Jethart folk have a ba’ after two years hiatus

Photos by Bill McBurnie.

And it's certainly been missed by the Jedburgh community, with a decent 31 ba’s being hailed, each sponsored by a local business or family marking a milestone.

Ba’ historian and long-time supporter and player Billy Gillies, 79, said: “It was really good to see it return, and the streets were quite full.

"There were a lot of boys playing, which was good to see, and there were even more than usual men playing too … and there was no trouble throughout the day.”

And there was even a celebrity appearance from telly star Jill Halfpenny, who was filming a history series about the Scottish Borders, due to be shown this Easter. The Byker Grove and The Holiday star even took part, scoring a ba’ for the Uppies.

And the scores were wonderfully close, with the Uppies edging the youths event 8-7, and the Doonies winning the men’s event 9-7 and the overall victory 16-15.

The sponsors of the Youths ba’s included local businesses such as the Jed Water Caravan Park, Starrett, Emtelle and Cullen & Kilshaw, with Matthew Palmer scoring thrice, and Harry Wright, Calum Wyness and Louie Reid all taking doubles.

In the adults' ba, sponsors included the Callants Club, Out There Artisan and the Carters’ Rest, while, mirroring the earlier ba’ in Hobkirk, a special memorial ba’ was played in memory of popular player Stewart Ramsay, who died recently in a road traffic accident, with a tearful minute’s silence being held before that penultimate game.

For the adults, Graham Slorance was top of the shop with three hails, while Sean Paxton hard on his heels with two, both of them adding to the Doonies’ score.