When Archie Johnston left school at the age of 15 to work on his family’s boats as a fisherman, he became the fifth generation to take on the trade.
He is born in bred in Cockenzie and is immensely proud of his heritage. Now retired, the 77-year-old felt a celebration was needed to mark the 200th anniversary of the Box Meeting, an important event in the Cockenzie fishermen’s diary.
A parade steeped in history
The Box Meeting Parade was born out of a group called the Friendly Society of Cockenzie and Port Seton Fishermen, which was set up in 1813 to support the widows of fishermen and those who were injured at sea.
A treasurer of the group, known as the Box Master, would gather a little money from the workers throughout the year and distribute it to those who needed it most.
Once a year, the fisherman would march the box around the village and have a song and dance in the street before waving the fishermen off to sea. This was known as the Box Meeting Parade. Archie was the last Box Master to take on this role before it was disbanded in 1957.
Archie successfully organised the special Box Meeting Parade in September last year to mark the bicentenary and has been praised by the locals for his effort and determination in bringing the community together and celebrating their heritage.
It is no surprise really that Archie is one of the three finalists up for the Community Champion award – a category sponsored by STV Edinburgh – at the Pride of Edinburgh Awards which takes place on Friday night.
The Pride of Edinburgh Awards aims to honour the talented, brave and caring people within Edinburgh and Lothian, and recognise the selfless work.
I was very surprised, a modest Archie says laughing. I wasn’t expecting it at all.
I am the fifth generation of fishermen in my family and my son and grandson are also fishermen. I thought it would have been a shame to let the anniversary pass by without doing something.
Marching with meaning
After raising enough money to put on the parade, Archie insisted that the march be extended from the traditional route around the old village to include the newer houses.
The message of community that the Box Meeting Parade meeting was founded upon was never lost on this fisherman, and the community seemed happy to support his cause as around 400 people turned out on the day to mark the anniversary.
Many wore traditional dress. Adults and children all sang and danced outside the Thorntree Pub, as was tradition with this celebration day.
Archie said: The friendly society was started before there was any social security. The fisherman put money in a box and if the man was injured at sea and couldn’t work, he was given money out of the box.
A lot of work went into the 2013 parade and it was a special day in the village.
We had three bands, two brass bands and a pipe band.
“We had a bonfire on the Friday night before the parade because it was tradition to burn an old boat to give you good luck for the coming year.
It was a great day and I was very proud to be a leader of it.
I had a lump in my throat quite a few times. It really did join the community together.
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