It begins at 4.00 am when a flute band plays outside the houses of two of the main participants in the Selkirk Common Riding, a tradition that dates back to the Battle of Floden in 1508. Of the 80 men who left Selkirk to fight for the cause of James IV of Scotland, only one, Fletcher, returned.
But he came back bearing a captured English banner, and that is at the heart of the event. Some 300 riders parade through the town, and most importantly the Standard Bearer and his attendants are at the heart of the event.
The pride of the community in their annual event is tangible, and if that isn’t enough to touch the heart of an onlooker, the sound of the bands will succeed, especially from the bagpipes of the Pipe Band.
Reflections on life in Poetry and Prose. 