History of the Games
St. Ronan's Border Games – 188th Anniversary – 1827-2015
2015 marked the 188th Anniversary of the oldest organised athletics meeting in Scotland. St. Ronan’s Border Games has, with the exception of a year during the Crimean War and the World War years, run continuously from its inception in September 1827 to the present day, undergoing many changes over the period. Originally a “mini-Olympics”, enthusiastic amateur sportsmen from all walks of life and from as far afield as Edinburgh, Cumbria and throughout the Borders gathered to participate in the many and varied events. Their versions of the sprint, middle distance race, triple jump, high jump, long jump, shot putt, hammer and wrestling would be just as keenly contested then as now. In the early years a second day’s sport comprised rifle shooting and archery, the winner of the latter receiving the famous Silver Arrow.
Prizes, usually a silver medal or a Blue Border bonnet, were also awarded for quoits, tossing the caber, tug-o-war and for the first one to successfully climb a greasy pole! Innerleithen had its own handba’. Teams from Traquair (those living on the south side of the Tweed) and from Leithen (resident on the north bank of the Tweed) “kicked-off” from roughly where the War Memorial now stands. The “pitch” was the strip of land between the Leithen and the Dam. The Traquair goal or “hail” was the foot of Leithen while that of Leithen lay at the Cauld opposite the Auld Kirk just beyond Kirklands farm. No records of the yearly winners were kept but by all accounts the rivalry was intense. The game was eventually discontinued before a fatality occurred. Another sport not seen today is whippet racing which was introduced in 1924 and continued for some years.
The Games appear to have assumed their present day format when professional running, and the attendant betting facilities, were introduced for the first time in 1921. Though many lamented the passing of the amateur sports the change probably reflected the desires of the ordinary working people. Interestingly there is one race, first featured two years after the inaugural meeting, which is still run over much of the original course – the Steeplechase, better known locally as the “race up Curly”. Until fairly recently this was the final event of the Games, finishing in Peebles Road at the junction with Hall Street. The event that opens the Saturday’s sporting competition could hardly provide a greater contrast. For many years the “Round the Town Race”, via Traquair Road, Miller Street, Waverley Road and the High Street, has proved a stiff challenge for local lads who perhaps thought their chances were better on road than on track. In 1993 Suzanne Douglas showed her competitors a clean pair of heels to become the first woman to win the event.
The first meetings of St. Ronan’s Border Games took place on the flat haugh on the west bank of the Leithen and known as “The Batty” after the butts used for archery practice (now Leithen Crescent). With the construction of Leithen Mill and the gasworks, the venue was shifted around 1846 to “The Green”, a much more confined area opposite the Cuddy Brig. One of the earliest photographs of the Games is of a meeting at this location. From 1872 until the 1890s the sports were held on Pirn Haugh, which proved a popular venue, before finally moving to the present day location at Victoria Park.
From the outset athletes from the Innerleithen, Traquair and Walkerburn area have featured prominently in the Games. Innerleithen’s George Scougall, described as an “ox feller”, was awarded his silver medal by Professor John Wilson (Christopher North) for winning the wrestling at the first meeting. The following year Andrew Burnet of Traquair won a Border bonnet for the standing hop, step and leap and a silver medal for first place in the 640-yard foot race. In 1829 Scougall was again in the medals, this time for quoits and the hammer, and Thomas Anderson, a tailor of diminutive stature known locally as “Tam the Rat”, won the high leap with a jump of 5 feet 3 inches.
Between 1832 and 1835 the great William Leyden of Denholm was a dominant figure at the Games, excelling at the high jump, putting the shot, foot racing, wrestling, and the hop, step and leap (triple jump). In 1835, he won every event he entered. In 2005, his descendent, Dudley White, loaned the silver medals awarded to Leyden by St. Ronan's Border Club for the 1832 and 1835 hop, step and leap to St. Ronan's Border Games. These are on display at St. Ronan's Wells and, together with the Silver Arrow and the St. Ronan's Bow, are among the earliest surviving items of Games memorabilia.
