HAWICK, a municipal and parliamentary borough of Roxburghshire in Scotland, 10 miles S.W. of Jedburgh, and 53 miles S.S.E. of Edinburgh by rail, is situated on the south bank of the Teviot at its junction with the Slitrig, a wild and irregular stream that flows through the town. A handsome bridge, spanning the Teviot, connects Hawick with the manufacturing village cf Wilton, which is practically a suburb. The town is fairly well built, the main street being broad and well paved. The ancient tower of the barons of Drumlanrig is now occupied as an inn; and many of the older houses testify by their massive proportions to the former dangers of Hawick’s position as a border town. The tower was the only building not burned down in 1570 by the earl of Sussex. The parish church of St Mary has succeeded one mentioned in the Chronicle of Melrose as having been consecrated in 1214,—a fact which speaks for the antiquity of the town. Additional testimony is afforded by the Moathill at one end of the town, an earthen mound of great antiquity, about 30 feet high. The present town-charter, granted in 1537 by a baron of Drumlanrig, was confirmed in 1545 by Queen Mary during a residence in the town. Hawick, with Wilton, was in 1868 erected into a parliamentary burgh, uniting with Galashiels and Selkirk in sending a member to parliament. The municipal government is vested in a town council, consisting of a provost, four magistrates, and ten councillors. The exchange, built in 1865, contains a free public library. Hawick possesses a very complete system of underground drainage, in connexion with purification works,—this being the first experiment of the kind on a large scale in Scotland....
The manufactures of Hawick are mentioned in the burgh records so far back as 1640, but they must have been flourishing for some time before that, as the weavers already formed an important part of the population. The weavers then worked each for himself, executing his private orders; and it is not till the middle of the following century that a number of looms under one employer are heard of. Linen was at first the chief article of manufacture, but woollen plaidings were also made. Wool was also spun and sold to be manufactured elsewhere. A carpet factory was begun in 1752, and the manufacture of linen tapes or inkle started a few years afterwards, but both industries became extinct towards thebeginning of the present century. The manufacture of tweeds is the most important industry of Hawick. In this branch the annual turn-over is about £800,000; while in the whole woollen trade it is about £2,000,000.· The manufacture of hosiery, to which the town owes so much of its prosperity, was introduced in 1771, when four looms, employing six men and five women, produced annually about 2400 pairs of coarse stockings. Hawick has gradually become the chief seat of this trade in Scotland. Some of the yarn spun at Hawick is sent to England and to other parts of Scotland to be woven; while the merino yarn used for the finer goods is chiefly obtained from Pleasley and Nottingham. Besides the staples, tweeds and hosiery, Hawick manufactures shawls, plaids, blankets, gloves, and leather. There are also an oil-work, for extracting oil from the soapy refuse of the fulling-mills, an iron-foundry, and a factory-engineering establishment. The population of the burgh in 1871 was 11,356; in 1879 it was estimated at about 15,000.
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