awick. It is "Teribus ye teri Odin," which is
probably a corruption of the Anglo-Saxon, "Tyr habbe us, ye Tyr ye
Odin"--May Tyr uphold us, both Tyr and Odin.

Fortunately Dr. Murray has investigated this formula, and I will quote
what he says:--

"A relic of North Anglian heathendom seems to be
preserved in a phrase which forms the local slogan of
the town of Hawick, and which, as the name of a
peculiar local air, and the refrain, or 'owerword' of
associated ballads, has been connected with the
history of the town back to 'fable-shaded eras.'
Different words have been sung to the tune from time
to time, and none of those now extant can lay claim to
any antiquity; but associated with all, and yet
identified with none, the refrain '_Tyr-ibus ye Tyr ye
Odin_,' Tyr haeb us, ye Tyr ye Odin! Tyr keep us, both
Tyr and Odin! (by which name the tune also is known)
appears to have come down, scarcely mutilated, from
the time when it was the burthen of the song of the
gleo-mann or scald, or the invocation of a heathen
Angle warrior, before the northern Hercules and the
blood-red lord of battles had yielded to the 'pale
god' of the Christians."

[Illustration: THE AULD CA-KNOWE: CALLING THE BURGESS ROLL]

[Illustration: HAWICK MOAT AT SUNRISE]

And in a note Dr. Murray adds:--

"The ballad now connected with the air of 'Tyribus'
commemorates the laurels gained by the Hawick youth at
and after the disastrous battle, when, in the words of
the writer,

"'Our sires roused by "Tyr ye Odin,"
Marched and joined their king at Flodden.'

Annually since that event the 'Common-Riding' has
been held, on which occasion a flag or 'colour'
captured from a party of the English has been with
great ceremony borne by mounted riders round the
bounds of the common land, granted after Flodden to
the burgh; part of the ceremony consisting in a mock
capture of the 'colour' and hot pursuit by a large
party of horsemen accoutred for the occasion. At the
conclusion 'Tyribus' is sung, with all the honours, by
the actors in the ceremony, from the roof of the
oldest house in the burgh, the general population
filling the street below, and joining in the song with
immense enthusiasm. The influence of modern ideas is