Not so common
Thursday, July 1st, 2010As we plan another trip to Denholm I need to report on my last trip.
It seems my articles this summer are based on places to visit outwith Fife so I will continue the theme…
We went down to Denholm for Fiona’s birthday weekend which happens to coincide with the Common Riding season; Hawick’s Common-Riding celebrates both the capture of an English Flag in 1514 by the youth of Hawick at a place called Hornshole and the ancient custom of riding the marches or boundaries of the common land.
We hung out on Denholm green, packed with groups of friends from the surrounding area, eating, drinking and as it happened enjoying the blazing sunshine!
This is a new festival to me and the importance to the local community had pretty much passed me by. What a great occasion with the crowds cheering and two hundred horses coming round the village green. I was amazed to see the crowd was pretty much totally locals with few if any tourists. As a country we market the Highland Games, a slightly manufactured, tourist friendly event. However in the Common Riding events we have vibrant, historic events, properly rooted in the local communities.
The Cornet and his Right and Left hand Men
If all you do is sit on the green and cheer I urge you to go and take part. Just be wary of invites to drink rum and milk from dawn