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1983 T.
A. BAPTIE - " Magic of
Make-Believe "
Bo'ness Children's Fair
Festival is an occasion for
lifting up one's heart in
joyful celebration. It is
an event, too, which fires
the imagination as the
glittering pageantry
unfolds, transporting the
children, who are the very
essence of the festivities,
into that Land of
Make-Believe where dreams
come true.
It is well, however, to
remember that in the
beginning the Fair had its
origins in the emancipation
of the miners who were
thirled to the pits to such
an extent that, along with
the mines, they and their
children could be sold like
slaves by the coal-owners.
This serfdom continued until
1799 when an Act of
Parliament ruled that " all
the colliers in that part of
Great Britain called
Scotland are hereby declared
to be free from their
servitude." Naturally, this
emancipation was warmly
welcomed and the freed
miners decided to celebrate
by organising an annual
parade. This parade was
headed by an elected deacon
who rode a borrowed horse.
He, and the other
participants, wore their
best outfits for the great
day, but the Deacon himself
was made resplendent by the
wearing of what came to be
known as " the feather
bonnet."
The task of making this
striking piece of headgear
was entrusted to the wife of
one of the miners, no doubt
selected because of her
skill with the needle and
her artistic abilities. The
basis of the bonnet was a
military-style bearskin, but
this was adorned with tinted
feathers, gaily-coloured
beads and brightened by
glinting fragments of mirror
glass. The last lady to
have fashioned a " feather
bonnet " for the old-time
miners' celebration lived in
the old Newtown Rows, and
was still alive when these
dwellings were demolished.
Actually the celebration
developed into two separate
groupings - the Bo'ness
miners and the colliers of
Grangepans and Carriden.
Unfortunately, but not
surprising considering the
times, the consumption of
alcohol played a major part
in the festivities, although
it is recorded that when the
marchers called on Mr Cadell
at the Old Grange they were
regaled on nothing stronger
than lime juice.
Interest in this celebration
of the historic emancipation
of the miners began to flag
with the passage of the
years, but the Fair was to
be given a new lease of life
and to take on the form
which distinguishes it
today. In 1897 Queen
Victoria celebrated her
Diamond Jubilee, and there
were rejoicings throughout
the country.
Provost Stewart of Bo'ness,
had been present at Lanark's
Lanimer's Day, where the
central theme was the
crowning of a children's
Queen selected by her fellow
pupils. He had the happy
idea of borrowing from
Lanark and the Bo'ness Fair
as we know it today was
launched on its triumphant
course. It can now be said
that the Bo'ness Children's
Fair Festival has enshrined
itself in the hearts of the
people of the town and has
provided nostalgic memories
of days of enchantment of
Bo'ness exiles overseas.
I can remember the first
Fair I attended. It was in
1922 when Annie Currie of
Grange School was the
elected Queen. Looking
back, it seems to have had
all the elements of a
magical fairy-tale in which
a gracious and radiant
Queen, surrounded by her
court of lords and ladies
stole the hearts of her
subjects. There was that
moment of chivalry and high
drama when the Queen's
Champion threw down his
gauntlet, unsheathed his
sword, and in stentorian
tones proclaimed his
challenge: " If anyone here
shall deny the Queen's title
to the throne, I am here,
ready to defend it, in
single combat."
Another impression I retain
of the Fairs I attended was
that the assembled children
really did display, as the
Fair song has it, " a field
of living flowers, " for all
the boys wore caps in their
particular school colours,
forming in their massed
ranks a living mosaic of red
and blue, green and gold. I
suppose it is too much to
hope that today's schoolboys
could be persuaded to
captivate us again by
wearing such colourful caps!
I also remember that many of
the young folk who took part
in the old Fairs wore "
gutties " ( what we would
now call gym shoes ), and
they took a great delight in
bursting the tar bubbles on
the road as they marched in
procession. Did the sun
always shine on the Fair
days of long ago?
More mischievous boys -
myself included - used to
take a delight in treading
on the heels of the boy in
front so that he was "
un-heeled, " so to speak,
and was then compelled to
drop out of procession to
re-adjust his shoes, and,
hounded on by the attendant
teacher, had to run to take
up once more his appointed
place in the procession.
