More Scoories Whupped this year than last!

The children of Lanark gathered at the Cross in the early evening of Friday, as they have done for centuries on March 1 to greet in the spring.

And, as their ancestors did before them, they performed the hectic dash around St Nicholas Church three times with their paper balls on strings symbolically beating out the winter weather.

Lanark kids are no fools and know their climate-changing ceremony seldom, if ever, works in practice - but it’s good fun trying anyway, probably the primary reason for the tradition’s survival.

There was, as usual, the reward at the end of a coin ‘scramble’ provided by organisers the Royal Burgh of Lanark Community Council.

Staunch Whuppity Scoorie supporter and educator Margo Yates provided the chocolate coinage for the younger participants.

Although the weather wasn’t perfect, at least the 2019 Whuppity Scoorie didn’t take place in the face of a blizzard as some have done over the years.

The Community Council stated itself well pleased with how this year’s event attracted yet another - and increasingly - good turnout of Lanark children with scores of parents cheering their wee favourites on or helping the smaller ones around the ‘course’

After all that exertion, a far calmer presentation ceremony was held in the nearby Tolbooth for the winners of this year’s Whuppity Scoorie schools poster competition.

This year’s winners were: 1 Lily Barr - Lanark Primary, 2 Iona Hynds - St Mary’s Primary, 3 Lucy MacPherson - St Mary’s Primary.