
No comments:
Post a Comment