It has been derided as the Land that Time Forgot,' an aye-been bastion of antediluvian attitudes. Yet if that description ever truly fitted the people of Hawick, delight in their traditional domination of Scottish rugby has recently been replaced by dejection at the ignominy of relegation from the top flight for the first time in their 136-year history.

It was a harsh blow for the town, which is already struggling with job losses and a migrating population in the midst of the recession. In which light, Saturday's latest defeat in the Premiership for the once-fabled Green Machine offered a microcosm of their travails.

As usual, there was no shortage of commitment, especially during an opening 30 minutes when Kevin Reid's side amassed a 17-0 lead with tries from Craig Neish, Dan Landels and Neil Renwick.

But once the hosts finally cranked into gear, they simply swept past Hawick in a flurry of touchdowns from Michael Fedo, Ben Di Rollo, Richard Minto (2), Dougie Brown and Andrew Tweed.

As one might anticipate, there have been rumblings of discontent at the fashion of Hawick's fall from grace. Some blame the SRU for their decision to shut down the Reivers professional team, while others claim the region has been ignored by too many administrators, both within and outside sport. But one suspects the reality lies closer to home.

In the past, when the Mansfield Park club was churning out a conveyor belt of international class performers from Hugh McLeod and Derrick Grant, to Jim Renwick and Colin Deans, they thrived on their feeder system and an apparently inexhaustible supply of young talent emerging from the farms. However, that source has pretty much dried up and there is nothing to replace it.

"The flags aren't at half-mast, but there is a real sense of disappointment around the town, and the worry has to be that getting out of the second division will be very tough," says Renwick.

"Next season, we'll be up against Gala, Kelso and Jed-Forest, which should mean decent crowds, but we also have to tackle the likes of Stirling County, Aberdeen GSFP, Biggar and GHA and it will be hard to regain our Premier 1 spot.

"If we can hang on to all our best talent, I think we could be a force to be reckoned with. But the problem is that we will lose our National Academy players such as promising stand-off Rory Hutton and sevens star Graham Hogg, while the more ambitious guys will want to be involved at the highest level."

This is a fear which is echoed throughout the cafes and watering holes in Hawick's High Street. At Callaghan's, barman Ricky Kiore, who travelled to the borders from New Zealand a decade ago, was pragmatic in assessing the future.

"Relegation wasn't that big a surprise, because we don't seem to have as many kids coming through the ranks as we once did and we can't keep relying on the old guard such as the team's indomitable captain, Kevin Reid, who is now in his mid-30s", said Kiore, a back-row player at the club. "Most of the fans have been dreading this as the winter has progressed, but that doesn't mean it is any less of a blow."

Neither does it help that a wealth of experienced coaches have moved elsewhere, including Ian Barnes, currently at Edinburgh Accies, Greig Oliver (at Irish club, Garryowen) and the aforementioned Deans, who has brought his skills to bear at Northampton and Kettering.

The club's fate embodies the woes bedevilling the game in Scotland, with too many vested interests and too thin a sprinkling of new talent.

Hawick, a place revered for bringing us a feast of happy memories from the words of Bill McLaren to the deeds of Tony Stanger, must square up to life in a lower sphere. Either that or topple further into oblivion.