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About us
Those present at the inaugural meeting of the Society on 13 June 1973 were :- Kenny Wilson, Leadhills; William P Bell, Langholm; D Glendinning, Castle Douglas; David Bell, Langholm; W. McRobert, Moffat; John Wilson, Elvanfoot; C. Carr, Carlisle; Bob Hobkirk, Hawick; George Bell, Langholm; Tom Scott, Canonbie; A. Tedham, Langholm; George Carrick, Carlisle; A. Park, Langholm; W. Taylor, Wooller and N. Carr, Carlisle - all fiddlers. Ian Wilson, Elvanfoot and Ray Millburn, Newcastleton - pianists and J. Hobkirk, Hawick - double bass.
Kenny Wilson was elected conductor, William Bell became leader/deputy conductor and A.J. Jeffrey took on the posts of Secretary and Treasurer.
It was agreed that the Society be named "The Border Strathspey & Reel Society" and that monthly meetings be held in the Crown Hotel, Langholm.
The first set of music to be played was Cradle Song, The Lovat Scouts, Smith's a Gallant Fireman and The Soldier's Joy. The new committee met later in the evening and William P Bell was elected chairman. It was agreed that members would pay an annual subscription of £1.00.
The first public performance by the BSRS was on Thursday 7 March 1974 when a concert was held in the Buccleuch Hall, Langholm in aid of Society funds. At the first AGM held on 4 June 1974 the treasurer intimated a surplus on the season of £66.10 and that an account in the name of the Society had been opened at the Bank of Scotland in Langholm
Groups from within the Society competed in the 1975 Mod in East Kilbride and the Golden Fiddle competition in Glasgow in 1976. With the assistance of Langholm Accordion and Fiddle Club the Langholm Music Festival was initiated in April 1976 and our first Fiddlers' Rally was held in Dumfries Academy on 11 December 1976.
The membership of the Society was beginning to grow with the introduction of junior members and in 1977 a Junior Members subscription of 50p was introduced. In March 1979 a crisis arose when the Crown Hotel management sold their piano leaving the Society to continue rehearsals without a piano. The situation was not resolved until May 1980 when practices moved to the Buck Hotel, Langholm.
The Society's first record -"Strings across the Border" - was produced in June 1979 from a recording made at the 1977 Rally held in the Market Hall, Carlisle. Radio broadcasts were made on Radio Cumbria and Radio Tweed and a performance at the James Hogg Festival was transmitted on Radio Forth. Appearances were also made on television. "the Muckle Too Fiddlers" was recorded for Border Television and the Society also took part in Melvin Bragg's "The Disputed Lands of the Borders" for Channel 4
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