A common riding, or riding of the marches, is an annual ceremony performed in certain Scottish burghs, particularly in the Borders. In the ceremony, a band of riders makes a circuit of the marches or boundaries of the town, ensuring that no neighbouring landowners are encroaching on the burghers' territory.
Common ridings take place in Berwick, Hawick, Selkirk, Langholm, Lockerbie, Jedburgh, Coldstream, Kelso, Penicuik, West Linton, Lanark, Lauder, Edinburgh, Melrose, Musselburgh, Galashiels, Duns, Sanquhar, and Peebles.
Practices
In the present day, common ridings are celebrations of each town's history and tradition, taking place in midsummer, during a period spanning from May to September. They now involve hundreds of horses, often ridden in costume.
Hawick traditionally begins the season of annual common ridings. Alongside the true common riding towns, other towns which now hold ridings are Currie, Penicuik, West Linton, Peebles, Biggar, Galashiels, Musselburgh, Duns, Kelso, Jedburgh, Denholm, Melrose, Coldstream, Yetholm, Annan, Dumfries, Lockerbie, Kirkcudbright, Wigtown, and Gatehouse of Fleet. One of the most recently instituted common ridings is the Copshaw Riding at Newcastleton, formed in 1998.
Each community starts its celebration with the election of that year's principal in the spring. The principal is usually an unmarried man of good character. The principal then leads the rideout.
Each community often has a different name for their nominated leader/principal:
Annan: Cornet (and Lass) Biggar: Cornet Coldstream: Coldstreamer Currie: Ensign Dumfries: Cornet (and Lass) Duns: Reiver (and Lass) Edinburgh: Captain and Edinburgh Lass (elected each in their own right) Galashiels: Braw Lad (also has a lass elected in her own right called a Braw Lass) Gatehouse of Fleet: Lad (and Lass) Hawick: Cornet Innerleithen: Standard Bearer (and Lass) Jedburgh: Callant Kelso: Kelsae Laddie Kirk Yetholm, Scottish Borders: Bari Gadgi and Bari Manushi Kirkcudbright: Cornet and Lass Lanark: Lord Cornet Langholm: Cornet Linlithgow: Provost of the Deacons' Court Lockerbie: Cornet (and Lass) Melrose: Melrosian Musselburgh: Honest Lad (also has a lass elected in her own right called an Honest Lass) Newcastleton/Copshaw Holm: Tub (and Flake) Peebles: Cornet (and Lass) Penicuik: Hunter (and Hunter's Lass) Sanquhar: Cornet (and Lass) Selkirk: Standard Bearer West Linton: Whipman (and Lass)
While most community festivities last a week, some are focused around a few days while others last for up to two weeks. The programme will consist of a combination of ceremonies, rideouts, entertainment, and traditional Scottish sports. Community spirit for the ride is symbolised by the Burgh Flag, which is a colourful ceremony is bussed, recalling the days when a knight's lady attached her ribbon to his lance before a battle, whereby now ribbons are tied to the Burgh Flagstaff by the principal lass. The colours are usually that of the town or village (for instance, Kelso is blue and white, Hawick is blue and yellow).
Today common ridings attract large crowds (of emigrants and tourists) gathering from all around the world.
Future concerns
In 2026 the cost of the events was noted, being impacted by insurance costs, and health and safety regulations. The 2025 Hawick Common Riding cost in excess of £125,000, portable toilet expenses alone being £7,500, and profits to the community from increased trade and accommodation bookings had reduced.
Common riding festivals
These events take place over the summer season, starting with Hawick on the first Wednesday of May and continuing till mid-September.
Hawick
The Hawick Common Riding is the first and largest of the Border festivals. It celebrates the legendary capture of an English flag in a skirmish at Hornshole, believed to have taken place in 1514, and the traditional checking of the boundaries of the town's common land.
After election night in May, each Saturday and Tuesday leading up to the Common Riding, the Cornet and his supporters ride out to visit surrounding villages and farms. The first Cornet's Chase takes place uphill on the "Nipknowes" to St. Leonards hut, where a local publican is tasked to supply the customary dish of "curds and cream" or "soordook" for refreshment during the official riding of the marches the following week.
In 2014, Hawick celebrated its 500th Common Riding.
The question of female participation in the Riding has been controversial. Women were permitted to take part until 1931, when one fell off her horse and broke her leg. In 1996, following a successful complaint to the Equal Opportunities Commission on the part of two local women, female riders were again allowed to take part in certain elements of the festival. As recently as 2019, however, female riders were subject to "derision and hostility" when they took part in traditionally male events.
Common Riding Week
On the Sunday before the Common Riding in June, the Honorary Provost's Council attends the Kirkin' of the Cornet, a church service held in the Cornet's place of worship. In the afternoon the Cornet's party travels to the Hornshole Memorial, where the Cornet's Lass lays a wreath. They then travel to the Moor to inspect the race-course.
