Galashiels and Braw Lads' Gathering (1951) | BFI National Archive

It's the biggest day of the year for Scottish Borders town Galashiels, as residents prepare for the annual Braw Lads' Gathering. Bubbling with civic pride, this astonishingly beautiful film records a fantastic array of local faces, a bunting-bedecked town centre, and the triumphant parade of the mounted Braw Lads and Lassies, who valiantly ford the River Tweed carrying the historic Burgh Flag. The Braw Lads' Gathering is a surprisingly modern affair, dating to 1930, but commemorates far older events in Galashiels' history, including the defeat of an English raiding party in 1337. The film was sponsored by the Pavilion Cinema, who would no doubt have encouraged local residents to come and spot themselves on the big screen. It was made by Elder Film Productions, "Producers of educational, documentary, publicity, general interest and theatrical films", run by John C. Elder, a former teacher and keen educational filmmaker who founded the Scottish Educational Film Association. This video is part of the Orphan Works collection. When the rights-holder for a film cannot be found, that film is classified as an Orphan Work. Find out more about Orphan Works: http://ec.europa.eu/internal_market/c.... This is in line with the EU Orphan Works Directive of 2012. The results of our search for the rights holder of this film can be found in the EU Orphan Works Database: https://euipo.europa.eu/ohimportal/en... Subscribe: http://bit.ly/subscribetotheBFI. Watch more on the BFI Player: http://player.bfi.org.uk/ Follow us on Twitter:   / bfi   Like us on Facebook:   / britishfilminstitute   Follow us on Google+: https://plus.google.com/+britishfilmi...