It was during childhood summer holidays spent in Girvan that I first encountered the Orange Walk. On the first Sunday after July 12, hundreds of Orangemen – maybe more – would disembark from the train and parade up through Vicarton Street and on through the town.

We’d watch transfixed as they passed our holiday lodgings, having heard the distant rumble of their flutes and drums minutes before. You got a wee thrill of anticipation as the drumbeat got closer and you could make out some tunes amidst the tumult.

When, at last they rounded the corner, and strode into view your senses danced with the spectacle. Nothing you’d ever seen or heard before........

© Herald Scotland