After four years of war the
Fair had been revived in
July, 1919, and in 1920
there was tremendous
enthusiasm in the town to
make the second post-war
Fair even more successful
than the first. Would it be
possible to reintroduce the
school caps, which had been
such a colourful feature of
the Fairs before the war,
but which had not been
available in 1919 due to
post-war shortages? Would
there be enough material to
allow the fairies, who had
been absent from the 1919
Fair, to return to the
scene? These were tow of
the questions discussed at
length at the Fair Committee
meetings. Other matters
hotly debated that year seem
strangely reminiscent of
those of the present day.
There were difficulties over
catering, while Councillor
Angus Livngston was
vigorously campaigning for a
shorter route. In the end
it was agreed to keep the
same route as the previous
year with the procession
going round the town, along
Corbiehall and up the Snab
Brae to Ladywell Park, with
the coronation ceremony
taking place there after the
procession.
By the summer of 1920 most
of the menfolk of Bo'ness
had returned from the army
and as May gave way to June
the Fair Committee urged
them to build arches all
along the procession route.
Many of them certainly had
plenty of time to do so, for
strikes were widespread in
the town as the former
soldiers discovered that the
brave new world which they
had fought for was not so
wonderful after all. In the
pits especially there was a
great deal of unrest as
British coal fought to
regain markets lost during
the war. One group of
Bo'ness miners from the
Cadells' pits were in fact
to miss the Fair of 1920 as
they spent the whole summer
hundreds of miles from home
far beyond the Artic Circle
in Spitsbergen, trying to
find new cheap source of
coal for the Scottish
Spitsbergen Syndicate.
In Bo'ness, one group of
workers for whom there was
more than ample work were
shipbreakers, and with the
battleship H.M.S Exmouth a
cruiser, a whole fleet of
submarines and many smaller
naval vessels all redundant
after the war, queuing to be
scrapped at Bridgeness and
Carriden, one colourful side
effect as far as the Fair
was concerned was the
abundance of ships, bunting
and signal flags available
to decorate the whole town.
Even the front of the stage
in the Town Hall was
bedecked with flags for the
Academy end of term
prize-giving at which
Margaret Park received the
Stewart Gold Medal, Louisa
Begg the Stewart Silver
Medal, Howard L. Pritchard
the prize as dux of the 5th
year and Mary Baptie the
prize as dux of the 4th
year. Earlier the audience
had been entertained to a
performance of "The
Tempest", in which leading
roles were played by Helen
McLellan and Betty Watt.
As the audience of parents
and friends left the Town
Hall many of them must have
wondered if the Academy's
stage effects for "The
Tempest" had not been a bit
too realistic for they were
met by a downpour of rain
and a cold wind blowing up
form the river, which made
it feel more like November
than July. Rain had in fact
been the main feature of the
weather since the month
began and when it was still
wet the following morning
even those in Bo'ness who
steadfastly believed the
local tradition that the
Fair always got the same
weather as Linlithgow
Marches, must have begun to
doubt if they could really
hope for the brilliant
sunshine which their
neighbours across the hill
had enjoyed in June.
Friday, 16th July, 1920, did
however dawn fair, and by
the time that the children
began to gather at their
schools to receive their
buns and bananas the sun was
shining. By eleven o'clock
the procession was ready
marshalled at the East
Partings and as the old Town
Clock chimed out the hour it
moved off along South
Street.
" The thing I remember
most," recalls the Chief
Lady in Waiting at the Fair
of fifty years ago, Annie
Queenan, now Mrs Pettigrew
of Philpingstone Road, "were
the crowds who lined the
route." And the crowds were
certainly not disappointed,
for the 1920 procession
showed no sign of the
post-war shortages which had
affected the 1919 Fair.
Back were the open landaus,
which had not been available
the previous year due to a
shortage of horses. Back
were the traditional
schoolcaps. the red, white
and blue ones worn by the
Kinneil pupils, both boys
and girls, receiving special
cheers from the crowds. And
back, too, were the fairies,
and in addition there was
the extra spectacle of the
little "May Blossoms".
Especially popular with the
crowds was Grange School's
contribution to the
procession, "Little Bo
Peep", for young Helen Pow
had a real live sheep to
look after as she rode
through the streets on the
horse-drawn float designed
and decorated by Topping
Neilson of Bo'ness
Co-operative Society. Other
presentees that year
included "Gypsy Boy and
Girl" from the Public,
"Japanese Lady and
Gentleman" from St Mary's,
"Powder Puff and Jester"
from Kinneil, "Cinderella"
from the infant school in
South Street, "Scots Guard
Officer in Full Regimentals"
from Borrowstoun, "Bubbles
and Dolly Varden" from
Carriden, and "Bonnie Prince
Charlie and Flora MacDonald"
from Blackness.
