Teviot
| Author:Laxman Burdak, IFS (R) |
- See also Tevatia Gotra
River Teviot (/ˈtiːviət/), or Teviot Water, is a river of the Scottish Borders area of Scotland, and a tributary of the River Tweed.
Origin of name
The Thames, from Middle English Temese, is derived from the Brittonic Celtic name for the river, Tamesas (from *tamēssa),[1] recorded in Latin as Tamesis and yielding modern Welsh Tafwys "Thames". The name may have meant "dark" and can be compared to other cognates such as Russian темно (Proto-Slavic *tĭmĭnŭ), Lithuanian tamsi "dark", Latvian tumsa "darkness", Sanskrit tamas and Welsh tywyll "darkness" (Proto-Celtic *temeslos) and Middle Irish teimen "dark grey".[2] The same origin is shared by countless other river names, spread across Britain, such as the River Tamar at the border of Devon and Cornwall, several rivers named Tame in the Midlands and North Yorkshire, the Tavy on Dartmoor, the Team of the North East, the Teifi and Teme of Wales, the Teviot in the Scottish Borders, as well as one of the Thames' tributaries called the Thame.
Course
It rises in the western foothills of Comb Hill on the border of Dumfries and Galloway. It flows north-eastwards through Teviotdale and past Teviothead, the Colterscleuch Monument, Broadhaugh, Branxholme and Branxholme Castle.
The Teviot passes through Hawick and Lanton, the Timpendean Tower and the town of Ancrum, Harestanes and Monteviot, Nisbet and Roxburgh, before joining the River Tweed to the southwest of Kelso.
The Borders Abbeys Way keeps close company with the Teviot on its journey to the Tweed.
Tributaries
The principal tributaries of the Teviot are the Allan Water which enters its right bank at Newmill, the Borthwick Water which enters its left bank between Branxholme and Hawick, the Slitrig Water which enters via the right bank in Hawick itself, the Ale Water entering via the left bank at Ancrum, the Jed Water on the right bank just downstream and the Kale Water which enters on the right bank between Crailing and Roxburgh.