Hawick Common Riding - The Charter

The Town Charter of 1537 is the oldest document in Hawick (A charter is any written record which confirms the granting of land or the giving of titles to people). It was granted to the town by Sir James Douglas. He was the seventh Baron of Hawick and the son of Sir William Douglas (Drumlanrig). This Charter granted “ particates “ or small pieces of land to a large number of people who are mentioned by name It also granted the Common Moor of Hawick and the Common Haugh for the benefit and use of the town. There was rough ground for grazing, good land for pasture and peat for fuel.

“'Twas then Drumlanrig, generous donor,

Gave (immortal be his honour)

What might soothe Hawick's dire disaster,

Land for tillage, peats and pasture

It is thought actually that Sir James is not the “generous donor “ mentioned in “ Teribus “ Also the Charter may not be the first one to grant the common to the people of Hawick. It is believed to be a re-grant of an earlier charter which was given by his father. This one was probably lost, stolen or destroyed in a raid. Sir James Douglas may have granted his charter to honour the memory of his father. He also wanted to relieve the poverty of the people of Hawick by confirming their ownership of the land. A toast to the memory of Drumlanrig is made to this day.

Here is a list of surnames of the particate holders named in the Charter. Some are common in Hawick to this day. These are no doubt the descendants of the original ones:

Scott	Chapman	Blair	Morley
Brown	Short	Paisley	Angus
Young	Fair	Henderson	White
Turnbull	Waugh	Wylie	Martin
Chalmers	Douglas	Alison	Patterson
Gladstone	Hepburn	Storie	Morton
Stewart	Deans	Wilson

But there are others whose names are also given and which are now almost unknown in the area. The families may have died out. Some may have emigrated to other countries.

Rutlech	Connel	Benkis	Howbum
Plendergaist	Rawcastill	Lidderdale	Cessford
Farnelaw	Fowlaw

Among those given land was John Deans, who got a grant of two particates. He is likely to be the same John Deans whose tombstone is still in St. Mary's Churchyard with this inscription:

“ HEIR LYIS ANE HONEST MAN, JOHNE DEANIS, QVHA VAS TENANT KYNDLIE OF HAVIK MILN AND SLAN IN DEBAIT OF HIS NICHTBOURIS GEIR, THE ZEIR OF GOD, MDXLVI.”

DEBAIT-defence; NICHTBOURIS-neighbours; GElR- goods or cattle (He was killed while rescuing his neighbour's cattle from raiders).

At the time of the Charter, Hawick appears to have consisted of 110 houses including the manor house, church and mill. To run the burgh were two bailies and thirty-one councillors. By 1861 there were four baiIies, ten councillors and one provost (In Scotland a bailie was the title of a magistrate who sits in a court. He is elected by the council from among the councillors. To become a councillor one had first to be a burgess, a leading citizen of the town. (Today baiIies and magistrates are honorary posts). Today the Common is owned by the Common Good. This is run for the people of Hawick by the Scottish Borders Council. By agreement with this Council the Common Good Fund is used for the good of Hawick and isn't used outside Hawick's boundaries (Common Good is the property owned by a town in Scotland).