Why Scotland should celebrate its Common Riding events more and Outlander less – Stephen Jardine

Riders ford the River Ettrick during the Selkirk Common Riding (Picture: Jane Barlow) | PA

A week ago, I was in France watching history come alive before my eyes. The local village was marking the patron saint of farmers and blacksmiths with a grand parade celebrating rural life. There were Provencal cowboys on horseback, cattle decked with ribbons and locals dressed as they would have been a century ago.

As ever, I watched the parade and wondered why on earth we don’t keep old traditions like this alive back home? Then I realised, we do.

Today is the culmination of the Hawick Common Riding and this summer, across Scotland, similar gatherings will take place, marking boundaries, famous skirmishes and small triumphs. They all have their own quaint quirks and traditions.

READ MORE: VisitScotland 'excited and saddened' by last series of Outlander after show's 'huge impact' on tourism

Hawick Common Riding celebrates the capture of an English flag from a raiding party in 1514 by the youth of Hawick (Picture: Jeff J Mitchell) | Getty Images

Tradition matters

In West Linton, it’s all about the Whipman, in Selkirk they cast the flag to commemorate the Battle of Flodden, in Dumfries they crown the Queen of the South, and in Hawick there might be a few sore heads this morning thanks to the tradition of celebrating with rum and milk at last night’s Common Riding Ball.

Why? Because that’s just what they do and that’s the real beauty of these events. The Hawick celebration may date back to the capture of an English flag in 1514, but it happens to this day because tradition matters and so does the sense of community that comes from a shared past.

From Cockburnspath to Melrose, 29 towns have these summer events, each one slightly different and unique to them but all with the shared purpose of marking the boundaries in accordance with the terms of the town charter.

Yet you’d struggle to find anything about them on the VisitScotland website. Our national tourist organisation has more about the Pride Festival than it has on all the Common Riding events put together. We’re careless with tradition in Scotland, more interested in the made-up fables of Outlander than the Braw Lads from Galashiels fording the River Tweed at Galashiels as they have done for a century.

READ MORE: Night train to the Highlands embraces the Outlander effect

Historic gatherings at risk

Why is that? Perhaps our past is not quite diverse enough for modern tastes or maybe anything outside the Central Belt is just seen as a local thing for local people. I can’t think of anything more suited to the visual demands of Instagram and TikTok than these local Scottish events but I suspect none of them will be trending on social media anytime soon.

That is such a shame, especially when many of these gatherings are in peril. Earlier this year a working group was set up to try to safeguard their future in the face of ongoing financial pressures. With increasing insurance and public liability costs, most of the organising committees face a shortfall in funding. For the organisers, who are all volunteers, this is a worrying time.

Relevant local authorities offer some financial support but they are also cash-strapped. We can do out bit by going along to watch and enjoy the spectacle and make a donation to funds. And our national tourism organisation can get behind them and promote these real events over synthetic TV shows based on fake heritage.

We’re lucky to be a nation with so much history but we must not take it for granted. These events are treasures from the past to be guarded and protected as much as anything in a museum.