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Hawick Honorary Provost's Council

The 1973 Local Government (Scotland} Act (The Act) changed the structure of local government substantially. Two parts of The Act were directed at the lowest level of civic life. One removed Scotland's Burgh Councils the other established a structure for the formation of Community Councils. One part of civic life was particularly affected - the role of the civic head of all of the abolished burghs. The Act recognised that there was a need for a civic leader and allowed the new local authorities to use a name such as provost to describe that post. It did not provide for the circumstance where a community previously enjoying the benefit of its own council might have roles which that leader played which would not be abolished with the burgh. Hawick was one such burgh, the provost played a role in the annual Hawick Common Riding.

This would not have posed a problem had the town chosen to be represented by a single community council. The option to choose to name the convenor of that council Provost could be incorporated in the Scheme of Arrangement which the Local Authority was required to produce. Hawick chose to have two community councils. The solution to this dilemma was provided by a private, exclusively male, club within the town The Callants Club. The club designed a constitution for an honorary provosts council.