Bo’ness & Carriden Band finished off their recent series of summer engagements by participating at the official opening of the Fourth Session of the Scottish Parliament.

Invite

The band was invited to play in the Riding of the Royal Mile marking the centuries-old Scots tradition, an essential part of the ceremonial opening of Parliament.

The Riding involved around 1,500 people invited by MSP’s, selected to highlight achievements across every constituency and region of Scotland.

First Minister

At the end of the procession the First Minister of Scotland, Rt Hon Alex Salmond MSP took the opportunity to meet the band where some friendly discussion took place regarding the rivalry between his birthplace of Linlithgow and the band’s hometown.

The First Minister was in fine form having outlined his plans for his next term in office, and spent a considerable amount of time with the bandKeith Waddell

Banding connections

The First Minister did point out however that he did have allegiances with the band through his mother Mary, who hailed from Bo’ness prior to moving to Linlithgow when her father became rector of Linlithgow Academy.

Band spokesman, Keith Waddell commented to 4BR: "It was a privilege to participate in such a prestigious event and the band enjoyed playing to the thousands of people lining the route through the Old Town to Holyrood."

Fine form

He added: "The First Minister was in fine form having outlined his plans for his next term in office, and spent a considerable amount of time with the band discussing our participation and his support of the Bo’ness Fair and Linlithgow Marches."