My family has long had links
with the Bo'ness Children's
Fair Festival, since for
over sixty years, our family
joiners business was
responsible for the erection
of the platform upon which
the crowning ceremony takes
place. Each year, the
various bits and pieces of
this platform were taken out
of hibernation in our timber
racks, and were patched up,
touched up, and at regular
intervals, completely
repainted. And then,
of course, the whole thing
was assembled.
On the Fair day, the
youngest apprentice was
accorded the honour of
raising the royal standard.
After the procession left
the Glebe Park, the platform
was dismantled and returned
to our yard just in time for
lunch, the traditional steak
pie, which was shared
between family, workers, and
the driver of the lorry
which had to be hired for
transportation.
And it was this annual
jamboree which shaped my
attitude to the Fair.
All my memories of this
institution since early
childhood have been happy,
and so I am all for the
Fair.
I am happy, but I am only
one out of many. What
of the others ?
The very young children are
happy; they love dressing
up, marching in the
procession, and going to the
'shows'.
The more elderly members of
the community are happy.
They enjoy seeing the young
in procession, and each Fair
revives memories of previous
Fairs.
Exiled Bo'nessians are
obviously happy, for
hundreds, perhaps thousands,
make an annual pilgrimage to
view the free spectacle.
From all outward
appearances, it would seem
that the greater part of the
community is happy with the
Fair as it is, and as it is
evolving. One has only
to be present in the Burgh
on the Fair day to see the
crowds of people, the yards
of bunting, the decorated
floats, and the arches,
which represent hours of
toil by the good citizens of
Bo'ness, and often a great
deal of money too.
Thus, it would seem that at
present, the bulk of the
community is satisfied with
the Fair, and all enter into
the Fair spirit.
But with an eye to the
future, it is the rising
generation which must be
happy, and willing to
participate in Fairs to
come. The teenagers of
today must have an interest
in the Fair if it is to
survive into the next
generation.
The contingent from Bo'ness
Academy in the Fair
procession can be counted on
one's fingers, which would
seem to suggest that today's
youth has no interest in the
Fair. But the truth is
that they feel that this
particular part of the
proceedings should be left
to the pupils of the primary
schools, and think it
beneath their dignity to
parade round the streets.
The teenagers can, however,
be seen in their hundreds at
such events as the soap box
derby, the piano smashing,
and various dances.
They are to be found behind
the scenes in all aspects of
the Fair, building arches,
decorating house fronts, and
even bathing small siblings
on the Fair E'en.
In short, the youth of
modern Bo'ness enters into
the Fair spirit with the
same enthusiasm as
generations past, and I can
assure all my elders and
betters that the future of
the Fair is indeed safe in
our hands.
JAMES R. N. BRAES
