As others see us: Langholme Common Riding
Gaberlunzie confesses to a serious case of 'cobbler's bairns' when it comes to this story by Fred Plasman of Austin, a retired software consultant for IBM who with his wife Carol came to Scotland in July for two reasons: We expected cooler weather, and the last Friday in July is the Langholm Common Riding. Common Riding — trail ride and a parade with everyone participating either on horseback or on foot — is an annual event celebrated in Scottish border towns.
The most exciting Common Riding activity is when about 200 horses and riders of all ages gallop from town center up Kirk Wynd to the Malcolm Monument on the hillside overlooking Langholm. Along with the Common Riding rideouts, there was horse racing (Scotland has legal "bookies"), highland dance competition, wrestling and a track meet; plus the requisite pints and drams. I had my first dram and pint before 8 a.m.
The history of the Common Riding dates from 1760, when the Court in Edinburgh delimited certain areas of ground in and around Langholm as belonging to the community and granted certain legal rights and privileges to the town officials. One obligation was that boundaries of the communal areas should be clearly defined. In 1816, the Riding of the Common on horseback began and horse racing was introduced.
On the Wednesday night before the Common Riding, there was a concert by the town pipe band, the town brass band and various townspeople. On Thursday night after a concert by the town brass brand, the town pipe band and the town flute band led the townspeople from town center to meet the "last train to Langholm" from Edinburgh bringing passengers for the Common Riding.
However, train service to Langholm ended in 1967. Neither the train station nor the tracks exist today. When asked why meet a nonexistent train, the response was that "meeting the last train has always been part of the Common Riding." That's a good enough reason for me.
After spending three weeks in Scotland, I would agree with the Cadogan Guide to Scotland that "the Scots defy classification — they are canny, yet generous; taciturn yet eloquent; dour yet witty; realistic yet unashamedly romantic."
Source: http://tinyurl.com/6cp8b8