Selkirk Common Riding

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 raised the flag high above his head before sweeping it low, like a scythe, to indicate that all the other men of Selkirk had been cut down. The Common Riding commemorates this poignant act in the final ceremony of the Casting of the Colours at the climax of the day, when the Royal Burgh Standard Bearer and Crafts and Associations Standard Bearers cast their colours in the ancient Market Place.