Wigtown Root Show

The procession for the annual Wigtown Root Show led by the Burgh Silver Band.  The Root Show, an autumn version of the traditional flower show, and Sports were a major event in the Wigtown year.  The picture gives a good idea of the original medieval town, rectangular in plan.  Beyond the house whose gable projects into the street are the houses of North Main Street forming the northern side of the rectangle.  The projecting house shows the line of the west side, which contained one of the town gates or ports.  The houses forming the rest of the west side had already gone by 1908.  The projecting house at the foot of High Vennel, one of the two main entrances to the town, has now also gone.  The street between the photographer's position and the High Vennel represents the first expansion of the town from its medieval shape.