THE King will start a historic street game in a Scottish Borders town which was first played 300 years ago with an “Englishman’s head”, according to tradition.
Charles will witness the centuries-old traditional game of Hand Ba', which has been played annually in Jedburgh since 1704.
The full-contact game sees men and boys split into two teams based on where they live in the town – the Uppies and the Doonies.
In a contest that can last for hours, they each try to get the ball into a set of goals, with plenty of scrummaging involved.
The first-ever game was played with an Englishman’s head, and ribbons are today attached to the ball to symbolise the victim's hair, according to Visit Jedburgh.
The annual Hand Ba' usually takes place on March 6 with the boys ba' starting at 12 and the men's at 2pm.
The King’s visit on Thursday coincides with the town’s Jethart Callant Festival, which runs from June 20 to July 12.
Charles will also witness a horse procession riding past the town square and meet Jedburgh residents.
It will be led by the Jedburgh Callant – a young man chosen each year to lead the festival and represent the town, whose entourage will dismount to perform a traditional reel.
The event comes after unionist MSPs fumed over the weekend due to an “anti-monarchist” poem being read out in front of Charles at the opening of the Scottish Parliament session.
Charles gave a speech on Saturday to mark the beginning of Holyrood’s seventh session since it was established in 1999, where he encouraged debate to be “carried out with respect and courtesy”.
As part of the opening ceremony, the National Theatre of Scotland read a short poem after the King’s speech, where they outlined the British Empire's colonial history.
During the performance, some MSPs could be heard laughing while others sat and watched in bewilderment.
After the ceremony, Reform MSP Thomas Kerr took to social media to fume over the National Theatre of Scotland’s performance, branding it an "embarrassment” for the country.
Reform MSP Mark Simpson also claimed that the performance was "woke nonsense", adding that it was "completely shameful".
He said: “In the presence of the King, our history, customs and the British Empire were slandered – Britain was even called a racist country.
“It marred what should have been a proud and dignified State Opening of Parliament.”
Scottish Conservative leader Russell Findlay also called it “nationalist nonsense”.
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