Robert Burns' visit commemorated

Coldstream Burns Club held its annual Tweed Bridge ceremony on Sunday to commemorate Robert Burns' visit to the town on May 7, 1787, when he crossed the bridge and stood on English soil for the first time.
The Coldstream Burns Club Bridge ceremony marks the first time Robert Burns stepped onto English soil in 1787The Coldstream Burns Club Bridge ceremony marks the first time Robert Burns stepped onto English soil in 1787
The Coldstream Burns Club Bridge ceremony marks the first time Robert Burns stepped onto English soil in 1787

The ceremony was attended by around 50 guests and members who were led from the Royal British Legion Club by pipers Rob Bell and Keith Guthrie to walk down to Coldstream Bridge in glorious sunshine. The company gathered around the plaque placed on the west parapet of the bridge by the club in 1926, and David Douglas, club chairman, reminded everyone of the story of Burns’ visit to Coldstream. Then, as Burns had 231 years previously, he dropped on one knee before reciting the last stanza from The Cotter’s Saturday Night.

Wreaths were attached to the parapet alongside the plaque and the company returned to a ceremony in Henderson Park, where a formal welcome was extended to representatives from Eyemouth, Whiteaddder, Galashiels, Dumfries and Falkirk Burns Clubs and Wendy Lough to propose the toast to the Bard.