Shops boarded up as Uppies and Doonies do battle on streets of Jedburgh as part of centuries-old tradition
Last updated 16th Feb 2024
Chaotic scenes are breaking out in the centre of Jedburgh, as the town welcomes the return of a centuries-old tradition.
Shops have been boarded up for this afternoon's handba' events - which sees the Uppies and Doonies go head-to-head.Â
The Jethart Ba', which looks like a game of street rugby, dates back hundreds of years.
It's believed to have been derived from the game of football - and is said to have originally been played using the head of an Englishman.
There aren't too many rules!
The Uppies - traditionally born above the Mercat Cross - try to take the ball towards the town's castle, to score what's known as a hail, and the Doonies try to carry it towards the Jedwater, at the other end of town.
Former Provost Len Wyse threw the first ball this year. He said: "It's very important to Jed folk because it's been a local tradition for hundreds of years.
"I think people respect our town for keeping the tradition going. There is a court ruling which means that this game can go on, because it's classed as a happening.
"Nobody really organises it as such; people just turn up ith the balls, play them, and it's a great occasion."
Fifteen-year-old Logan Scott, an S4 pupil at Jedburgh Grammar Campus, grabbed the first hail for the Uppies.
John Frater has donated a ball every year in memory of his son, also named John, since he was murdered in the town - aged just 17 - in December 1994.
The ribbons are in the colours of local rugby club Jed Thistle, where John jnr, was vice captain.
WATCH: Click on the link below to see our video of the day's events...
He said: "He was murdered just down the street. He actually died on Christmas night, but by the time the doctor got there it was Boxing Day on the death certificate.
"He played for Jed Thistle, he was the vice-captain there, and he was a good rugby player; and since then they now don't use the number 7 jersey, they play with the number 17 ever since."
When asked what it means to remember his son at the event, John replied: "I love it. Because in the boys ba', it's mainly Jed Thistle players that play for that ba' and it's nearly always a Jed Thistle player that wins it."
Local historian Billy Gillies has been involved in the games for more than 70 years. And he revealed they have helped put the town on the map.
He recalled: "A boy lifted me when I was 10, put me on a windowsill because I was getting crushed, and when he went away he lifted me down and then took the ball out from behind me; he had the ball hidden behind my back. So even then people involved you in it.
"People want to come and see things, things that are strange; to see people going about the town with the windows boarded up. People used to come on the bus, when it came up there, and say: 'What have we come to?' when they see this."
The Uppies won this year's contest overall - having taken the youths event, by seven scores to three.
But the Doonies won the adults game by eight "hails" to six.
For more stories from the Scottish Borders and North Northumberland, bookmark our new home page - https://planetradio.co.uk/greatest-hits/borders/news/