Tweed

Tweed

the Tweed (thu-tweed) n.

Tweed River, principal river of the Borders, being 97 miles (155 km) long and the 4th largest in Scotland. Its source is Tweed’s Well north of Moffat (interestingly only about a mile from the sources of both the Clyde and the Annan) and flows into the North Sea at Berwick, forming part of the line of the Border in its course. Internationally renowned for salmon fishing, its main tributaries are the Ettrick, Gala, Leader, and of course the Teviot – ‘. . . I bid your pleasing haunts adieu! Yet, fabling fancy oft shall lead My footsteps to the silver Tweed, Through scenes that I no more must view’ [JL], ‘Slitrig, Borthwick, and the Teviot swell Tweed’s praises to the sea, Blending all the Border’s music in a glorious harmony’ [GHB], ‘. . .The sunny smile of an auld, auld toon where the Teviot twines to Tweed’ [JYH], ‘Three crests against the saffron sky, Beyond the purple plain, The kind remembered melody Of Tweed once more again’ [ALg], ‘Then no dirge be mine when my brief days dwine, But this be the tune for me – Tweed’s glorious song, as she rolls along To her tryst with the grey North Sea’ [WL] (the name is very old and its origin obscure although it could be related to the Sanskit root ‘tav´as’ to surge, the same a the Teviot perhaps).

Associated Pages

External Links

http://www.biggararchaeology.org.uk/mp_tweeddale.shtml