Main man Jamie chosen to lead St Ronan's Games

Standard Bearer-elect Jamie Boyd and lass Rosie Graham.

St Ronan’s Border Games chairman Alan Patterson introduced the 24-year-old to townsfolk as standard bearer elect last Friday at Innerleithen Memorial Hall.

The former pupil of St Ronan’s Primary School in Innerleithen and Peebles High, of Leithen Crescent, was a monk in 2002 and dux boy in 2006.

Jamie, of the town’s Leithen Crescent, will be supported by his parents Audrey and Ian and younger sister Ellen, previously a sash girl.

He is a keen football fan and talented player, being part of the Leithen Rovers squad that won the South of Scotland Amateur Cup twice.

He graduated from Edinburgh Napier University with a degree in animal biology in 2016 and currently works in Tesco in Peebles.

Jamie said: “My appointment has definitely been unexpected. I have been up watching the games every year of my life, but I never thought I would be asked to be standard bearer.”

His lass Rosie, 21, of Innerleithen High Street, was a sash girl in 2007 and is no stranger to the games.

Her grandmother was dux girl in 1945, her sister held that title in 1993 and was standard bearer’s lass in 2000, and her brother was the 2005 standard bearer.

Her parents Pam and Allan will be supporting her this year.

Rosie, like Jamie, was educated at St Ronan’s Primary and Peebles High schools, before going on to study music business at Edinburgh College and musical theatre at the MGA Academy of Performing Arts after that.

She is best known in the town as a long-serving member of Innerleithen Amateur Operatic Society and took the lead role of Dorothy Gale in this year’s production of The Wizard of Oz.

She also volunteers for the games and as a peer educator for a drugs and alcohol awareness charity.

This year’s principal guest and lady busser were also announced on Friday evening.

Craig Glendinning, a former St Ronan’s Primary and Peebles High pupil, was a monk and head boy during his primary years, and he will deliver the main speech during the Cleikum Ceremonies.

He is transport and workshop manager at Innerleithen-based Glendinning Groundworks.

Craig lives in Walker Street with wife Nicola and their two sons and is a coach with Leithen Vale Sports Club. He already volunteers during games week and Walkerburn’s summer festival.

Emily McNeill, of Maxwell Street, will also play a main role in the Cleikum ceremonies this year, bussing the crozier and staves as this year’s lady busser.

The fifth-year Peebles High pupil is currently sitting her higher exams and hopes to study maths at university.

She was previously a sash girl while in P5 at St Ronan’s Primary and a dux girl in 2013, and both her two brothers have been monks during previous Cleikum Ceremonies.

Following Friday’s introduction ceremony, the standard bearer elect and his lass joined the principals from the past three years in performing a reel accompanied by Tweedvale Pipe Band.

This year’s St Ronan’s Games Week, marking the event’s 191st anniversary, runs from Saturday, July 14, to Saturday, July 21.