HAWICK CROSS.

BY MR W. N. KENNEDY, PRESIDENT OF THE HAWICK
ARCHEOLOGICAL SOCIETY.

AW

HETHER the venerable and venerated memorial of Hawick Cross was erected as an immediate result of the first propagation of Christianity by the pious St Cuthbert, in his apostolic perambulation of Upper Teviotdale in the seventh century, or owed its origin to a later era and another cause, cannot now be ascertained. The locality which it adorned for so many centuries still retains its name, and its exact site has been preserved by a circular pavement about four feet in diameter, which encloses. a St Andrew's Cross of the same rude materials, and is situated near to the centre of the Weigh-house under the Town Hall. The accidental discovery and acquisition of the plinth of this ancient structure by the Hawick Archeological Society, in 1860, presented an opportunity for collecting such meagre details regarding it as are available, though these are of a casual nature, so as to present little interest beyond our own limited section of the community. Although a century has not yet elapsed since the demolition of Hawick Cross, neither oral tradition nor documentary evidence exists to enlighten the present generation as to the appearance presented by the once important fabric, or the material of which it was composed; but the recovery of the stone forming the base of the cross tends to set the matter at rest. It was formed of Whitrope Burn sandstone, being the same material as the ribbed arches of the Old Bridge over the Slitrig. The transit of these large blocks, from the mountain range which separates Liddesdale from Teviotdale, must have involved a vast amount of labour, from the want of roads and wheeled vehicles, and the display of some little engineering skill to overcome the danger arising from the soft, spongy nature of the peat soil which had to be traversed for the greater part of the way. From the time it was first resolved till the day it was carried into effect, it would form an unfailing theme for discussion among the lieges, and the wondrous excitement would only reach its climax as the first heavy laden sled descended the watershed of the Slitrig and entered the town, having for its freight the massive block which has just been restored to within a few feet of its ancient site. Its progress and completion would form a just source of pride to every indweller, and it would be inaugurated amid general rejoicing. Up to the last century every town in Scotland had its market cross, which was generally placed in an open space near the centre of the town. Traces of this are to be seen in the base of one which still occupies a central opening at the town-head of Cavers, carrying the mind back to the times when an extensive village occupied its now wooded environs; and of the "Corse" of Denholm, which, at a period

still recent, occupied the centre of its "level green." The cross was made the principal theatre of public business and municipal transactions. Around the spot traders congregated for business purposes on fair and market days; proclamations, whether of general interest or local import, were here promulgated; and here delinquents were made to do penance for their acts, and also received the punishment awarded for their crimes. The earliest record of judicial procedure in the burgh of Hawick occurs under date 1638, when a woman was charged with stealing peats from one of the bailies; she confessed her theft, “and yrfoir the bailies, with the consent of the council, ordainit her to lie 48 hours in the stockes, and yrafter to come to the mercat crosse of Hawick upon the mercat-day, and to stand thereupon with the peittis upon her shoulder, with ane paper upon her breaste or forehead declaring the fault, and cam in the option of the said W. Scott, bailie." This brief notice is interesting from the culprit being made to stand upon the cross, thus shewing that it stood upon an elevated base or platform, doubtless surrounded on all sides by a flight of steps, and in which the part of the ancient structure now recovered was sunk to the bevel of the stone. Three years later, the same authority states that a man “having apprehendit ane meir quhyt mainet and quhyt tailit, cumming 4 years old, upon the land of Hoitt, in the hinder end of October last, and having causit proclaim her several tymes at the parish kirk door of Hawick upon Sundays, and at the mercat crosse of Hawick in tyme of mercat day, and because nane claimit the said meir, she was brocht to the mercat crosse of Hawick to be apprised," &c. Not the least interesting of the formal ceremonials which attended the ancient practice of the Common-riding, and which has been transmitted to the present day, consists in the town clerk reading on that day, as near as possible to the spot where the old landmark stood, a proclamation defining the rights and privileges of the independent citizens, and prohibiting all and sundry from infringing upon or violating them. The cross was thus connected with all the most important transactions which occurred in the town, as was most probably the intention of its pious founders. They must have been men of religious feeling who dictated its erection for their own benefit and that of posterity, by restricting the area of bargain-making, of punishing law-breakers, and making known public edicts under the shadow of the most sacred of all sacred emblems; and all must deplore the loss of such a time-honoured relic, from its intimate association with local events and unnumbered centuries. Long before the magisterial decree was issued for its destruction it shewed evident tokens that time had not passed over it without leaving marks of its destroying fingers, and the burgh records shew that, on 17th May 1715, the Council ordained-"That the common mercat crosse, with its appendages, be helped, mended, and repaired at the expense of the burgh;" and again, on 26th May 1724, the following entry occurs :-"Given ye masons for lead and aile, when they mended ye crosse, 15s." On 25th September 1730 "Paid for lead to the cross building, £1, 4s.” The stone already alluded to affords corroborative proof of these repeated tinkerings,

there being on the front three holes in which iron stays or holdfasts had been inserted, and two in the back. These account for the lead which, we learn, was used on these occasions; but no rational solution has yet been given of the way in which the aile contributed to the work of mending. In 1762, the Council resolved to take down the Flesh-market Cross and Cross Wynd Port, and to dispose of the stones and timber. It took two labourers two days in taking down the Cross and Cross Wynd Port, and the cross stones were sold for IIS. 6d. At the date of its destruction it may be safely affirmed that the cross of Hawick was by far the oldest architectural structure in the town, and it must ever be matter of regret that the authorities of that day were of such a sordid spirit as to dispose of the materials of which it was composed. After it was taken down, the stone forming the socket for the shaft was sufficiently ponderous to be selected for a pillory and other useful purposes, and it was accordingly sunk into the ground upside-down, with a large staple and ring attached, to which criminals were fastened for a public spectacle; and the oxen intended for slaughter were also tied to it for the purpose of being bated with bull-dogs, the cruel process being considered necessary for insuring tender beef. This sudden transition from a sacred to a secular purpose appears to have been accomplished in that utilitarian age without the smallest compunction; and, whatever the virtues or vices of the citizens may have been, it is clear there was not the least archæological spirit in any of them. This relic remained in active use in its humble position till the erection of the present Town Hall in 1782, when a pillory of the platform-cage order was thoughtfully provided for the public wants, and there being no further use for the old one, it was presented to a skinner, and by him removed to the margin of the Teviot at the Tanners' Pool. It proved a useful adjunct to his trade for a long series of years, but for the last twenty the raising of Messrs Laidlaws' cauld had submerged it beneath the water, and, except to a few antiquaries, its existence was unknown, and even by them it was remembered only by its pillory and bull-dog associations. The age of progress having decreed the erection of a street along the water-side, the stone, if not rescued from its position, would have been covered to a depth of five or six feet, and an indefatigable member of this Society applied to, and obtained permission from, the Town Council to have it removed and preserved among the native antiquities of our Museum, where it forms another link of the venerable chain which unites us with the shadowy past of Old Hawick.

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