Yetholm Show 07 October

The Border Shepherds Show is held annually in Yetholm, a village in the Cheviot Hills, very close to the Border (http://www.yetholmonline.org.uk/home.html).

Yetholm is famous for its links to the Gypsies (http://www.scottishgypsies.co.uk/), because it forms the nothern end of the Pennine Way and for its show, which is a good un.

The show includes Cumberland Wrestling , horse-shoeing competitions, crook making competitions and sheep-dog trials in addition to lots of other country-type pursuits, e.g. beer drinking and winching!

We have no pics to offer, sorry. The band did, however, feature a host of new young drummers fresh off the Cockburn Brothers production line. Sadly, the same could not be said of the pipe core, most of whom who were there can easily remember decimalisation.

Castram back when

Another from our occaisional series of ariel spy photos from the KGB archives in Moscow, via Hutton! Circa 1946.

Coldstream as was, before colour TV, rock'n'roll, Lennel Mount, Hillview, Parkside, Woodlands Park, etc. Note the worn areas at the goalmouths in the park though.

Some things never change.

World Championships

Now that a suitable period of time has elapsed since the Pipe Band World Championships, held in Glasgow on 12th August, we can offer our congratulations to our friends in the Vale of Atholl. Their senior band came 8th and their novice-juvenile band came 4th http://www.thevale.org/.

Good results for both bands. The senior band was one of five Scottish bands in the top ten; the other bands coming from Northern Ireland (3 bands, including the winners Field Marshall Montgomery http://www.fmmpb.com/) and Canada with two bands.

If you are very patient you can find out more at the dependably baffling website of the Royal Scottish Pipe Band Association http://rspba.org/.

The pic above is of the band at the Ortiquera festival in Galicia in 1995. With the glengarry is a baffled looking Andy Renwick, Pipe Major of the Vale, wondering why he is in Northern Spain with this rabble.

Other voices, other rooms

Not the Truman Capote novel, although it is a band favourite, but other views of our wee corner of Scotland and England that do not share the usual beer, horses and rugby outlook. These can be found in our links section on the main site, with our favourites below right.

We particularly like 'Journey to the source of the River Tweed' http://www.hunnymonster.org.uk/tweed/, the Paper Shop http://www.hunnymonster.org.uk/ and that perennial favourite Musings from the Merse http://www.huttonian.blogspot.com/.

Other good sites include one of fishing http://www.fishtweed.co.uk/, which is surprisingly interesting, or is that just us? And the site for Ad Gefrin, the 7th Century capital of the Anglo-Saxon Northumbrians http://www.gefrin.com/.

Finally, the Bridging the Border educational project seems a vey positive and forward looking venture, http://www.tweededucation.org.uk/index.htm. Seems to me that the words to a Dick Gaughan tune amplify the aims of this project:

Both Sides The Tweed

What's the spring-breathing jasmine and rose ?
What's the summer with all its gay train
Or the splendour of autumn to those
Who've bartered their freedom for gain?

Let the love of our land's sacred rights
To the love of our people succeed
Let friendship and honour unite
And flourish on both sides the Tweed.

No sweetness the senses can cheer
Which corruption and bribery bind
No brightness that gloom can e'er clear
For honour's the sum of the mind

Let virtue distinguish the brave
Place riches in lowest degree
Think them poorest who can be a slave
Them richest who dare to be free

(Words : Trad & Dick Gaughan / Music : Dick Gaughan)