Hizzy Cairn

About Hizzy Cairn

Motor cycle racing star “Hizzy” won the Isle of Man TT eleven times being the first man to complete the 37 1/2 mile circuit at an average speed of 120 mph. He also won the British 250cc championship and the British Superbike championship twice. He died when the helicopter he was piloting mysteriously plunged from the sky not far from his Teviothead memorial cairn. His funeral was the biggest seen in Hawick since that of the town’s other great motor cycle ace Jimmie Guthrie who was killed in the German Grand Prix of 1937, hundreds of bikers following the cortege to Steve’s final resting place in the cemetery of his native village of Southdean. He also has a bronze statue in Wilton Lodge Park in Hawick and another on Onchan Head near to where he lived on the Isle of Man. His many trophies are on permanent display in Hawick Museum.

“On slabs made of marble and granite,
His name will be chiselled with pride,
And when folks in years to come scan it,
They will wonder at why Steven died.
Farewell to a brave Border callant,
In tune with his racing machine,
Who conquered the world with his talent,
And comes home to sleep in Southdean.”
Tim Douglas

"Steve Hislop rode his motorbike
With dauntless will to win.
He smashed the T.T. record
Time and time again.
One summer day, when far too young,
He fell down from the sky
And Border folk it seems
Will never know the reason why."
Ian W Landles