FAIR FACTS
This page has been developed to help and answer some interesting questions with regards our Fair. Firstly I thought I would add this small question and answers section. As ALL true Bo'nessians believe that they know everything about the Fair, so how about trying this test of your Fair knowledge?
Q1. Who was first given the right to hold a Fair in Bo'ness ? Answer - The right to hold a Fair in Bo'ness was first granted by King Charles II to the Duchess Anna of Hamilton, in the year 1668, the same year in which he also made Bo'ness a burgh. The Duchess was actually given the right to hold four fairs each year, one of which was to be held on the "first Friday after the Second Tuesday in July", which was, of course, the traditional date for our Fair before it was changed to the last Friday in June to fit in with the school holidays. It has also been noted that it can fall on the First Friday in July also depending on school holidays.
Q2. Why did the miners mark the Fair by marching through the streets? Answer - The miners first staged their march in 1799 to mark the official ending of the serfdom which until then had allowed them to be bought and sold along with the pits in which they worked.
Q3. Which Provost was responsible for starting the Fair as we know it? When did he start it and what event did it commemorate? Answer - Provost Stewart started the custom of crowning a schoolgirl Queen, when Bo'ness Academy pupil, Grace Strachan, was crowned in 1897 at a ceremony planned to be the highlight of the town's celebrations to mark the diamond jubilee of Queen Victoria.
Q4. Apart from the Town Hall can you name three other places where our Fair Queens have been Crowned? Answer - Kinneil House, Ladywell Park, Craigallen Park and the bandstand in the Glebe Park.
Q5. Today the Royal Revels are held in the beautiful setting of the Douglas Park. Can you name another three parks where the Revels have been held? Answer - Brewlands Park, Kinnigars at Carriden, and the Academy playing fields.
Q6. "The Morn's the Fair" is the first line of an old Bo'ness Rhyme which used to be chanted by Bo'ness lasses as they raced home from school on the Fair E'en. How does the rest of it go? Answer - "The Morn's the Fair, and I'll be there, And I'll hae up ma curly hair".
Q7. From before the First World War until the early 1960s, Bo'ness Fair was regularly filmed. Who was responsible for having these films taken? Answer - Louis Dickson, Manager of the Hippodrome Cinema.
Q8. Why was there no Fair in 1926? Answer - Many Bo'ness men were out of work because of an industrial depression.
Q9. In which year did the B.B.C. broadcast the whole of the coronation ceremony? Answer - 1939 when Jean Paterson from Kinneil School was crowned.
Q10. In which year did Scottish Television make a documentary on the Bo'ness Fair? Answer - 1977 when Dawn Galloway from Public School was crowned.
Now we have had some fun it's your turn to help this page grow. I have started by mentioning some interesting facts which families have had more than ONE Major player in there family, what can you add to the list?
Donaldson Sister have a Fair family
St Mary's School turn out the first and only sisters to be crowned Queen in Helen Donaldson 1958, her sister Margaret 1963 followed her to the throne. Margaret's daughter Paula was Chief Lady in Waiting to Lesley Anne Culbert 1982. Helen's daughter's also followed in family traditions, Annaliese was Queen of the Fairies to Gail Muirhead 1983 and lastly, Helen's younger daughter Hannah 1998 was to follow her mother and Aunty Margaret up the ceremonial steps when she became Queen .
Queen Mary Markie watches over Marjory
St Mary's also has another family tradition as Queen Mary Markie 1931 was first Queen to watch her daughter Marjory McLean 1968 also ascend the stairs to be crowned Queen.
Queen Jeanette Neill is just Champion
Grange Queen Jeanette Neill 1966 would enjoy the occasion as she watched her son Bryan McCartney become Champion 1989.
Fairy Queen Sisters
Catherine Gourley 1967 from the Public school was Queen of the Fairies, her sister Linda 1972 followed her to the same Queen of the Fairies roll.
The Smiths Share Flower Power
Karen Smith 1986 will have plenty of help being Queen of the Flower Girls from her mother nee Elma Brooks 1946 who was also Queen of the Flower Girls to Queen Sadie Potter and both came from the Grange School.
These are just a few I know, If you know any family members who have had more than one main character in the Fair Retinue can you drop me a note please, as I know there must be more out there.
Other Interesting Facts
The strangest ever setting for one of the old miners' style Fairs was an island off Greenland where the crew of a Bo'ness whaler staged their own version as a break from the arduous and highly dangerous business of whale hunting far beyond the Artic Circle.
First robes and crown used at the Fair were presented by Provost L. H. Ballantine. Today the crown and sceptre are examples of the finest Scottish craftsmanship, produced by master craftsmen of Hamilton and Inches of George Street, Edinburgh.
All Scotland heard the coronation ceremony in 1939, when it was broadcast by the B.B.C Since then excerpts from the Fair have been recorded recorded on several occasions for use on radio and television news programmes.
Maypole dancing with the little girls in white dresses and multi-coloured ribbons weaving patterns, provided a gay additional feature at pre-war Fairs.
The first Fair after World war Two was held in 1946 when Grange School Queen, Sadie Potter, revived the old tradition.
In 1947 the Fair celebrated its Golden Jubilee and the occasion was marked by the use of a new throne gifted by Mr. D. T. Stewart of Bridge of Allan, the son of Provost Stewart whose idea the Children's Fair originally was.
In 1965 a sparkling Fairy Float was provided for the fairies and this innovation proved so successful that it was followed in 1966 by similar floats for the Queen, her Ladies-in-Waiting, Bower Girls and Flower Girls.