gala day

The park was filled with hundreds of people enjoying the Bathgate Gala Day celebrations.

He later wrote: “There were crowds of people in all directions, full of good humour, laughing and shouting and making fun … It seemed to be a gala day with the country people who were mostly dressed in their best and brought with them their wives, and when I saw boys and girls taking their father’s hand in the procession, I observed to my aunt: ‘These are the guarantees of their peaceable intentions – we need have no fears.’”

It was a gala day, with President Ronald Reagan on hand to congratulate Petty, perhaps his finest hour in a career stuffed with celebrations.

Nearly 2,000 children and teachers from primary schools across the Borders are expected to attend a special gala day on Thursday.

Albert Matthews, who studied Harvard commencements from 1642-1916, likewise noted that “for nearly two centuries it was the great gala day of the colony, the province, the state” and that “not merely the alumni but the populace” would flock to attend.