Needing some shopping today, we caught the bus into Dumfries. We had three hours in the town before catching the bus back – what we actually needed to do would have taken us under an hour. So we had a lot of time to waste.
In the town centre, we spotted a pipe band coming up the street. A couple of police officers were walking ahead, clearing the way. But they were hardly needed – nobody deliberately stands in front of a Scottish pipe band that is marching along in full badger-and-kilt playing “Scotland The Brave”!
The band was followed by a collection of British Legion men, cadets and a few representatives of the enmergency services – about 50 or so in all.
We wondered what it was all about. “Isn’t it the start of the Scottish Rally this weekend?” I remembered. “Must be that that then – they’re starting the race from here”
So we followed the band to the square, where a podium with chars had been set up in front of the Midsteeple; various local politicos and bechained dignitaries were already setting down their behinds on the chairs. There were crash barriers to hold back the crowds – but these were hardly needed either, as there seemed to be no more than a couple of hundred people present. There were certainly spare places to be had on the benches around, so we sat down to wait for the entrance of the cars and drivers.
Of which there was a conspicuous absence, despite the yawning space in the square. By the time we’d settled ourselves, the band and followers had gathered in front of the podium. There was a bit more marching, some bit of business with the British Legion flags. Then one of the dignitaries stood up and spoke. But from our bench far back, we couldn’t hear a word. There was a stand of loudspeakers in front of us, but unplugged, with the wiring rolled up around the base.
The speechifying – whatever it was about – didn’t take much time. There was a bit of applause. Then the band struck up and the procession slowly processed out again, while the dignitaries made their dignified exit. There was still no sign of any cars.
What it was all about, we had no idea, except that it clearly wasn’t anything to do with rallying. But it had had passed some time, and we set off towards a cafe to pass some more time.

It was only when I switched on the evening news tonight – thankfully, Jackomania seems to be on the wane – that I learned that today was the first national “Armed Forces Day“. Which even I had never heard of – and my calendar-keeping duties keep me on the lookout for news about holidays and national days.
It was of course on the local news; the Tyne Tees news (our ‘local’ ITV news station) even devoted about 30 seconds to the Dumfries event – all closeups and interior shots. There were no wide-angle shots of the tiny crowd and yawning spaces.
The outside reporter explained that this day was to honour surviving military veterans as well as serving military personnel, so it was really “Veterans’ Day”; the studio presenter then ended the item by turning to the camera with a cheery “And let’s hope this is just the first of many more Veterans’ Days to come!”

I wonder how long he spent removing his foot from his mouth?