Celebrating the Ettrick Shepherd

A series of events have been organised in the name of the Ettrick Shepherd, so visitors can get the most out of the Ettrick and Yarrow valleys.

The day starts in the form of a car treasure hunt starting at 11.30am at the Waterwheel Café on the Yarrow road, just outside Selkirk, and ends at the James Hogg exhibition at Ettrick school at 2.30pm.

The hunt is a navigationally-simple 25-mile run through beautiful scenery, with soup and sandwiches available at the halfway point – the Gordon Arms in Yarrow.

Entries cost £10 per car, and the more people in each car the greater the chance to win the handsome trophy having solved the clues set by David Steel (some easy and some fiendish, he says).

Tickets are available at the Scott’s Selkirk shop in Selkirk or just turn up on the day, but notify in advance that you are coming by emailing [email protected].

Proceeds are divided between the Hogg exhibition and the Scottish Borders Tilting Association.

Participants in the Treasure Hunt have the chance to stay on and see the musical show at the Boston Memorial Hall opposite at 3pm.

The Witch of Fife – a Cantata Contrair!, written by James Hogg and music composed by Ralph Waldo Emerson, is performed by Elspeth Smellie, Shona Mooney, Amy Thatcher and Alan Caig Wilson, and it has garnered rave reviews as they have taken the show across the Borders and beyond.

You can be sure of brilliant music, fantastic story-telling and a roomful of smiles at the end of the evening.

Tickets, £8, can be bought from Daphne Jackson on 01750 66259, or emailing [email protected]