Every June the town of

Lanark Lanark ( ; ; ) is a town in South Lanarkshire, Scotland, located 20 kilometres to the south-east of Hamilton, South Lanarkshire, Hamilton. The town lies on the River Clyde, at its confluence with Mouse Water. In 2016, the town had a populatio ...

in Scotland celebrates Lanimer Week. The festivities reach a high point on the Thursday of Lanimer Week, when the town's schoolchildren parade in

fancy dress A costume party (American English) or fancy dress party (other varieties of English) is a type of party, common in contemporary Anglo culture, in which many of the guests are dressed in costume, usually depicting a fictional or stock characte ...

with decorated vehicles,

pipe Pipe(s), PIPE(S) or piping may refer to: Objects * Pipe (fluid conveyance), a hollow cylinder following certain dimension rules ** Piping, the use of pipes in industry * Smoking pipe ** Tobacco pipe * Half-pipe and quarter pipe, semi-circular ...

bands, and a Lanimer Queen and her Court, who have been selected from local schools. The Lanimer celebrations are based on

King King is a royal title given to a male monarch. A king is an Absolute monarchy, absolute monarch if he holds unrestricted Government, governmental power or exercises full sovereignty over a nation. Conversely, he is a Constitutional monarchy, ...

David I David I may refer to: * David I, Caucasian Albanian Catholicos c. 399 * David I of Armenia, Catholicos of Armenia (728–741) * David I Kuropalates of Georgia (died 881) * David I Anhoghin, king of Lori (ruled 989–1048) * David I of Scotland ...

(r. 1124–1153) granting Lanark the status of

Royal Burgh A royal burgh ( ) was a type of Scottish burgh which had been founded by, or subsequently granted, a royal charter. Although abolished by law in 1975, the term is still used by many former royal burghs. Most royal burghs were either created by ...

during his reign. A condition of the

charter A charter is the grant of authority or rights, stating that the granter formally recognizes the prerogative of the recipient to exercise the rights specified. It is implicit that the granter retains superiority (or sovereignty), and that the ...

stated that the merchants of the town must inspect their March or boundary stones each year. This duty has been carried out every year since then, and the Land Marches became transformed over time into the annual celebrations.

Events in Lanimers Week

Lanimers Week begins on Sunday when the Lord Cornet"Cornet n.1". Dictionary of the Scots Language. 2004. Scottish Language Dictionaries Ltd. Accessed 14 November 2020, https://www.dsl.ac.uk/entry/snd/cornet_n1 Elect is led from the town's Memorial Hall to

Saint Nicholas Saint Nicholas of Myra (traditionally 15 March 270 – 6 December 343), also known as Nicholas of Bari, was an early Christian bishop of Greeks, Greek descent from the maritime city of Patara (Lycia), Patara in Anatolia (in modern-day Antalya ...

Parish A parish is a territorial entity in many Christianity, Christian denominations, constituting a division within a diocese. A parish is under the pastoral care and clerical jurisdiction of a priest#Christianity, priest, often termed a parish pries ...

Church for the Kirkin' of the Lord Cornet Elect Service. On the Monday evening, crowds turn out for the Perambulation of the Marches, when officials and members of the public walk the boundaries. A

Scottish country dance Scottish country dance (SCD) is the distinctively Scottish form of country dance, itself a form of social dance involving groups of couples of dancers tracing progressive patterns. A dance consists of a sequence of figures. These dances are ...

display takes place at Lanark Cross, followed by the Sashing of the Lord Cornet and the Shifting of the Burgh Standard. The evening ends with the Lord Cornet's Reception. An official ride-out around the town takes place on Tuesday night, followed by the presentation of the New Lanark

Loving Cup A loving cup is a large cup with two arching handles. It can describe a shared drinking container traditionally used at Christian lovefeasts, as well as at weddings and banquets, often made of silver. Loving cups are also given as trophy, trop ...

to the Lanimer Queen Elect at

New Lanark New Lanark is a village on the River Clyde, approximately from Lanark, in Lanarkshire, and some southeast of Glasgow, Scotland. It was founded in 1785 and opened in 1786 by David Dale, who built cotton mills and housing for the mill workers. D ...

. The Lanimer Queen's Reception is held on the Friday evening in the Memorial Hall. Saturday sees the Ball at Lanark Market when the Lord Cornet escorts the Lanimer Queen. This is not to be confused with Landemer which is a similar festivity held in the nearby town of

Rutherglen Rutherglen (; , ) is a town in South Lanarkshire, Scotland, immediately south-east of the city of Glasgow, from its centre and directly south of the River Clyde. Having previously existed as a separate Lanarkshire burgh, in 1975 Rutherglen lo ...

, also in South Lanarkshire. Landemer is normally held the first Saturday in June.

Lanimer Day

Lanimer Day is held on the Thursday between 6 and 12 June, barring a June election or a pandemic. Schoolchildren and others parade through the town in costumes accompanied decorated lorries. This is known as the Lanimer Queen's Procession. They each receive a Lanimer medal for participating. With the children march brass and pipe bands, Lord Cornet and Ex- Lord Cornet support, and visiting dignitaries. The court ride in cars after the parade, and the Queen has an open-top coach. Once the procession has gone once around the town centre, the children mount a stand in front of St Nicholas Church (and a statue of

William Wallace Sir William Wallace (, ; Norman French: ; 23 August 1305) was a Scottish knight who became one of the main leaders during the First War of Scottish Independence. Along with Andrew Moray, Wallace defeated an English army at the Battle of St ...

on the steeple). The court also climb the stand and the Queen is crowned by a local lady, to acclaim from the assembled crowds. "

Flower of Scotland "Flower of Scotland" (Scottish Gaelic: ''Flùr na h-Alba'', Scots: ''Flouer o Scotland'') is a Scottish patriotic song commonly used as an unofficial national anthem of Scotland. Written in the mid-1960s by the folk musician Roy Williamson, ...

" and "

Scots Wha Hae "Scots Wha Hae" ( English: ''Scots Who Have'') is a patriotic song of Scotland written using both words of the Scots language and English, which served for centuries as an unofficial national anthem of the country, but has lately been largely ...

" are played, and the Lanimer Queen's Proclamation read out, followed by "

God Save the King "God Save the King" ("God Save the Queen" when the monarch is female) is ''de facto'' the national anthem of the United Kingdom. It is one of national anthems of New Zealand, two national anthems of New Zealand and the royal anthem of the Isle ...

", the British

national anthem A national anthem is a patriotic musical composition symbolizing and evoking eulogies of the history and traditions of a country or nation. The majority of national anthems are marches or hymns in style. American, Central Asian, and European ...

. Later in the afternoon, the Lord Cornet has another procession on horseback. Various entertainments for children and adults are laid on at Castlebank Park, and musical entertainment takes place at the cross in the evening. Finally, children perform at the Lanimer Queen's Reception on the Friday night.

References

{{Reflist

External links

http://www.lanarklanimers.co.uk
Culture of Scotland