Angela Donald says: – Think gala queen was Jane Muirhead
Gaynor Rokacz says: – The Gala Queen might be Jane Muirhead. Lady in waiting looks like Audrey Ball. I think that the date is more likely to be 1979-80
Wendy Beirne says: – The Gala Queen is Jane Muirhead, Ladies in waiting, Audrey Ball , Wendy Cairns and I think Sharon Sibbald. I think the boy’s name was Duncan ?
The very first Gala Day may have been held in Loanhead in 1770 when the miners from the Dryden Colliery and their families were invited to celebrate the birthday of local landowner, Lord Lockhart of Carnwarth.
Gala Days then evolved into community-organised celebrations, and by the mid-1800s they were being held across Scotland to commemorate the achievements of the workers’ rights movement. It was a chance for hard working industrial and agricultural communities to come together and have a well-deserved day off work, having fun with family and friends.
Gala Days are still celebrated by towns and villages all over Scotland, and the traditions vary, but many involve the crowning of a child as the Gala Queen, fancy dress, floats, a parade through the main street, races, and large outdoor gatherings and parties.
‘Arches’ are built outside the house of the Queen and her courtiers, and now they can take the form of anything from castles to recreations of movie sets. These modern arches stem from the original tradition of constructing huge wooden arches which spanned the roads in front of the homes of the Gala Queen and her courtiers. Then as now, things got competitive, and prizes were given out for the best arches. Bunting would line the streets, and the whole community got behind the event, with Gala Day Committees spending all year organising the day itself, and keeping their fingers crossed for good weather. Some things never change!
Katie McKechnie Turner says: – St Ninians Majorettes Great memories of Cornton Gala Day.
Gaynor Rokacz says: – The lady in the blue suit walking alongside the young majorettes is Shirley-Anne McDonald, the teacher. My sister Deborah Davies is on the guide float also Fiona Marshall and Jennifer?Gray, I think the year is more likely 1979/80.
Karen Murray says: –The majorettes – St Ninians majorettes (blue uniform) and Braehead majorettes white uniforms
Veronica Begley says: – In the pics with the lads on the float I can see the Bolton boys and the boy Buck . I think his name was Lesley or Trevor. I knew them back then because I was friends with their sister Jackie . I remember the Corton Gala day . Was great days back then.
Fiona M Rae says- Me (in green), Sandra Stevenson and Jennifer Gray at the back!!!! 
Comments after the photographs are from the “Old Stirling” Facebook page.
Many thanks to Doug Marshall who let us have these photographs, taken from the window of his flat at 24 Johnston Avenue with his brand new SLR Camera!
