Walking the Marches

In the past, annually, the Provost and officials of Scottish burghs  walked the burgh boundary, checking that the march stones were in place. This ceremony is last thought to have taken place in Stirling in the 1960’s.

This tradition will be revived in 2014.

In the border towns, and Linlithgow and Edinburgh, the marches are checked by people on horseback in the annual common ridings.

The march stones were supplied by those who became burgesses, and in 1723, all of the stones were numbered, so that a count could be kept.

Walking of the Marches 29 September 1926