The mother town : civic ritual, symbol, and experience in the borders of Scotland / Gwen Kennedy Neville.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Neville, Gwen Kennedy, 1938-

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Scottish Borders (England and Scotland)--Social life and customs.

Scottish Borders (England and Scotland).

Rites and ceremonies--Scotland--Borders Region.

Rites and ceremonies.

City and town life--Scotland--Borders Region.

City and town life.

Symbolism--Scotland--Borders Region.

Symbolism.

Physical Description:

xiv, 150 pages : illustrations ; 24 cm

Place of Publication:

New York : Oxford University Press, 1994.

Summary:

The Common Riding is a little-studied annual ceremony of the border towns of Scotland. The elaborate pageant offers riders on horseback, foot processionals, silver bands and pipe bands, furling medieval banners, lavish costumes, singers, and actors. In this vividly written and insightful analysis, Gwen Kennedy Neville uses this civic ceremony as a window for glimpsing the process of ritual, symbol, and experience in the development of the concept of "the town" in Western culture. Based on extensive fieldwork in the town of Selkirk, The Mother Town offers a provocative and illuminating study of how the ritual of Common Riding makes a dramatic statement about local strife, communal independence, and Protestantism in the towns of the Scottish Borders.

Contents:

I The Common Riding

1. Scenes of Heroes, War, and Death: Patriotism and Memorials 17

2. Scenes of Processions, Marking of Boundaries, and Casting of Flags 28

3. Scenes of Feast and Fair: Dinners, Balls, Concerts, Races, Contests, and Shows 51

II The Town

4. Selkirk the Town 67

III The Interpretations

5. Anthropological Readings: Ritual, Symbol, and Experience 95.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references and index.

ISBN:

0195088379

0195090322

OCLC:

28631156