A man who must rank as the forerunner of Daley Thompson dominated the sporting scene in the 1870s. Tom Aitken from Walkerburn was a truly outstanding all-round athlete. He won just about every contest in which he competed including such varied events as the caber, the hammer, wrestling and hurdling. Most of his recorded “personal bests" would still please any modern aspiring decathlete: 100 yards – 9.6 seconds; 130 yards – 12.75 seconds; high jump – 6 feet 1.2 inches; long jump – 22 feet 2 inches; pole vault – 10 feet 11 inches and for the mile – 4 minutes 42 seconds. He emigrated to America in 1879 where he continued his sporting success.
The tradition has been maintained on the professional field and in recent years by many local athletes including, the Whitefords, the Lothian Brothers - Alec & Ian, David Currie, Sandy Pow, Ian Gordon, Alan Lindsay, Ronnie Wilson, Rab Thomson, Brian Scott, Brian Slingsby, Rob Hamilton and Brian Stanage who have all excelled at St. Ronan’s as well as further afield. Charlie Russell, too, has been an extremely influential figure on the Borders athletics circuit, training dozens of local runners over many years.
As well as prize money, trophies are awarded for nearly all events in the present day Games. In 1914 the U.S.A. Peeblesshire Society presented the American Cup for the 800 Metres Handicap, a race for local under 18s, to St. Ronan’s Border Games. Another “global” piece of silverware is the New Zealand Cup. Presented by “Innerleithen Old Boys Residing in New Zealand” the trophy was awarded for the first time in 1950 to the winner of the Youths 200 Metres Handicap, a race also confined to runners from Innerleithen, Traquair and Walkerburn. A more recent acquisition is the Challenge Trophy for the winner of the Steeplechase (“Curly Race”) which was donated in memory of the late D.B. Patterson, a former member of the Games committee.
The ‘Games today continue to be at the forefront of Borders athletics and, of course, are now the culmination of Games Week
2015 marked the 188th Anniversary of the oldest organised athletics meeting in Scotland. St. Ronan’s Border Games has, with the exception of a year during the Crimean War and the World War years, run continuously from its inception in September 1827 to the present day, undergoing many changes over the period. Originally a “mini-Olympics”, enthusiastic amateur sportsmen from all walks of life and from as far afield as Edinburgh, Cumbria and throughout the Borders gathered to participate in the many and varied events. Their versions of the sprint, middle distance race, triple jump, high jump, long jump, shot putt, hammer and wrestling would be just as keenly contested then as now. In the early years a second day’s sport comprised rifle shooting and archery, the winner of the latter receiving the famous Silver Arrow.
Prizes, usually a silver medal or a Blue Border bonnet, were also awarded for quoits, tossing the caber, tug-o-war and for the first one to successfully climb a greasy pole! Innerleithen had its own handba’. Teams from Traquair (those living on the south side of the Tweed) and from Leithen (resident on the north bank of the Tweed) “kicked-off” from roughly where the War Memorial now stands. The “pitch” was the strip of land between the Leithen and the Dam. The Traquair goal or “hail” was the foot of Leithen while that of Leithen lay at the Cauld opposite the Auld Kirk just beyond Kirklands farm. No records of the yearly winners were kept but by all accounts the rivalry was intense. The game was eventually discontinued before a fatality occurred. Another sport not seen today is whippet racing which was introduced in 1924 and continued for some years.
The Games appear to have assumed their present day format when professional running, and the attendant betting facilities, were introduced for the first time in 1921. Though many lamented the passing of the amateur sports the change probably reflected the desires of the ordinary working people. Interestingly there is one race, first featured two years after the inaugural meeting, which is still run over much of the original course – the Steeplechase, better known locally as the “race up Curly”. Until fairly recently this was the final event of the Games, finishing in Peebles Road at the junction with Hall Street. The event that opens the Saturday’s sporting competition could hardly provide a greater contrast. For many years the “Round the Town Race”, via Traquair Road, Miller Street, Waverley Road and the High Street, has proved a stiff challenge for local lads who perhaps thought their chances were better on road than on track. In 1993 Suzanne Douglas showed her competitors a clean pair of heels to become the first woman to win the event.
