Lourin

Lourin Fair – Over 500 Years of Village Tradition

From an ancient country fair to today's Lourin BBQ & Duck Race

For generations, the third Saturday in August has held a special place in the calendar of Old Rayne. Today we know it as the Lourin BBQ & Duck Race, but its story stretches back centuries. Over the years it has been a trading fair, a horse fair, the much-loved Lourin Fair, the Lourin Gala and, more recently, a smaller village BBQ and Duck Race.

The event may have changed many times, but the reason for holding it remains much the same: bringing our community together.

Where did the Lourin Fair begin?

The history of Lourin is closely connected with the history of Old Rayne itself.

Old Rayne became a Burgh of Barony in 1492 and developed around its market cross. The old St Lawrence Road through the village is thought to have been a medieval route associated with Lourin Fair. The name Lourin, also recorded historically as Lowrin, Lowren and Louran, comes from St Lawrence. Fairs associated with St Lawrence were traditionally held during August, and written references to the Rayne fair can be found going back hundreds of years. By the 1700s, Lowren Fair was already sufficiently well known to appear in written records and local speech. This was not originally a village gala in the way we would recognise one today. Lourin was a working country fair. Traders travelled to Old Rayne with goods, crafts, produce and livestock. Horses were bought and sold, while agricultural workers came to the fair looking for their next period of employment. It would have brought together farmers, farm workers, traders, travelling people and families from across the surrounding countryside. For a small Aberdeenshire village, Lourin Fair was a very big day.

A great horse fair

Horses became an important part of the Lourin tradition. Before the Second World War, Lourin was remembered as a large horse market which attracted considerable numbers of people to Old Rayne. The connection with horses remained one of the defining features of Lourin for generations. As farming and rural life changed during the twentieth century, however, the old-style horse and feeing fairs began to disappear. Lourin also declined and, for a period, the traditional Fair was no longer held in the way it once had been. But Old Rayne wasn't quite ready to let it disappear.

Bringing Lourin Fair back

During the 1970s, local people decided to revive the old tradition. Among those involved was George Skinner of Strathorn Farm, who was chairman of St Lawrence Hall and became closely associated with Lourin Fair and its Clydesdale horses for many years.

In 1974 the revived Fair was opened in memorable style, with a horse-drawn stagecoach forming part of the occasion. From those beginnings, Lourin grew again.

What had once primarily been a trading and horse market developed into a traditional North-east country fair and community celebration.

The Lourin Fair many of us remember

At its height, Lourin Fair was considerably larger than the event we hold today. The village welcomed visitors for a full day of entertainment and attractions. Over the years these included Clydesdale horse competitions and parades, carriage driving, pipe bands, bothy entertainment, vintage vehicles, demonstrations, children's games, stalls, homecraft and produce competitions and the legendary It's a Knockout. There was plenty of tea, coffee and, of course, the all-important fancy pieces. Different attractions came and went as the years passed, but horses, farming, local traditions and community spirit remained at the heart of the Fair. Lourin became known well beyond Old Rayne and drew people into the village from across the area. For many local families, Lourin Saturday simply became part of the year.

Lourin, the Hall and our community

Lourin has also played an important role in supporting village life. For many years, money raised through the Fair helped support St Lawrence Hall and other community activities and organisations. That connection continues today. The event depends upon local people giving their time, businesses offering support, people donating prizes and villagers turning up and joining in. It has always been a community event, organised by the community, for the community.

Then came Covid

In 2020, like events across the country, Lourin Fair had to be cancelled because of the Covid-19 pandemic. It interrupted a tradition which generations of Old Rayne residents had worked hard to keep going. When community events were able to return, organising something on the same scale as the old Lourin Fair was much more difficult. Rather than allowing Lourin to disappear altogether, the event began another chapter. For a time there was a Lourin Gala, before the event evolved again into the smaller celebration we have today.

Lourin BBQ & Duck Race

Today, Lourin Saturday centres around our Duck Race and community BBQ, with family entertainment and activities changing from year to year. It is considerably smaller than the Lourin Fairs of years gone by - but it keeps an important Old Rayne tradition alive. Hundreds of years ago people travelled to Old Rayne to trade livestock, find work, meet friends and catch up with neighbours. Today we might be racing plastic ducks down the burn and gathering around a BBQ instead, but in many ways the most important part hasn't changed. Lourin is still a day for bringing people together.

And perhaps one day...

We haven't forgotten the old Lourin Fair.

Photographs, programmes and memories remind us just how big and special the event once was. Our hope is that, as the community grows and more people become involved, we may one day be able to build Lourin back into a larger village fair again.

It might not look exactly like the Fair of 100 years ago, or even the Fair of the 1980s and 1990s. Traditions change. That's how they survive. For now, every duck sold, every burger cooked, every prize donated, every volunteer who gives up their time and every person who turns up on Lourin Saturday helps ensure that an Old Rayne tradition stretching back hundreds of years continues for another generation.

Help us record the history of Lourin

We would love to build a permanent archive of Lourin Fair.

If you have old photographs, programmes, posters, newspaper cuttings, trophies or memories of Lourin Fair or Lourin Gala, please get in touch with St Lawrence Hall.

Whether your memories are from the 1940s, the revived Fair of the 1970s, the big Lourin Fairs of the 1980s and 1990s, or more recent years, we would love to hear from you.

The story of Lourin belongs to the village - and we'd like to make sure it isn't lost.