Final tickets now on sale for the Tumbling Lassie Ball

EXCITEMENT is building as the final tickets for one of the most prestigious fundraisers in the Scottish events calendar, The Tumbling Lassie Ball 2023, go on sale.

The Ball is organised by the Tumbling Lassie Appeal which is run by members of the Faculty of Advocates to raise funds for charities fighting against modern slavery and people trafficking and to help survivors in Scotland and beyond.

Now in its fifth year, the Tumbling Lassie Ball is Scotland's largest anti-trafficking fundraising event. It takes place on Saturday 28 October 2023 at Prestonfield House in Edinburgh and will have a black and gold masquerade theme.

 

The drinks reception will feature the Tumbling Lassie's famous 1687 cocktail, sponsored by the Faculty of Advocates.

Music will be provided by the Clappy Doo band, sponsored by the Faculty of Advocates Criminal Bar Association. Renowned Scottish artist Elaine Johnston will paint live on stage throughout the event, and her completed piece will be auctioned later in the evening. The auctioneer will be Scottish television presenter, antiques and art expert Natasha Raskin Sharp, one of the stars of TV’s Flog It!, Bargain Hunt and Antiques Road Trip, who will also compere the evening. 

Other items will be auctioned and raffled on the evening, including flights in a private plane, a Scotland Rugby shirt signed by the Scotland squad, a framed print of Parliament House and a night in the Boathouse Cottage at Dundas Castle Estate.

The Tumbling Lassie Appeal is named in honour of a case decided by the Court of Session in Edinburgh in 1687, Reid v Scot of Harden and his Lady, which concerned a young girl gymnast, known to history only by her nickname, "the tumbling lassie". She performed as an act in public entertainments put on by one Reid, a "mountebank" or travelling showman. She was being worn out by having to dance in Reid's shows and ran away, taking refuge with the Scots of Harden, a family from the Scottish Borders. Reid sued the Scots and produced a written contract, showing that he had "bought" the tumbling lassie from her mother. He argued that the tumbling lassie belonged to him as his property. The Court of Session dismissed Reid's claim, impliedly declaring the tumbling lassie free. The only surviving report of the case contains the trenchant observation: "But we have no slaves in Scotland, and mothers cannot sell their bairns..."

Tickets for the Tumbling Lassie Ball are £95 per person. A limited number at a reduced price of £75 per person are available for trainee solicitors and those under 5 years PQE. Tickets include the cocktail drinks reception, a three-course dinner with wine, dancing and live entertainment.  

Tickets can be bought online here. Those who would prefer to pay by cheque/bank transfer should send their name and contact details and the number of tickets required to tumblinglassie@gmail.com

More details on the Ball and other events planned by the Tumbling Lassie Appeal can be found here.