Clock-wise staircase gave retreating defenders advantage of an unhindered sword arm while attacker's would be hindered. Hawick Border town famous for knitwear and rugby, largely destroyed by English in 1570. Museum tells knitwear history. Festival of Common Riding every summer recalls past, when townsfolk rude around town ensuring other towns had not encroached on their common land. Hermitage Castle Fourteenth-century castle on Hermitage Water.
Violent history recalls stories of death by boiling, drowning and starvation.
Mary, Queen of Scots rode here in 1566 to visit her lover Bothwell, who lay wounded. The Hirsel Country residence of Lord Home, former Prime Minister. Grounds are open to public, stable yard now houses folk museum and craft centre. Picnic site and paths through grounds. Jedburgh Abbey, founded 1138, with tower and roofless nave.