Songs and Recitations at Langholm on the Day of the Common Riding

This is an informal, unrehearsed singsong which took place in the bar of the Eskdale Hotel in Langholm on the afternoon of the Common Riding. A number of cornets from common ridings from places all across the English/Scottish border were in the bar. Some had brought horses and had ridden them around the boundaries of Langholm's Common land in the morning. Recitation and singing of songs is part of a very longstanding local tradition. My father was one of a family of ten from Longtown, at the Southern end of the Debateable Land. The family ran a dancehall and he would happily stand up to sing in any local pub or group of people and was known for it among his generation. He took my brother and I when we were young to the Langholm Common Riding and we walked up behind the thistle to the monument at the top of the hill. He used to go every year, and many of the Graham family from Longtown had, or have, connections with Langholm, We were originally a highland clan and often fought for the independence of Scotland; John Graham of Dundaff was William Wallace's right hand man; the 'rebel' James Graham, the Great Montrose, fought for Scottish royalty, as did John Graham, 'Bonnie Dundee'. Although we have ancestors who led highland clans in battle many of us now live South of the border and so we are also descended from the infamous border reivers of Esk.
In any case my Dad was a singer, and all the people who sing and recite poems in this video remind me of him very much because they belong to the same Scottish/English border tradition. So, despite having travelled from Wiltshire, I feel at home with the people here and even managed to sing one of my Dad's songs. I didn't record it - because I had to concentrate to sing it but it was the first two verses of 'Weep ye Weel by Atholl' He used to sing it when he was driving me around in the car and told me it was about the Grahams and that they had fought in battles. My uncles and aunts and cousins who still live around Longtown and Carlisle would of course generally agree they are glad we don't live in those times! I hear people remind one another that the past is not the future.
In any case listening to all these songs and poems was a great pleasure and it made my day. So thanks all of you that were there. You were great company. I hope you enjoy the video! Sorry I sometimes missed the beginnings and the video is a bit dodgy where I am joining in the singing. Also I wish I had not missed recording the recitation of the poem about the burn, which I thought was utterly brilliant. Still, the video is a bit of a record of a living tradition. I might well be back next year with a few cousins!

[@marinagraham]

I'm editing this to produce some of the songs and recitations separately, and to brighten the faces of people sitting in front of the window so you can see them properly. They deserve it, particularly the lovely man who sang 'the Galway shawl' so beautifully. I keep listening to it. It's a lovely song and I can't find a better rendition anywhere at all!

[@marinagraham]

The Galway Shawl was sung by Ronnie Nichol from Hawick, as I have since been informed by his friends Dougie who does the recitations and Scott who sings the Mosstroopers' Song.