URPoint Details
Dressed according to the period when they follow an historical itinerary which includes a visit to the ‘Soor Plums’.
Started in 1930 to celebrate the towns history. Preliminary events precede the main ceremonies on the Saturday which begin with the Braw Lad receiving the Burgh Flag and leading his mounted supporters to the Raid Stane. Here in 1337 Gala lads killed English raiders in a field of wild plums. The stream ran red with blood and “soor plooms” became the Burgh emblem. The ride continues with crossing the Tweed to Abbotsford and returns to the Old Town cross where the creation of Galashiels as a Burgh of Barony in 1599 is recalled. The ceremony of sod and stone (sasine) is enacted and red and white roses mingled on a base of thistles to commemorate the marriage of James IV of Scotland and Margaret Tudor, descendant of the Royal Houses of York and Lancaster. The rideout concludes with an Act of Homage at the War Memorial. Sports and gymkhana bring the week‘s festivities to a close, with the final act being the laying of flowers at the War Memorial by the Braw Lass.
- Type:
- Events