But the emotion of the occasion has not been lost on the 35-year-old war veteran, the first to ride into Abbey Place on Friday morning. “To be honest it was quite a numbing feeling,” he said. “When I came round by Market Place and saw the sea of crowds I lost myself for a minute or two as we went through. “It’s a heart beating out of your chest moment and a real sea of emotion. I was quite teary actually and there’s a few photos proving that. “It was nice to be the first through to Market Place, but I was just thinking about what Euan had to do and to make sure everything was going smoothly for him.” “It’s been an overwhelming experience. I don’t think I quite appreciated how busy and big the job was actually going to be.” He’s been supported every step of the way by wife Katie and daughters Poppy, three, and Matilda, one, Rob added: “It was really good to see them enjoying it. “I know Matilda is a bit young to understand but Poppy got right into it. She’s not stopped singing Jethart’s Here.” And paying tribute to those men behind him all festival, he added: “I couldn’t have asked for a better bunch of boys. Euan and I were at Langholm Common Riding together a few years ago. He said ‘Robert, I can’t wait til you are herald’. “I said if I was ever lucky enough to be, I would want him to be callant. You can understand my elation when I saw him coming out of the witness room in the court on declaration night. I was just delighted.” The right and left-hand men were fantastic too and kept us on the straight and narrow.” “They were a great bunch of guys.” See all out photos from the day here: https://www.thesouthernreporter.co.uk/news/in-pictures-jethart-callant-s-festival-1-4966561
