We are delighted to announce that as part of the celebrations for the 250th anniversary of Sir Walter Scott’s birth, we have been invited to host the 2021 Dandie Derby at Abbotsford, home of Sir Walter Scott.
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After careful consideration, and after consulting with The Haining, we have decided to accept this exciting invitation. We are currently working on the details with the Scott 250 Partnership, but wanted to let you know of our plans as soon as possible.
The Dandie Derby 2021 will be a 3 day event.
FRIDAY 4th JUNE 2021
We plan to meet at The Haining in the afternoon to have a walk around the The Haining Loch and to say hello to Old Ginger and to have a party for him as he was born in 1842, (179 years ago) Please remember to bring your picnic and “Party clothes”.
SATURDAY 5th JUNE 2021
We will meet at Abbotsford House around midday. We will have a gentle walk around the estate’s woodlands and the banks of the Tweed. There will be a rally competition, we will have our craft stalls and we will hold the Derby in its usual laid back and fun format.
Apart from any possible ongoing exhibitions, Abbotsford will not be hosting any other events that day. The house and grounds will be open to the public as usual. There will be free entry to the grounds for dandie owners on the 5th June.
Due to Covid there will be a limit on numbers and if you want a guarantee entry into our event, you must pre book, you can fo this by emailing us on dandiederby@hotmail.com. Track and trace will be in operation at Abbotsford and obviously be an outdoor event.
As usual we will have the ever popular local craft stalls and lots lots more.
In the evening we hope to host our usual (optional) meal in the marquee at The Haining.
Sunday 6th of June
Meet at historic Oxnam Kirk near Jedburgh to visit the grave of James Davidson .
(Farmer and dandie owner James Davidson is popularly credited with being the inspiration for Walter Scott’s character Dandie Dinmont. 2020 marks the 200th anniversary of James Davidson’s death.)
The Minister will lead a short service.
Minister will sing the The Lay of The Dandie Dinmont.
Doug Davidson, dandie owner and direct descendent of James Davidson will speak.
In the afternoon we are having Lunch/coffee at Ednam House Hotel. We are very lucky to have Dr Vivian Dunstan who has a Phd in Scottish history and is a descendant of Francis Somner, who was a Dandie breeder, she will give a talk on his life and their family tree.
Kelso is a beautiful market town and has lots of unique shops and has a very close relationship with Sir Walter Scott.
Sir Walter Scott spent most of his childhood in Kelso and met his business partner James Ballantyne here.
Everyone has seen the painting Callum by John Emms. However John Emms also painted other Dandies. A lot of his models were Archie Steel dogs.
A guided walk of Kelso, we will show you where Sir Walter Scott, Francis Somner and Archie Steel lived and worked. This will be finished off by visting Rutherfords Micro pub which has a unique Dandie Dinmont connection.
If you have any queries please get in contact at dandiederby@hotmail.com
