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EYEMOUTH HERRING QUEEN FESTIVAL, instituted in 1939, followed on from an earlier holiday and celebration known as the Fishermen’s Picnic. The Queen and her maids of honour are chosen from High School pupils and the skipper of each fishing boat nominates a girl to be a member of the Queen’s court. Their costumes and emblems symbolise the sea and fishing community. On the Saturday the Queen arrives in Eyemouth Harbour on a traditional voyage by sea from St Abbs, escorted by a flag bedecked fishing fleet. A colourful crowning ceremony is performed and the procession tours the town, halting at the War Memorial and the Memorial to the 129 Eyemouth men, lost in the 1881 fishing disaster. A varied week’s programme of sports competitions and entertainment follows and the Festival is brought to a close with the Fishermen’s Service at the Parish Church.
ST RONAN’S GAMES, INNERLEITHEN.
Legend says that St Ronan, patron saint of Innerleithen, favoured the mineral waters in the well above the town. He is traditionally depicted with his crook attacking Satan - in Scots "cleiking the Deil". In 1827 the St Ronan’s Border Club was founded and led to the organisation of the annual St Ronan’s Border Games. Their scope widened over the years and in 1901 the Cleikum Ceremony was introduced to familiarise the youth of the town with the tradition of St Ronan.
Social events throughout the week lead to the main ceremonies on the Friday evening. The town’s Standard Bearer is installed and the Burgh Flag bussed. In the Cleikum Ceremony "St Ronan", represented by the boy dux of the school, is invested with his symbol of office, the cleikum crozier. His "monks" each receive a staff. The principals then process around the town. Doves are released as a symbol of peace and the evening ends with a torchlight procession and masonic ceremonies.
Saturday sees the children’s flower parade and the St Ronan’s Border Games, when the Burgh Standard and an effigy of the devil are carried in procession. At night the principals and followers ascend Caerlee Hill. After a fireworks display, an effigy of the devil is flung on the bonfire, as St Ronan demonstrates that he has successfully "cleiked the deil".
OTHER EVENTS
BLANKET PREACHING.
This is an open air service on the last Sunday in July beside St Mary’s Kirk of the Lowes in the Yarrow Valley. It is believed to have taken place since the times when the covenanting preachers were fighting to establish Presbyterianism and to combat the religious oppression of Charles I. The preachers were barred from holding a service in a church, so gathered together on the hillside, under the shelter of blankets.
ST BOSWELLS FAIR.
On St Boisil’s Day, July 18, the country’s gypsies gathered on the village green to buy and sell their horses and other wares. Although it is no longer an important horse fair, the event still takes place as a meeting for hundreds of travelling people from all over Scotland and the North of England.