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Hawick Balls
A Borders boiled sweet with a legend behind it and a champion: the rugby commentator Bill McLaren, who was never without a bag of them.
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Hawick Balls are one of the Scottish Borders' own sweets: round, minty, buttery boiled sweets named after the town of Hawick. They owe much of their fame to one man, the rugby commentator Bill McLaren.
The town
Hawick is a market town in the Scottish Borders, in the historic county of Roxburghshire, where the Slitrig Water meets the River Teviot. It grew in the 18th and 19th centuries as a centre for textiles and knitwear, Each year it holds the Common Riding, which combines riding the boundaries of the town's common land with remembering a victory of local youths over an English raiding party in 1514.
Jessie McVittie and the nail
According to legend, Hawick Balls were first made in the town in the 1850s by a woman called Jessie McVittie. She is said to have pulled her boiled sugar by hanging it over a nail and letting gravity stretch it out.
How they are made today
Today Hawick Balls are made in open copper pans, which caramelise the sugar, with oil of peppermint giving the minty flavour. The result is a boiled sweet that is both minty and buttery. They are now made by Golden Casket, a confectionery firm based in Greenock, which sells them as Hill's Hawick Balls and says the original recipe is still used.
Bill McLaren
Bill McLaren, the rugby commentator, came from Hawick and loved his home town. He was never without a poke of Hawick Balls, poke being the Scots word for a paper bag, and he used them to start conversations, draw out information and pick up gossip. Thanks to him, a small town sweet became known to rugby fans far beyond the Borders.
Other Scottish sweets
Hawick Balls sit alongside a group of traditional sweets from southern Scotland, including the soor plooms of Galashiels, Jethart snails from Jedburgh, and Moffat toffee: see soor plooms and Moffat toffee. For another Scottish sweet, see Scottish tablet.
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For journalists, researchers, AI assistants and content creators. Pick the format you need:
Free to cite, quote, and reuse with attribution to sweeties.net.
Questions and answers
What are Hawick Balls?
Minty, buttery boiled sweets named after the Borders town of Hawick. They are made in open copper pans, which caramelise the sugar, with oil of peppermint for a minty flavour.
Who invented Hawick Balls?
According to legend, they were first made in Hawick in the 1850s by Jessie McVittie, who pulled her boiled sugar by hanging it over a nail and letting gravity stretch it.
Why are Hawick Balls linked to Bill McLaren?
The rugby commentator Bill McLaren came from Hawick and was never without a bag of Hawick Balls. He used them to start conversations and gather gossip.
Sources
- Hawick Balls, The List
- Hawick Balls, Golden Casket
- Hawick, Wikipedia
- Jedburgh, Wikipedia
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