On Fair days there was no "
creeping like snails
unwillingly to school. " On
such days we were up betimes
and assembled in the school
playground well in advance
of the hour we marched off
to join in the grand
procession to the Glebe Park
for the crowning ceremony.
We all, apart from certain
of the principal
participants, actually
walked from the school to
the Glebe Park, in
procession around the town,
and on to the chosen place
for the Royal Revels - to
the Ladywell Park at Kinneil
or to Kinnigars Park at
Carriden. Not so many
children walk in the Fair
procession nowadays, and I
sometimes think it is a
pity, and wonder if the
children of some sixty years
ago - even the five-year-old
infant pupils - were tougher
or whether in these days of
easily available transport
today's kids are beginning
to lose the use of their
legs.
I have another abiding
memory of a Bo'ness Fair. I
was standing in the crowd at
the Glebe Park watching the
courtiers proceed on their
way to the crowning dais.
Next to me was a lady whose
eyes lit up with pride and
joy as she pointed out one
dainty little fairy. "
That's my wee lamb, " she
confided, and I noticed that
she could not keep her eyes
off her little girl.
The incident prompted me to
compose the following
verses:
The pageant and the story
are splendid to behold.
The Courtiers in their glory
go by in cloth of gold.
And Lords there are and
Yeomen dressed in red and
green,
A Champion 'gainst foemen
ready to defend his Queen.
With loyal hearts approving
the people gathered there,
Behold the pageant moving -
the staging of the Fair.
But there is one spectator
sees not the flags unfurl;
She sees one only actor -
her own wee Fairy girl.
Nor sees the golden glory,
nor hears the festal stir;
For her no haunting story -
she only looks at her.
She is her own possession,
and in the great crowd's
swirl,
She is the whole procession
- her own wee Fairy Girl.
Over
the years and the
celebration of many Fairs I
have come to the conclusion
that the continuing success
of the Bo'ness Children's
Fair Festival is due not
only to the superb
organisation, but
principally to the fact that
Bo'ness has always been a
closely-knit community.
Long
ago the natives of the town
acquired the nickname of "
Hamebiders. " a surprising
description because Bo'ness
was a leading Scottish port,
and many men of the town
engaged in seafaring. Was
it not Daniel Defoe who
praised the Bo'ness sailors
as being the best pilots for
the Baltic and the Low
Countries? Still, it is
said that in by-gone days
there was a certain distrust
of incomers to the town.
The
story is told of one Bo'ness
worthy who was notorious for
his dislike of what he
called foreigners, those who
were not born Bo'nessians.
One day he was in formed
that a stranger had arrived
in the town. He was
incensed and demanded to be
taken to the stranger at
once so that he could drive
him out of town.
In an
endeavour to calm him one of
the company said: " But he's
no exactly a foreigner; he
comes frae Lithca. " The
worthy's rage was no whit
abated, and he thundered out
this devastating reply: "
Lead me tae him; lead me tae
him. Fine ye ken, there's
nae difference between a
puddock and a toad. "
Nowadays we are more
tolerant. In recent years
Bo'ness has welcomed many
incomers, and these
newly-arrived folk have not
been slow to identify
themselves with the burgh,
its traditions and its
aspirations. They have
become part of the
community, and in no way is
this more emphasised than in
their support of our annual
festival.
The
truth seems to be that there
is something universally and
perennially appealing about
a celebration principally
devoted to the enjoyment of
children. It is something
that stirs the heart and
releases the emotions, for
who can fail to be moved by
the simple but proud and
spectacular pageantry that
marks the coronation of our
elected Queen.
Everyone with memories of
former Fairs cannot but be
convinced that the
school-children have always
chosen well. There has
never been a Fair Queen who
has not charmed everyone
with her grace and dignity,
never a Queen who has not
carried out her regal duties
with admirable dedication
and with a high
consciousness of the signal
honour that has been
conferred on her.
So it
will be with this year's
Queen, and all her loyal
subjects will acclaim her
with great gladness as she
assumes the throne.
May
her day of royal splendour
be one of happiness. May
her family, her schoolmates,
her friends and the many
thousands she does not know
also share in the pleasure
that such a day of pomp and
pageantry can bring, as all
take part in a living
fairy-tale that transports
the young and the young in
heart into that Never-Never
Land of wonder and delight
we know as the Bo'ness
Children's Fair Festival.
T.
A. BAPTIE
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