Out past the merry-go-rounds
and side stalls in
Corbiehall the procession,
led by Bo'ness Pipe Band,
made its way west with the
fact that it was a Kinneil
Fair becoming ever clearer
with the decorations
increasing steadily until
that year's highlight, the
great arch at the Snab, was
finally reached. Built by
the miners at Kinneil Pit,
it was said to be the finest
arch ever seen in the town
and certainly, with its main
span surmounted by a crown
and two smaller arches
across the pavements, it was
one of the largest seen up
until that time.
The steep brae from the Snab
up to the Ladywell Park
produced a slight hitch in
the proceedings when the
driver in charge of
Ballantine's Grange Foundry
Float decided that his horse
was too warm to tackle the
hill without a rest. The
short pause was equally
welcomed by the human
participants in the
procession who were
refreshed by the inhabitants
of the miners rows who
quickly fetched pitchers of
water for the children and
perhaps something slightly
stronger for the bandsmen,
form their spick and span
homes which were freshly
painted and whitewashed for
the occasion.
Once the procession was
under way again it did not
take it long to reach the
park where Mrs Gladstone,
wife of the late rector of
the Academy, was waiting to
crown the Queen. According
to the "Gazette's reporter,
Queen Elizabeth was "a tall
fine complexioned girl who
carried her honours with
regal dignity and who looked
lovely in a three-quarters
length dress of cream crepe
de chene."
"Never has the park held
such a vast thong and never
has the crowning ceremony
been so varied and rich in
colour. The sun shone as
Queen Elizabeth received all
the young presentees, but
just as the stage was
cleared a sinister change
took place in the weather
and soon the first drops of
rain were felt."
The "Gazette" report goes on
to describe how the Queen
and her retinue were rushed
to shelter in Kinneil House,
house the maypole dancers
defied the weather and how
the bands played on, but
most of the spectators soon
set off home to enjoy the
traditional Fair meal of
steak pie. For many Bo'ness
families that year steak pie
was something of a luxury,
because meat prices had
recently soared to such
unprecedented heights that
an emergency meeting under
the chairmanship of Mr.
Robert Baptie had been held
in the town only a week
before, as a result of which
the local butchers, led by
Mr. McMinn, had accused the
Scottish farmers of outright
profiteering. In July,
1920, one butcher's shop in
South Street was selling,
for the first time, imported
frozen meat at much lower
prices, but it was looked
upon with deep suspicion and
was certainly not considered
good enough to be included
in the Fair steak pies.
In the evening the rain
continued to fall, no doubt
encouraging many to go to
the pictures rather than the
shows. Mr. Jeffrey's
"Picture House" was
considered to have a very
strong bill with Charlie
Chaplin in "His
Regeneration" and episode
seven of "Lightning Bryce",
but the following week Louis
Dickson's rival
establishment was expected
to draw the crowds when it
presented the Fair Film,
produced and directed by Mr.
Dickson himself.
For those who preferred to
spend the evening in the
Anchor Tavern, or one of the
many other local pubs, there
was little chance of the
Fair night becoming the
drunken orgy of Victorian
times, because closing time
was at 9 p.m. prompt, and
next day there was further
disappointment when, at the
very last minute, the local
publicans all decided not to
take up the Bo'ness
magistrates' offer to allow
them to open specially from
noon until four o'clock in
addition to the usual six
till nine opening.
On that Saturday in any case
many Bo'nessains left the
town, 369 travelling by
train to Edinburgh and 142
to Glasgow, while Mr Boyd's
two new open-topped
charabancs both carried full
compliments to Loch Lomond.
Apart from the day trippers,
the boys scouts of St.
Andrews Church, under
scoutmaster McIntosh and the
Craigmaillen scouts , under
Mr. Richard Shennan, set out
for their annual camp at
Longniddry, and several
local families departed to
enjoy a week at the seaside
at Rothesay, North Berwick
and Arbroath. As they
relaxed in their deck chairs
perhaps some of the grown
ups read copies of Fred
Sleath's newly published
book, "Breaker of Ships".
Unlike his two earlier
successful work which were
both thrillers, this was a
novel set in "a small
Scottish seaport town", and
for Bo'nessians there was
the added interest of trying
to identify their friends
and neighbours among the
characters.
Reading Mr. Sleath's new
book would certainly have
provided some light relief
from the contents of the
daily papers which were full
of stories about the
terrible troubles in
Ireland, events in Russia
and letters to the editor
complaining about new silver
coins which were about to be
introduced and suggesting
that British Summer Time,
introduced as a war measure,
should be abandoned.
Somehow things do not seem
to have changed all that
much since Queen Elizabeth
from Kinneil School was
crowned fifty years ago, but
let's hope at least that the
weather will be better when
another Kinneil School
Lassie is crowned Queen of
this year's Fair on Friday,
3rd July.
UNKNOWN
