BORDER “RIDES THE MARCHES”

Evening Star, Issue 25674, 24 December 1945, Page 3

BORDER “RIDES THE MARCHES”

WIDESPREAD SCOTTISH OBSERVANCES [By E. R. Yarhaji.] With their Majesties and the Princesses resuming their happy visits to Balmoral, one expects that the Highland Games will once again assume their full glory. One hopes that, in like manner, the picturesque Border customs will also be restored. These, the “ Riding the Marches,” or the “ Common Ridings,” were being carried out with growing enthusiasm before the war. And, though nothing so well known as the Highland Gaines, they were in many ways equally notable, and, indeed, are far more closely knit with the story of Scotland. Proof of how widespread the observances are is seen in the fact that they are associated with'at least half a dozen Border towns —Peebles, Selkirk, Galashiels, Langholm, Hawick, and Lanark, and, a little further north, with Linlithgow, birthplace of Mary, Queen of Scots. It is difficult to trace with any exactitude the origin of the oractices, paganism being inextricably intertwined with the memory of heroic deeds performed at the period when the Border country was never free from desperate struggles fought out with no quarter between English and Scots. In some ways the festivities resemble the ancient English custom of “ Beat-, ing the Bounds,” when the boundaries of parishes are “ perambulated ” m order to ensure that the landmarks have not been tampered with. This is carried out in the heart of London, in the Stiand, and at the Tower to this dav. But once can also see survivals of the pagan practice of sun worship: and lastly, but by no means least, some of the ridings commemorate Flodden Field, that blackest day in Scotland’s story, tlie terrible tragedy of which is immortalised in words that have been described as the saddest in Scottish poetry:—

I’ve heard them liltin’ at our ewemilkin’. Lasses a-liltin’ before dawn of day; But now they are moanin’ on ilka green loanin’; The flowers o’ the forest are a’ wecle away.

’Although the same idea may lie behind the commemorations all ove.' the Border country, in the course of centuries each town has made its ceremony peculiarly its own. with features that are seen nowhere else. _ Moreover special names have been given to the ridings For examnle, that at Galashiels ■ is called the “ Braw Lads’ Gathering.” In some wavs it is reallv a.pageant founded on the, history of the town, and the various ceremonies, the collection of the sod and the stone, and so' on. are symbolical of the events of former centuries. There are live wards in the burgh and each elects wliat'are known as a “braw lad” and a “ braw lass.” The opening ceremony consists in collecting a sod and a stone from the Torwoodlee estate, and next day there are many festivities. including civic functions, direworks, and a concert. The events. conclude on the Saturday when, in a quaint proclamation, the town crier declares a public liolidav under a char ter granted by James VI. of Scotland The provost, magistrates, and councillors invite the burgesses to accompany the principal “ braw lad ” . in “ riding the old roads, passing the fords of Tweed, and. commemorating the ancient traditions of the burgh. 1 ' The procession of riders on horseback sets off, and, after different ceremonies in the outlying parts of the burgli. all return to the Old Town Cross, where is celebrated the granting of the charter by which Galashiels was erected into a burgh of barony in 1599, with a right to hold a fair at midsummer. Hawick’s celebration is among the most notable. Both there and at Selkirk, the common ridings commemorate Flodden, while they also mark the burgh boundaries. At Hawi.tik the comniemorators are called “ teries,” so named from the words “ Teribus ye Teriodin,” of the old riding song which is sung with great fervour during the riding. Some believe it is an invocation to Thor and Odin, and a survival of Northumbrian paganism. At the Battle of Flodden the burghers of Hawick suffered tragically, and after the encounter a band of Englishmen fell on the town. But a year later, 1514, a number of young Scots, in turn, routed an English force on the Teviot, two miles below Hawick,

and captured a pennon. The event is recalled every year in Riding the Common,” during which a facsimile of the captured flag is carried in procession by a young unmarried man known as the “ Coronet,” and it is then ckas the defiant notes of “Teribus ye Teriodin ” are heard. Hawick’s common riding is intimately connected with that at Selkirk, < but at the latter town it is the lament of “ the liltin’ ” that comes from the very heart of the ancient Border woe, which is heard instead of the warlike pagan song. At Selkirk it is the souters, iiie old craft of shoemakers, who have given" their name to their fellow-' townsmen.

