LANARK LANIMER DAY
An ancient celebration held within the Royal Burgh of Lanark on the Thursday between the Sixth and Twelfth days of June annually since the year 1140.
 

"We're Not Going To Lanimers This Year!"

This was the announcement that was usually made by my mother in January of almost every year I can remember from the age of about five.

My mother was born and raised in Kirkfieldbank and so was steeped in Lanimers and all its traditions. She took part in pageants designed by Mrs Grierson of Kirkfieldbank School (or Miss Dunlop as she was when my mother was a pupil and as she remained in all my mother's conversations about Lanimers until the day she died). Most of her brothers - there were 10 of them - were in the Lanimer court although my mother and her sisters were relegated to being characters on the lorries. My father belonged to Douglas Water and so the Lanimers was something pretty remote in his chain of priorities until he married my mother of course.

When they were first married they lived in Douglas Water so the short train trip from Ponfeigh Station was no problem.

Unfortunately my father worked for the National Coal Board (remember them) and was transferred from Ponfeigh Colliery to a pit in Clackmannan so the family moved to Tullibody.

Money was not plentiful and there were three of us children to feed and clothe hence the annual cry "We're not going to the Lanimers this year".

About a week after this decision was made a rather bulky parcel would arrive in the post. It would contain the drawings from Mrs Grierson - one for each of us -for the characters we were to be in the Lanimers. There would be detailed instructions on what materials to use and the words of the songs to be performed at the reception. So Mum would make a trip into Stirling and come back with the necessary material and begin to make the costumes. The songs were a different matter. If you had ever attended any of our family parties you would know that neither Mum nor Dad had one note of music in their heads. But we seemed to manage (at least we were word perfect).

The night before Lanimers we would pile into the car and next morning we would appear the top of St Leonard Street and amazingly our costumes would match everyone else's. Whether that was due to Mrs Grierson's talent with a pencil or Mum's with a needle I will never know.

There was one memorable year when the annual threat of "We're not going to the Lanimers this year!" was almost carried out.

Dad had no car that year and it was decided that spending all that money on train fares so close to the time of our annual holiday to Maidens in Ayrshire was too much of an extravagance. So a letter went off to Mrs Grierson (this was in the days when very few people had telephones in their homes) to let her know we would not be taking part and another to Granny with the same information.

Naturally we children didn't believe that we wouldn't be going. After all it was an opportunity for a couple of days off school (believe it or not schools in Clackmannanshire didn't close for the Lanimers!!). Granny didn't believe it either and letters went back and forth on the subject for several months.

However, Lanimer week arrived and no plans were forthcoming. Mum wrote to Granny again - she got the letter on Lanimer morning - with the same message -"We're not coming!"

On Lanimer morning Granny met her sister in the High Street. Auntie Mary told her "I just met your Isabel (my Mum) in St Leonard Street". Granny said "Isabel's not coming this year you must have made a mistake - it must have been May you spoke to" (well they were quite alike). A heated argument followed.

What Granny didn't know was that Mum was so tearful about missing the Lanimers that Dad was despatched at midnight on the Wednesday night with "instructions" to beg, borrow or steal (or perhaps rent) a car. We were all bundled in at Sam (it was a long way from Tullibody to Lanark in those days) and duly arrived in Lanark in time for the morning procession. That was the first year I actually saw the Lanimer procession.

I don't know if the Lanimers had anything to do with it but after much touring of central Scotland, Mum and Dad finally settled back in Lanark and made their home "open house" on Lanimer day for other members of the family who had moved as far away as Forth, Lesmahagow and Blackwood.

Irene Watson