17 May 2023
Scotland is full of surprises. Tonight, after a really yummy dinner at an Italian restaurant, we were walking back to our accommodation and saw members of a pipe band standing outside the Town Hall. Traffic happily stopped to allow us to take photos, and then we got talking to a couple of very friendly pipers. It turns out that the 38th Annual Hawick Sings Concert, in celebration of the 1514 Club (as in the year 1514), was being held this evening in the Town Hall. A lady came out of the hall and had a chat with us, as the lovely locals seem to do, and offered us her ticket and even took us inside to show us the seats. Amazing!
So, quite unexpectedly, Mum and I were treated to a two-hour concert of traditional Scottish music and poetry by the talented school students, local singers, the Pipe Band, and a local Saxhorn Band. It was magical. There is so much tradition behind this concert and the hall was filled with people of all ages, and during some of the songs everyone (except us) was joining in the singing.
Apparently, the horses we saw last night were also part of
the 1514 tradition, and they were getting ready for “The Common-Riding”. The Riding
celebrates both the capture of an English Flag in 1514 by the youth of Hawick,
and the ancient custom of riding the marches or boundaries of the common land.
It was very sobering to think that our Nichol family in the 1700s and 1800s
would have been celebrating 1514 in much the same way and would know many of
the same songs that we heard tonight. It has been a very special evening.
We spent most of the day exploring the records at The History Hub, which very conveniently is just a couple of doors away from our accommodation. After so much sitting, we had a lovely walk across the Teviot River to Wilton where the Nichols were in the 1700s. Again, the colour of the trees was so striking.
Tomorrow we are going to explore the Galashiels area.
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