Following chases on a Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday mornings the second major chase takes place on the Thursday morning at 6:00 am, when the Cornet carries the Flag for the first time. Later the Principals visit local schools, where the Cornet asks that the children are given a holiday for the rest of the week. This is, of course, granted, and the children and parents join in singing festival songs.
Colour bussing
The Colour Bussing takes place on a Thursday evening in the Town Hall. The Honorable Provost and Magistrates are played into a packed Hall by the Drum and Fife Band. Then come the Lasses with the Maids of Honour. The Cornet's Lass carries the Flag to the front of the Hall with her attendants and "busses" the Flag by tying ribbons to the head of the staff. The Flag is then given to the Cornet when he is reminded that it is "the embodiment of all the traditions that are our glorious heritage". The Cornet is charged to ride the marches of the commonty of Hawick and return the Flag "unsullied and unstained". The Halberdier then calls on the burgesses to "ride the meiths and marches of the commonty". Then begins the Cornet's Walk around the town with his supporters stopping on the way to tie his ribbons on the 1514 Memorial.
Friday Mair Early the following morning the Drum and Fife Band set off to rouse the town. At 6:00 am in Towerdykeside a ceremony called the Snuffin' takes place, when snuff is dispensed from an old horned mull by the town's official song singer. The crowd soon disperses to the surrounding pubs for the traditional rum and milk before breakfast followed by the singing of the "Old Song" at the door of The Borders Textile Towerhouse, each of the Principals taking it in turn to sing verses.
Then the Principals, along with many mounted supporters, processes around the town up to the Nipknowes where the main chase takes place concluding in song, toasts and curds and cream at the Hut. The riders then set off via Williestruther Loch and Acreknowe Reservoir to ride the marches where the Cornet ceremoniously "Cuts the Sod" at the furthermost point of the common. They then make their way to the race-course where, after a programme of horse-racing, the company remounts and proceeds to Millpath where a proclamation is made that the marches have been duly ridden without interruption or molestation of any kind. This is followed by more singing and playing of Drums and Fifes and the Flag is returned temporarily to the Council Chambers where it is displayed. Later the Cornet's party attend the Common-Riding Dinner followed by the Ball where dancing continues into the night before seeing in the dawn from the summit of the Mote.
Saturday Mair On Saturday the town is again roused by the Drum and Fife Band and by 9:30 am the Cornet and supporters ride to Wilton Lodge Park where the male Principals lay wreaths of remembrance at the town's War Memorial. The procession then heads for the Moor where horse races are again held. At 3:00 pm the Cornet and his mounted supporters leave the Moor for the town stopping at the Coble Pool in the River Teviot to dip the flag marking the boundary between Hawick land and the ancient Langlands estate.
On the Cornet's return, his official duties end when he ceremoniously returns the Flag to the Hon. Provost in the Council Chambers. This is a solemn occasion as it marks the end of the common riding. Outside the riders stand to attention in their stirrups whilst the Saxhorn Band plays 'Invocation' and the Cornet displays the Flag for the last time. Teribus is traditionally sung at many occasions during the festivities.
Selkirk The Selkirk Common Riding is a celebration of the history and traditions of the Royal and Ancient Burgh. Held on the second Friday after the first Monday in June, the ceremony is one of the oldest in the area, with 300–400 riders, Selkirk boasts one of the largest cavalcades of horses and riders in Europe. Selkirk still owns common land to the north and south of the town, but only the northern boundary of Linglie is ridden on the day. Selkirk Common Riding commemorates how, after the disastrous Battle of Flodden in 1513, from the eighty men that left the town, only one – Fletcher – returned bearing a captured English flag. Legend has it that he cast the flag about his head to indicate that all the other men of Selkirk had been cut down. At the climax of the day, the Royal Burgh Standard Bearer and Crafts and Associations Standard Bearers cast their colours in Selkirk's ancient Market Place.
Standard Bearer The Standard Bearer is picked from the eligible unmarried young men of the town who have applied for the post by the trustees of the Common Riding Trust, successors to the old Selkirk Town Council which disappeared following local government reorganisation in 1974. He will normally have served his time as an Attendant to previous Standard Bearers. He is introduced on Appointment Night, the last Friday in April. He is carried shoulder high around the town, accompanied by bands and the crowds of locals. Many civic duties follow in preparation for the main event, participation in other town common ridings and festivities including Spurs Night where the Standard Bearer and attendants meet with the principals of Galashiels at Galafoot and receive a pair of spurs at a dinner in Galashiels. In 2014, Fiona Deacon became the first female Standard Bearer to carry the Ex-Serviceman's flag.
Common Riding week The Saturday before Common Riding Day is marked with the annual Children's Picnic, where primary school children have races. Sunday sees the inspection of the Rig, the town racecourse and Show Sunday, recently moved to the grounds of the Haining. Traditionally Souters would meet up in their new finery bought for the festivities and sing songs to the town bands. Other events include the Standard Bearers Dinner on Monday, and Ladies Night on Wednesday when the female population take-over the bars and clubs for the evening and only the bravest males venture out! Various bussing concerts and dinners are held for the Crafts and Associations.
Night afore the Morn