The burgh standard bearer, leading about 150 horsemen, rides through the town, adorned for the great day of the riding of the marches of the ancient burgh. This is.an adventurous undertaking for some, as the words of an eyewitness prove: “ The course fails steeply towards the meeting of Ettriek and Yarrow; climbs a long, stiff slope to a height of over 1,000 ft; and ends with a thunderous gallop into the town. It presents no terrors for most of' the riders—farmers’ sons, local tradesmen, bred to the saddle and inured to the gruelling struggles of Border Rugby from school days. There are women riders, too, and a sprinkling of,quite small children and gallant ponies. “ Most acquit themselves well. But to some of the visiting equestrians—for the common riding is free to all—the course is not without its hazards. The ancient god-speed with which the provost opens the proceedings, ‘ Safe out and safe in,’ is no mere convention.”

For often many tosses. are taken, and the riderless horses gallop madly over the last quarter of a mile, where the riding ends on flat pastures, and there is much good-natured chaffing of the efforts of limping but undefeated horsemen to capture their errant mounts. Eventually all gather in the market square, where the last act of the ceremony is performed. The standard bearer casts the colour in memory of Flodden, to the strains of. 1 Up wi* the Souters o’ Selkirk.’

A story is told of Sir Walter Scott in connection with one of the flags of the weavers taken on one of the annual ridings at Selkirk. It returned badly damaged, and its fate seemed sealed until it was rescued by the great novelist, who bore it off to Abbotsford, where it was carefully repaired by his family, to be returned to the craft for continued glory. The' flag of the weavers is, indeed, highly revered in Selkirk, for it is tins which tradition identifies with the banner brought home by the lone survivor from Flodden’s tragic field. The annual celebratiou at Dumfries is known as “ Guid Nychburris Day,” that is, “ Good Neighbours’ Day.” In' olden times, when there were few maps and surveying was primitive, there was urgent necessity for ensuring that the boundary marks of the burgh were untampered with, and so every inhabitant had to attend the annual “ beating the bounds.” ' In England the boys were whipped at each mark, or bumped upon the boundary stones, the better’to impress their memories. In Dumfries a kindlier habit prevailed, for they .were given apples and a holiday, which remains to this day. With music and much ancient ceremonial the marches are ridden by the cornet, the King’s courier, the provost, the town drummer, and others, whose offices; have descended.from their medieval forbears. The central figure of the ceremonv is -the cornet,, who -is elected for tlie year by the Town

Council. _ . . He is accompanied by his tour “ lynors.” and at the town’s boundary meets the pursuivant. The burgh flag is handed over to his safe keeping, after which it is laureated by the Queen of the South. ”At Peebles the festivities extend

over a week, and" the occasion is known as the Beltane Queen Festival. The great event is the crowning of the Beltane queen, who is the “ dux'” girl, that is. the leading scholar of Queensland Elementary School. Then comes the riding of the marches, the “ March Riding.” as it is called, which takes place on the Saturday nearest to. Midsummer Day. .' . ■ ~ In some obscure way it is probaole the ceremony is linked with the pagan custom of lighting fires to the sun god at midsummer, these being called “ Beltane fires.” , . Lanark’s commemoration is knownas the “ Lanimers.” meaning “ landmarch,” and it is also. often caked "the birks,” because bircli , branches are carried in procession. The cornet holds the burgh dlag for a year, and a Lanimer queen is chosen as well. Langholm’s common riding is extremely picturesque, with several interesting ceremonies, including the ride to the castle cfaigs and the children’s procession with heather besoms. Barley bannocks and salt herrings on poles are also carried in procession.