West Port

About West Port

A stone plaque on the wall of No 2 Loan indicates that this was the site of the port This was the western gate to the town in medieval times and was on the main road to Carlisle.
No 14 Loan was where James Hogg, who wrote the words for the Common-Riding song ‘Teribus' in 1819. died. The tune of the song is much older - it dates back to at least the 16th century. Hogg - not to be confusedwith the ‘Ettrick Shepherd' of the same namecalled the song ‘The Colour', but it is betterknown now as ‘Teribus'. An old copy of the tune is preserved in the town's library.
However. it only vaguely resembles the tune used today.
The area now known as Drumlanrig Square was not always as wide - a row of thatched houses known as the Auld Mid Row ran down the centre, and the sides were known as Back Row and Fore Row.
The Mid Row houses had fallen into disrepair, unfit for habitation. The l86l Census shows the 11 houses were home to 171 people an average of 15.5 per house! In 1884, after the people of Hawick collected sufficient money to buy the houses from the owners, they were then demolished.
The Brown Memorial Fountain and Clock, designed by the renowned Edinburgh-born, Hawick based architect James P Alison – was added to the square in 191O. Auctioneer William Brown, who had left Hawick in his teens and died at Alloa, left provision in his will for the fountain and clock to be erected in the town.
Head your way down through Silver Street. This narrow street is one of the oldest in Hawick. It was here that a Chartist Association store was opened in I838. The first day's sales at the Silver Street premises were £7, and its success soon caused a lowering of prices in neighbouring shops. Eventually. other brandies opened in the town and by l854 the Association was absorbed into the Co-operative Society. By 1940. The Co-op‘s yearly turnover was recorded at £345,911.