The Duke of Buccleuch’s News Year’s Day meet in Selkirk Market Square could be re-instated after a 12 year break. Selkirk Community Council stopped inviting the hunt to the town on New Year’s Day in the late seventies.
“There must have been a change of council and no one sent an invitation so the hunt stopped coming,” said Kenneth Gunn, chairman of the community council. But last week community councillors voted 7-2 to invite the hunt back to the Market Place on 1 January.
Local butcher Gordon Newlands who proposed the idea, which was supported by Kenneth Gunn.
“I always remember as a boy the hunt was a fantastic sight,” said Mr Newlands. “There is nothing more traditional than the Duke of Buccleuch’s meeting in Selkirk Market Square on New Year’s Day – 200 people used to watch, it was a wonderful spectacle.”
Trevor Adams, huntsman of the Duke of Buccleuch’s said: “Town councils are trying to encourage traditional activities. The Buccleuch hounds always used to meet in Kelso, Hawick and Selkirk on New Year’s Day on a rotational basis.
“We’re keen to take up Selkirk’s invitation because it is near the Duke’s Bowhill Estate.”
