MR CHAIRMAN, members of Yarrow & Ettrick Pastoral Society, fellow guests, ladies and gentlemen. When Stuart asked me to speak at tonight’s dinner, I had no hesitation in agreeing. And not just because he’s a hard person to say ‘no’ to. In 2018 I made a documentary about life in Selkirk & the Valleys called “A Souter’s Year”. As things turned out, Stuart made several appearances.

Firstly, 2018 was the year Stuart trained, and his son Sam rode, his outstanding horse Captain Redbeard in the Grand National at Aintree. Stuart kindly took time out to give me interviews and let me film the horse training at Clarilawmuir. 2018 was also the year Stuart celebrated his 25 th anniversary as Selkirk Royal Burgh Standard Bearer, and on Common Riding Friday we managed to have an impromptu chat, on camera, up at the Three Brethren. That summer was also a fantastic hay-making season, and Stuart said it would be fine for me to film him and his tractor man cutting, tedding, rowing and baling hay in one of the Smedheugh fields. You couldn’t have been more helpful throughout that year Stuart, and I’m delighted to be able to return the favour.

My toast tonight is to the Yarrow & Ettrick Pastoral Society, and what a year 2020 is going to be for your organisation, as your office-bearers and members work towards the 100 th staging of the society’s annual show at Philiphaugh on Saturday, September 12th .

Other agricultural shows in the Borders might be bigger and have more classes than the Yarrow & Ettrick Show, but I don’t believe any can come close to matching its colourful origins or stunning locations. Show me another setting for an agricultural show in Scotland that has been immortalised by the poet William Wordsworth.

In September, 1814, Wordsworth and James Hogg walked over the Paddy Slacks to the Gordon Arms. The first view the poet had of Yarrow Water was from a hill a few yards to the west of the old farmhouse at Mount Benger. The poem he composed to mark the occasion was called “Yarrow Visited”, and was published six years later, in 1820.

‘A silvery current flows
With uncontrolled meanderings;
Nor have these eyes by greener hills
Been soothed, in all my wanderings.
And through her depths, St Mary’s Loch
Is visibly delighted,
For not a feature of those hills
Is in the mirror slighted.

The region left, the vale unfolds
Rich groves of lofty stature,
With Yarrow winding through the pomp
Of cultivated nature;
And rising from those lofty groves,
Behold a Ruin hoary;
The shattered front of Newark’s Towers,
Renowned in Border story.’


In similar fashion, the Ettrick Valley’s charms have been highlighted thanks to the writings of James Hogg, whose father at the time of his birth was a shepherd at Ettrickhall Farm. With such a cultural pedigree, is it any wonder so much store is set by agriculture as practised down the centuries by farmers in the two valleys?

The Ettrick & Yarrow Pastoral Society, not to mention farming in general, has, over the years, had to change to fit in with the times. And up to this point, the successes have definitely outweighed the failures. Adapted to change has been the key to the society’s longevity.

Although the first show staged by the Yarrow & Ettrick Pastoral Society took place in 1906, the society’s origins stretch back 100 years earlier to 1806, when the Selkirk Farmer Club was established (also known as the Selkirkshire Farmers Club).

In total there were 39 founder members, comprising professional men and local farmers. Amongst the 39 were no fewer than five Scotts – Willie Scott of Singlie, Gideon Scott of Kirkhope, Alan Scott of Over Kirkhope, James Scott of Gilmanscleuch and Walter Scott of Mountbengerknowe. Other founder members included George Park of Carterhaugh, Charles Ballantyne of Tinnis and Thomas Gibson of Shaws.

Judging by the club’s minutes, in the early years the organisation resembled a dining and debating club rather than an agricultural forum, with members instructed to be at table ready to be served their meal by 3 o’ clock, with the bill to be called for at half past five. It was agreed the usual drink of the club should be whisky, punch or toddy as this ‘tended to encourage the growth of barley.’ A set of club rules was drafted, the most important being Rule 7 –

‘The object of the club is to promote the interest of agriculture, and a topic connected with rural economy should be proposed at each meeting as the object of discussion at that meeting.’ Sir Walter Scott became a member of the club, and on one occasion posed the question as to whether stells were the best means for sheltering sheep in the winter. Other topical subjects under discussion included: ‘Is the bondage system a good or a bad one?’, and also: ‘Would telegraphic or telephone communication with Ettrick & Yarrow be appropriate for the interest and convenience of the resident in the valleys?’ Echoes of the valleys’ ongoing difficulties with mobile phone coverage right there.

In later years the club arranged annual ploughing matches with cash prizes, but with the passing of years the organisation was largely surviving as a social club for hangers-on. So it came as no surprise when, in 1896, and after exactly 1,000 meetings had taken place, the Selkirk Farmer Club was disbanded.

