Jethart Callant Festival

Scotland's Frontier Fortress


Castle
River Walk
History
Kerr Clan
Visitor Information



	open throughout July Tuesday - Sunday 11 a.m. - 4 p.m.



	10th July 2009

Callant arrives

Crossing River Jed

Pipers and drums

Dipping the Flag

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On the first or second Friday in July, the Jethart Callant leads a cavalcade of two-hundred or more riders from Jedburgh to Ferniehirst Castle to honour all the young men who took part in local battles long ago. This moving ceremony forms the high point of the two-week Jethart Festival.

On arrival at Ferniehirst, the riders are welcomed in the name of the Kerr family by Lord Lothian or a Kerr kinsman. A recital of the “Reprisal,” a poem by Walter Laidlaw to commemorate the recapture of Ferniehirst from the English led by Sir John Kerr in 1549, is followed by singing and drinking.

The cavalcade then leaves to particpate in several other ceremonies, including one at the Capon tree, a lone survivor of the ancient Jed forest.

At a deeply-moving memorial ceremony, "The Flowers of the Forest" is played by a lone piper. The Callant lays a wreath at the Memorial and then returns the Jethart Flag to the safekeeping of the Provost for another year.