Roxburgh 
district, Borders region, southern Scotland. Created by the reorganization of 1975, it 
includes most of the former county of Roxburgh (q.v.) and a small part of the former 
county of Berwick. Hawick is the seat of the district authority. The district, with an area 
of 595 square miles (1,540 square km), contains the entire basin of the Teviot River, 
which flows northeast in its dale (valley) to its confluence with the Tweed at Kelso. 
Rolling grass moorlands enclose the farmland in the deep valleys. Most of the district's 
land is under grass. Upland sheep farming is the chief occupation west of Hawick. The 
lowland crop-livestock farms combine sheep and cattle breeding. The economies of 
Roxburgh's towns centre on their markets, textile manufactures, and tourist trade. Hawick 
is especially noted for hosiery and knitwear. Pop. (1987 est.) 35,133. 
 
The Borders of Scotland - Roxburgh
Roxburgh, also called ROXBURGHSHIRE, former county, southern Scotland; since the 
reorganization of 1975 it is mostly in Roxburgh district, of Borders region. Numerous 
archaeological remains in the area include hill forts in the dales and later Roman camps, 
forts, and signal stations, as well as Dere Street, the Roman road running north from 
England. After the Roman withdrawal the area was occupied by the Britons of 
Strathclyde, and it was later annexed to Northumbria for four centuries until it was ceded 
to Scotland in 1018. Roxburgh was constituted a shire by David I, and its ancient town of 
Roxburgh formed one of the Court of Four Burghs. The town was abandoned when the 
castle was destroyed and James II of Scotland killed in 1460; it was superseded by Kelso. 
Other towns in the locality were repeatedly burned during border warfare between the 
Scots and English, and the abbeys of Jedburgh, Kelso, and Melrose were ruined in 1544-
45. Abbotsford, near Melrose, was the last home of the 19th-century novelist Sir Walter 
Scott, and the surrounding area is known as "the Scott country." 
District of Roxburgh

 

Thanks to James Pringle Weavers for the following information 
The name Roxburgh comes from the Old English word "Hroc" meaning rook and the word "Burgh" 
from both sides of the border meaning a fortified place. The original District of Roxburgh was 
relatively small (less than 50 miles East to West and even less North to South) and was squeezed 
between the English counties of Northumberland and Cumberland and the Scottish counties of 
Dumfries, Selkirk and Berwick with a small corridor reaching through to Mid Lothian. It was 
constituted by David I in 1018 but by the 12th century it was described as being "the fourth in 
Scotland in population and importance". The town of Roxburgh was a Royal Burgh and had a castle 
of some importance. Alexander II was married there in 1239 and his son, later to become Alexander 
III, was born there two years later. Being a "Border County" of such importance it was fought over 
for centuries by the Scots and English, first being captured by one side then retaken by the other. It 
was at one time taken by the English and remained in their possession for 100 years until it was 
finally recapturd in 1460 by which time town and castle had been reduced to rubble and was no 
longer worth fighting over. All that remains today are a few grassy mounds and the village of 
Roxburgh two or three miles from Kelso. The area was known earlier as Teviotdale; the Teviot being 
the main river flowing into the Tweed at Roxburgh. . When looking at the history of The District of 
Roxburgh mention must be made of The Border Reivers. They were horsemen, from Scotland and 
England, who raided the whole of the border, from the Solway Firth to the North Sea, and created 
an area of such lawlessness and terror that none was safe from robbery, pillage, rustling, arson and 
even murder. Much of this was done in the name of revenge between one family or clan and 
another and some of these feuds went on for 300 years. In an effort to restore peace one local noble 
or another would be appointed by the King to try to keep order and "Marches" (boundaries) were 
created. This is the origin of the still present habit in border towns, and elsewhere, of Riding the 
Marches. There were East and West Marches north and south of the border but the whole of 
Roxburgh was in the Middle March or The Debatable Land where lawlessness persisted for many 
more years. There are numerous famous border names but many tend to be families rather than 
clans as in the Highlands. Those mostly associated with Roxburgh are Armstrong, Douglas, Elliot, 
Glendinning, Haig, Kerr, Riddell, Rutherford, Scott and Turnbull to name only some. The district's 
early prosperity came from the land i.e. agriculture and sheep providing wool for textiles. Before the 
reorganisation of local government in 1975 re-drew some boundaries the main towns included 
Hawick, Jedburgh, Melrose and Kelso although the county town was Newton St. Boswells. 
TARTAN: Although many local names have their own tartan there is a Roxburgh Tartan available to 
any other name from the district - in fact there are two i.e. Red and the Green or Hunting. They were 
first recorded in 1850, which meant they were in use before that, . The designer and origin are 
uncertain. Yardage is currently featured in the ranges of several Scottish Tartan manufacturers in 
the Red version but the Green is much more difficult to obtain.