At this time quite a few members of the Farmer Club were also members of the Selkirkshire Pastoral Society, which had been established in 1819 to uphold the interests of sheep- keepers and, in addition, ‘to encourage the improvement of sheep and wool of the Cheviot breed, to ameliorate the quality of the pasture on which they feed, to detect and punish the aggression of sheep stealers and others whose nature and occupation tend to demoralise the character of the people.’ The society’s patron was the Duke of Buccleuch, its membership once again included Sir Walter Scott, with its treasurer being Robert Ballantyne of Phawshope.

Farms were classified into three groups – high grassy pasture, heathery dry land, and improved and artificial grasses. Towards the end of its 80-year lifespan, the Selkirkshire Pastoral Society held its AGMs in conjunction with annual shows. These featured a variety of classes, including pens of five gimmers in each division. First prize in each class was four pounds and 4shillings. There was also an award for the shepherd who’d reared the greatest number of lambs. However, after the 1886 show a special meeting was convened to consider abandoning the society’s annual show in view of a deficit of funds. At the urging of Lord Napier it was decided to persist with the event for one more year, but that 1887 show was to be the society’s last, and the organisation ceased its activities in 1900.

And so, in 1906, the present Yarrow & Ettrick Pastoral Society came into being. To help it on its way the new body received, as a goodwill gesture, the balance of funds which remained in the account of the defunct Selkirkshire society – the sum of £15 12shillings and 6pence. The new society was founded entirely by farmers, was aimed at farmers, and was run by farmers.

That you are on the cusp of celebrating your annual show’s 100 th staging, is testament to the vision and hard work of these enlightened gentlemen.

The new society’s formation came after a public meeting was held here, in the Gordon Arms, in May, 1906, to consider the desirability of forming a society for the purpose of organising an annual show of sheep and cattle. The prime mover was Sundhope farmer Walter Barrie, whose articles for the “Southern Reporter”, written under the pseudonym of ‘Hendry J. Clayboddie’, provided readers for many years with a shrewd, personal and pawky commentary on rural affairs.

Amongst the farmers present at that ground-breaking meeting of 1906 were James Mitchell of Henderland, William Douglas of Catslackburn, Robert Beattie of Foulshiels and William Laidlaw of Dryhope, all of whom were based in Yarrow. At the bottom of the list of attendees, appear the words ‘and others’, which presumably referred to the Ettrick farmers present, one being appointed vice-president and nine others being voted on to the committee. Mr John V. Lindsay of Wheathope was elected president, Mr Thomas Mitchell of Howford as vice-president, with Mr Johnstone of Chapelhope and Walter Barrie himself elected joint secretaries.

It was decided to stage the inaugural show at the Gordon Arms that September. Classes were to be held for sheep, cattle, rough & smooth collies, best decorated horse, fresh butter, heaviest 12 hens eggs, best six swedes, best six yellow turnips, best six potatoes, best scones, best oatcakes and best sticks made by exhibitors living in the district.

Two pipers from Hawick were to be engaged for the sum of 10 shillings each – although in the event they refused to come for under 15 shillings each - while a tug o’ war match was arranged between teams from the parishes of Ettrick, Kershope, Selkirk and Yarrow. Classes for poultry were added to the 1907 show schedule, and a whole host of other changes have been incorporated into the show over the years, most notably a wide variety of equestrian classes both ridden and in-hand, as well as greatly enlarged baking, vegetable and children’s sections.

Fast forward 112 years, and the Yarrow & Ettrick Pastoral Society’s progressive policies were very much in evidence following the appointment of Doreen Davies, of Riskenhope, as the society’s first lady president. I covered the 2018 show as part of my DVD project, and Doreen kindly shared her thoughts on what it meant to be following in the presidential footsteps of her two great-grandfathers, grandfather, father and brother. It is a record of which any family would be proud, and illustrates the enduring passion and commitment the Ettrick and Yarrow farming communities continue to feel - not only for their annual show, but as a way of honouring and preserving the traditions of farming and rural life established in these two beautiful valleys down through the centuries.

Speaking about life in Selkirk and the valleys is almost like being presented with an open goal, and I’ve never before lived anywhere that can boast so many individuals you’d have no hesitation in describing as ‘salts of the earth’.

My purpose in making “A Souter’s Year” was to try and capture this area’s genuine sense of community – an all-too-rare phenomenon in today’s frantic and self-centred world. Living and working in the Scottish Borders, and in particular the area in and around Selkirk, is both a privilege and a pleasure. It is something that should never be taken for granted. In establishing the Yarrow & Ettrick Pastoral Society back in 1906, its founders recognised the need to fly the flag for the local agricultural community, the need to maintain the standards set by generations of farmers, herds and stockmen, to preserve this district’s wonderful way of life, to cement the bonds of friendship and nurture common rural interests, and to bridge any gaps in understanding between town and country. By any yardstick, your organisation has done a fantastic job.

Mr chairman, can I thank you and your society’s members for tonight’s warm welcome and great hospitality. It’s a privilege to be here, in the exact spot where the society came into being 114 years ago. May your organisation continue to go from strength to strength in the years and centuries ahead.

Ladies and gentlemen, can I now ask you to charge your glasses, stand, and join me in a toast to the ‘Yarrow & Ettrick Pastoral Society’.