The first meetings of St. Ronan’s Border Games took place on the flat haugh on the west bank of the Leithen and known as “The Batty” after the butts used for archery practice (now Leithen Crescent). With the construction of Leithen Mill and the gasworks, the venue was shifted around 1846 to “The Green”, a much more confined area opposite the Cuddy Brig. One of the earliest photographs of the Games is of a meeting at this location. From 1872 until the 1890s the sports were held on Pirn Haugh, which proved a popular venue, before finally moving to the present day location at Victoria Park.
From the outset athletes from the Innerleithen, Traquair and Walkerburn area have featured prominently in the Games. Innerleithen’s George Scougall, described as an “ox feller”, was awarded his silver medal by Professor John Wilson (Christopher North) for winning the wrestling at the first meeting. The following year Andrew Burnet of Traquair won a Border bonnet for the standing hop, step and leap and a silver medal for first place in the 640-yard foot race. In 1829 Scougall was again in the medals, this time for quoits and the hammer, and Thomas Anderson, a tailor of diminutive stature known locally as “Tam the Rat”, won the high leap with a jump of 5 feet 3 inches.
Between 1832 and 1835 the great William Leyden of Denholm was a dominant figure at the Games, excelling at the high jump, putting the shot, foot racing, wrestling, and the hop, step and leap (triple jump). In 1835, he won every event he entered. In 2005, his descendent, Dudley White, loaned the silver medals awarded to Leyden by St. Ronan's Border Club for the 1832 and 1835 hop, step and leap to St. Ronan's Border Games. These are on display at St. Ronan's Wells and, together with the Silver Arrow and the St. Ronan's Bow, are among the earliest surviving items of Games memorabilia.
A man who must rank as the forerunner of Daley Thompson dominated the sporting scene in the 1870s. Tom Aitken from Walkerburn was a truly outstanding all-round athlete. He won just about every contest in which he competed including such varied events as the caber, the hammer, wrestling and hurdling. Most of his recorded “personal bests" would still please any modern aspiring decathlete: 100 yards – 9.6 seconds; 130 yards – 12.75 seconds; high jump – 6 feet 1.2 inches; long jump – 22 feet 2 inches; pole vault – 10 feet 11 inches and for the mile – 4 minutes 42 seconds. He emigrated to America in 1879 where he continued his sporting success.
The tradition has been maintained on the professional field and in recent years by many local athletes including, the Whitefords, the Lothian Brothers - Alec & Ian, David Currie, Sandy Pow, Ian Gordon, Alan Lindsay, Ronnie Wilson, Rab Thomson, Brian Scott, Brian Slingsby, Rob Hamilton and Brian Stanage who have all excelled at St. Ronan’s as well as further afield. Charlie Russell, too, has been an extremely influential figure on the Borders athletics circuit, training dozens of local runners over many years.
As well as prize money, trophies are awarded for nearly all events in the present day Games. In 1914 the U.S.A. Peeblesshire Society presented the American Cup for the 800 Metres Handicap, a race for local under 18s, to St. Ronan’s Border Games. Another “global” piece of silverware is the New Zealand Cup. Presented by “Innerleithen Old Boys Residing in New Zealand” the trophy was awarded for the first time in 1950 to the winner of the Youths 200 Metres Handicap, a race also confined to runners from Innerleithen, Traquair and Walkerburn. A more recent acquisition is the Challenge Trophy for the winner of the Steeplechase (“Curly Race”) which was donated in memory of the late D.B. Patterson, a former member of the Games committee.
The ‘Games today continue to be at the forefront of Borders athletics and, of course, are now the culmination of Games Week
