Dr John Leyden, Denholm scholar and poet, who assisted Sir Walter Scott with his collection of the material for his "Minstrelsy of the Scottish Borders” and decided to return for a closer look at the lovely village.

Tranquil melody landscape

The A698 road winds west out of Denholm along the south bank of the Teviot River in such a picturesque meander that we hardly noticed five miles and ten minutes pass before Hawick (pronounced “Hoyk”) suddenly popped up in front of us.  It was early evening when we arrived but the air was warm with the sunlight of the waxing spring day.  The blue sky and large cotton candy clouds seemed to become one with the green velvet of the river’s plain and rolling hills as they met on the horizon in perfect marriage.

As my eyes absorbed the Border canvas of the Master’s gallery my brain searched for better comprehension.  While the river, the hills, the green grass, the clouds were all picture-perfect none of them were unique to that spot so why was it so moving?  The Grand Teton Mountains, the Alps, and the Himalayas are all much more awe-inspiring than the hills of the Borders.  Yet, there was something magical here and it wasn’t just the romance of being in Turnbull territory.  As my brain began to communicate with my eyes and my heart I realized that the Scottish Borders is a perfect tranquil melody rather than a crescendo.  Both move the soul but in very different ways.

Mansfield House Hotel

We checked into the Mansfield House Hotel, a nice old estate owned and run by the MacKinnon family on the east edge of Hawick, just in time to change for supper.  As previously arranged, James and Audrey Knight met us at the Mansfield House Tuesday evening for dinner in the hotel’s locally renowned restaurant.  The Knights who live part of the time on the Isle of Mull and part of the time in Bedrule would like to see Fatlips Castle restored and preserved.  We had a wonderful time

getting to know them, talking about Fatlips, and making plans to visit them at their home, the Bedrule Mill, the next day for lunch and a tour of the area.

As we climbed the stairs to our room and sleepily into bed we remarked that we could not have wished for a better first day.

What are the Highland Games?

During the next several months we are going to cover some of the heavy Athletic events taking place during the Highland Games and Scottish Festivals. Most of which are steeped in old tradition from the antiquities. Men and women compete in these games of strength that require many hours of training and body building.

It is said that King Malcolm Ceanmore (1057) was re­sponsible for the initial start of these heavy ath­letic games. His army was in need of some extra physical training to im­prove their abilities as warriors. King Malcolm created the crude game forms to accomplish these physical feats of strength.

By the 16th century the events of fitness had be­come annual festive occa­sions, a way for kings and chiefs to show the prowess of their warriors that were held at the military musters called "wappinschaws". The first recorded event was a caber toss in 1574 "tossing of ye barr"

Caber Toss:

A tapered pole, shaped much like the present day telephone pole, about 19 feet long, weighs about 100-130 pounds. These are average measure­ments depending on the game rules per state where you attend.

Note: In the United States the games are held in