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.
 

"Hing On Ti What Ee've Got"

"A day oot o Hawick is a day wasted" goes the old adage and Jimmy Richardson the printer went even further when he said "a day oot o Hawick is a fortnight wasted"! However an evening can sometimes do little harm. Thus it was, thanks to the persuasive tongue of Mr Millar Stoddart, the most efficient Secretary of the Lanark Lord Cornets' Club, the late afternoon of Friday 21st November, 2003 found me traversing "the mosses, waters, slaps and stiles" that lay between Teviotdale and the Cartland Bridge Hotel to speak at the Club's 55th Annual Dinner.

After a friendly welcome and a crack with the gentle Father Brian Mullan about the Aran Islands, I enjoyed an excellent meal in the genial company of Strathclyde Police Chief Willie Rae and Councillor Leonard Gray. Observant Club members noticing my excusing myself every now and then to leave the room may have deducted that the boy from the Borders was nervous about addressing such an august assemblage but had anyone followed me they would have discovered that I was in actual fact paying frequent visits to my car to listen to coverage on Radio Borders, reception of which I was surprised but delighted to be still able to get, of the exciting Cup tie between Hawick and Peebles at Mansfield Park, my final re-entry to the dining room with a broad smile on my face indicating to my top table colleagues that Hawick had beaten Peebles 32-25 to progress to the next round.

Chairman for the night. President Ex Lord Cornet Edwin Graham introduced Procurator Fiscal Stewart Houston who ably toasted the Lord Cornets' Club and the Lord Cornet "Tich" Downie who gave a heartfelt reply. There followed a hilarious speech from Sheriff Alf Vannet, no easy act to follow but thankfully my contribution entitled by the toast list compiler "Greetings from the Borders" was very well received and I was supremely honoured to be given a standing ovation and generous appreciative plaudits from many members who spoke with affection of their Mosstrooping experiences riding to Mosspaul behind the Hawick Cornet. The speech I gave contained a good deal of fun, much of it needless to say poked at Hawick's great rival the minor Border town of Galashiels where a stranger stopped recently looking for a bank and enquiring of a native "Is there a TSB in Gala?" received the reply "No, there's a G and an L and twae As"! Hopefully however I also managed to do justice to the vital importance of keeping our Common Ridings and Festivals going. Here is how I concluded what I had to say which be warned is mainly in the Hawick tongue - sub-titles available on Ceefax!

"Yow Lanark folk ir rightly prood o eer history, a pride which comes ti a heid in the leafy days o June when ee Kirk another Lord Cornet Elect, when ee participate in the age auld perambulation o eer marches on the Monday night, when ee sash eer new Lord Cornet and shift eer Standard at the Cross, as ee get mounted for the Wednesday rideoot ti examine eer March Stanes and as things come ti their pulsatin climax on Lanimer Day itsel, the culmination o months o hard work be coontless folk, when a' the strands o eer toon's heritage come thegither as ee witness or take pairt in the procession and sei the grand finale, the croonin o another young Lanimer Queen. Eee canna pit eer feelins inti words as ee feel eer bluid leap as ee hear eer Pipe and Silver Bands, as ee watch eer Burgh Standard as it's unfurled ti kiss the breeze o summer as eer Lord Cornet proudly bears it aloft, ti feel eer love for eer ain toon beatin in eer hert and ti ken that it'll ensure as long as life itself. Ee're tremendously privileged ti heve inherited sic prood traditions and it's incumbent upon ee ti hand on the torch o eer heritage ti eer young folk so that they in turn will hand it on ti generations yet unborn for as long as the Clyde flows ti the sea. Cherish what ee've got, ee owe it ti eer forefathers whae pit thae things in place.

"May your right hand forget its cunning
May your strength and your skill decay
If you hain not your glorious heritage
If its memory pass away"

But look not back only, for the present guard well the honour of your Lanimers and uphold its dignity, never lose sight of its importance. It is real. It is meaningful. It is when the community unites to express its deep seated emotions, its cherished roots, its very identity. It is no mere entertainment, no hollow pageant. It's a rededication, a binding together for another year and never forget that there'll aye be a Lanimers. There was long afore ony o yow yins were born and there wull be long efter ee've gone for like huz yins in Hawick.

"Ee'll keep the old flag flying, e'en when flaunting winds grow still,
Nae power on earth daur say ee nay, nae system ever will
And wi a love as ardent as the love o Heaven aboon
Ee'll follow eer Cornet, follow eer Cornet, follow eer Cornet roond."

After further camaraderie and fellowship I headed off into the darkness returning to my beloved Hawick among the hills just before three o'clock after a night well spent with kindred spirits. Here's to the next time!

Ian W Landles