Parades and an act and service of remembrance took place this morning to mark the centenary of the Gretna Train Disaster.
There was pomp, circumstance, and solemnity aplenty. And also many lighter moments as spirits soared in the early summer sunshine.
The day began on Dalmeny Street, where a procession formed outside the Drill Hall at 9.45am, just as the original funeral cortege had done nearly a hundred years before. The parade stepped off at 10.15am passing across Leith Walk and down Pilrig Street.
This workman had the best seat in the house.
Meanwhile, East Claremont Street was unusually quiet, with parking suspended and traffic banned. Passers-by remarked on the comparatively light police presence.
Security was more in evidence as the event got underway.
Within the cemetery itself, these three seemed to have stepped from the pages of history.
Relatives and descendants of the dead stood in quiet reflection ...
and – beautifully – life continued uninterrupted a mere stone's throw away.
A crowd had also assembled in Pilrig Park, where events were relayed onto a giant screen.
Drums announced the arrival of the parade. There was something unsettling about the sight of so many young soldiers, glimpsed between graves.
VIPs and local dignitaries had assembled on one side of the memorial cross.
More politicians, religious leaders, top brass, bandsmen, choir and guard of honour stood at the other side.
It's not clear how much they have in common the rest of the time, but today, at least, HRH Princess Anne and the First Minister were singing from the same sheet.
Nicola Sturgeon later departed in relaxed mood, little realising that some of those present were wrestling with temptation.
Guests soon reconvened on East Claremont Street outside Hepuburn House. First came the Mounted Police ...
Then some massed trombones ...
pipes, and current and former military personnel.
Both Princess Anne and the First Minister seemed touched by the warmth of their reception.
Sturgeon later went on a short walkabout to meet the locals.
If you have some favourite photos of today's events, we'd love to see them. Send them to us by email to: spurtle@hotmail.co.uk We'll show you some more of ours tomorrow.
[Images above by Rhys Fullerton and Alan McIntosh.]
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I enjoyed looking through your photos of yesterday's parade and commemoration. FYI I've attached one I took in Pilrig St which shows the pipe band acknowledging the salute and lowered banners of the old soldiers standing on the pavement (British Legion and Parachute Regiment I think). I didn't realise that they were returning the salute with eyes right until I downloaded the photo!
Maggie Holland
