And the Crowds Gathered - Sepia Saturday

Many Pedestrians standing on a busy street  feature in this week's  Sepia Saturday prompt  image - or were they spectators waiting for some event to pass by?     Cue for me to look at crowds gathering in the Scottish Borders - and beyond.  

 Earlston Hiring Fair, 1909

 Hiring Fairs in Earlston in the Scottish Borders were  held in the Market Square twice a year.  They  were important events where men and women farm workers, (Ag. Labs. Shepherds, *Hinds, Dairy Maids etc.) would gather to bargain with prospective farmers for work, and hopefully secure a position for the following 6-12 months. 

Hiring Fairs were also social occasions with a rare opportunity for friends and family to meet and enjoy side shows and stalls, with often a a chance to take teas in the Masonic Hall, or a dram in one of the public houses,  or even all-day dancing in the Corn Exchange -   some activities that earned the disapproving of the church.    

"The Southern Reporter"  of 1st March 1883  gave us this contemporary account of one such fair.

 

Earlston Hiring Fair, c.1930s

Special trains were laid on by L.N.E.R. (London & North East Railway) offering cheap days excursions to Earlston for the event.

But  Times were changing, and increasingly during the 1930s farm vacancies were being advertised in the local press.  Workers were also showing a reluctance to move, especially if they were already living near a town or on a bus route and their farm cottages were being improved.  

Images courtesy of my local heritage group Auld Earlsto.  

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"A Suffragette Invasion" was the headline in the local paper when  charasmatic leader Emmelline Pankhurst visited Hawick in 1909.   Here speaking to a crowd outside the Tower Hotel on the High Street,    Note - the number of men there. 

Photograph by permission of Scottish Borders  Museum & Gallery Service  from the Hawick Museum Collection.  

 Emmeline Pankhurst, ,  also addressed a crowded meeting in  Hawick Town Hall on 27th February 1909.  A piper marched around the platform  and the audience sang the song "Votes for Women".

Rise, ye men of Border burghs.
Show yourself in your true colours

As you've done in days gone by

Stand by British Liberty

"Votes for Women" loudly defying

Stubborn foes you'll put to rout

Vote  and keep the Liberals out

"The Hawick Express" of February 26th 1909 reported that:

"The Suffragists are extremely busy in connection with the elections and have taken  a shop on the High Street as their headquarters,,,,,the window is smartly decorated with suffragette literature and pictures  and they are reported to be doing a roaring trade in the sale of "Votes for Women" badges".

Mrs Pankhurst returned to Hawick in August 1909 when she called on women to join a large demonstration in Edinburgh.  

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My first visit to Paris coincided with July 14th Bastille Day.  As a lover of parades, processions, bands and ceremonial, I dragged my husband along to the Champs Elysees  to watch the sights.  We stood for ages watching the troops march by (this was just after the first Gulf War),  and saw the President, but I kept waiting on the bands.  We heard the music but the bands themselves  never seemed to get any closer.  Eventually we decided to walk on and came to a crossroads to discover four large loudspeakers blaring out the music - it was all on tape, and I never saw a band - what a disappointment!  

 

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My home village of Earlston with Melrose Pipe Band leading the fancy dress parade at Civic Week. 

 

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 Sepia Saturday gives bloggers an opportunity to share their family history through photographs. 

 Click HERE  to read contributions from other Sepia Saturday  bloggers. 

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