Hopefully the YHS 'Heritage Centre' will open to the public later this year ... our plans have been thrown into confusion by the Covid pandemic, but there is a glimmer of hope that restrictions will be relaxed at some point in the not-too-distant-future; quite a few people in the village have been given their 'jags'. The building is now fitted out with new carpet, chairs and audio-visual equipment. The interpretation panels, which will tell visitors the story of Yetholm, are almost ready. The building is not intended to be a museum, it is just not big enough, but we have now got a small state-of-the art glass-topped cabinet which will securely display some of the small number of artefacts which we possess.
One of our artefacts can be seen above. It is a jagger. For those unfamiliar with such things, think of a dagger, but but with a sharp point, rather than a blade - and with the same function! Every year - well, most years, when life is 'normal' - the Kelso Laddie rides out to Yetholm during Kelso Festival Week and, on arrival, is ceremonially presented with a 'Yetholm Jagger' by the Bari Gadgi and the Bari Manushi. The jagger which is given nowadays is, compared with the example shown in the photograph above, rather smaller. This is because the YHS jagger was made by Archibald Gladstone, the village blacksmith, for use by King Charles Faa Blythe when he was crowned in 1898. In this case, the handle is about 20 inches long and the rather shabby paper with which it is wrapped was once brightly coloured - yellow and green, the Yethom colours. The YHS jagger was given to us by Eleanor Dodds, wife of Jim Dodds, the last members of a family which lived and farmed over many generations at Hillview, on the Town Yetholm green. As far as we know King Charles Faa Blythe was a quiet gentleman, who never used his jagger in anger, but shown below is a cutting from the Edinburgh Evening News, 2 June 1915, which reminds us of the original purpose of such an implement. There will be more about the Yetholm Jagger in next month's blog.
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