Uppies battle Doonies in Jeburgh's historic ba' game

BBC News

06-03-2025

A historic sport which dates back centuries has taken to the streets of a town in the Scottish Borders once more.Jedburgh's annual ba' game sees the Uppies and the Doonies battle to get a small leather ball to opposite ends of the town.The event - traditionally held on the first Thursday after Shrove Tuesday - is one of a handful of its kind still staged in the United Kingdom.Many of them have died out due to the damage to property or disruption that they cause.
"It is played in the street - it's a funny game," former Jedburgh provost Len Wyse said."There are no rules to this game except one - you're not allowed to kick the ball."So you can chuck it around, pass it, but most of the time they get into like a stow - a maul - and they smuggle the ball about."Once the ball emerges, he said, the action gets more intense."Then somebody will disappear with it and the next thing you know, everybody's running after this person," he said."He's either running up the Castlegate to score for the Uppies, or they're running down the High Street to score for the Doonies."
Mr Wyse also explained how players were allocated to a team."It depends on where you were born - if you were born in the town," he said."Or, if you're an incomer, where you came in."If you came in from the north you're a Doonie, if you came in from the south you're an Uppie."He said the ball they battle over is "very small"."It's only about five inches (12cm) in diameter and it's dressed up with ribbon," he said."It's made from leather and it's stuffed with moss and a page from The Scotsman newspaper - that's the tradition."If you've got a big fist you would lose it in your fist."
Proceedings start in Jedburgh with the ribboned ball being thrown into a ruck of the two teams.The Uppies try to take the ball towards the town's castle while the Doonies attempt to carry it towards the Jedwater.A boys' or callants' game takes place first before the men's game later in the day.The first record of the Jedburgh event is in 1704 - although it was not held in 1901 when it clashed with Queen Victoria's funeral.
An attempt was made to stop the contest in 1849, citing the town's cholera outbreak, but that was overruled at the Court of Session.A judge concluded: "I, for one, should hesitate to encourage the abolition of an old and customary game which from time immemorial has been enjoyed by the community."The fast and furious action often runs on late into the evening as the teams make their way up and down the centre of town.This year a special exhibition has been arranged to coincide with the ba' game, celebrating it and the other historic street games once held in the Borders.