Well that is all I'm going to get of the Common Riding this year. The Crying o' the Burlie and the start of the Busin o' the Colours. Still it counts. When you are a Souter (someone born in Selkirk) you are drawn like a magnet.
People come back from all over the world for Selkirk Common Riding. You can spot the flags hanging from windows. I spotted a Canadian one as I was leaving. Of course I'm missing the big day which is a source of sadness and annoyance to me but I have to go on an in-service in Glasgow and though I would normally catch the first and second drums before heading up to Edinburgh the time I would have had to leave to make a previously unvisited destination in Glasgow made it unworkable. The Common riding gives you a sense of who you are and also a continuity that is unique. I've been going literally since I was born and I know I'll be going till I die. I see people every year that I don't see any other time (because they come back for it too). The casting of the colours to the tune of 'It's up Wi' the Souters o' Selkirk' then 'The Flowers of the Forrest' played by the Burgh Band culminating in the two minute silence is an emotional and enduring experience that never leaves me. Sigh. Ah well maybe next year.

NB Pictures are from 2006