TICKETS are still available for a major multimedia production featuring renowned Scots performers including Barbara Dickson and Siobhan Miller to mark the centenary of World War One.

The opening night of the Far, Far From Ypres tour around Scotland will be in Selkirk on Sunday, August 5.

Forming part of Scotland’s Armistice centenary programme, Far, Far From Ypres uses the songs of the trenches to tell the story of the Scottish war effort and will visit ten venues across the country throughout the centenary of the final hundred days of the war.

The show was devised, written and produced by Ian McCalman of folk group The McCalmans to highlight the unique insight the songs offer into the life of a soldier.

It shares the hope, suffering, endurance and fear associated with the war through the eyes of fictional, prototypical soldier, Jimmy MacDonald.

Like many young men, Jimmy is full of enthusiasm and joins up right away, however, when he is sent to the Flanders trenches he begins to experience the true horrors of war.

Ian said: “During the war, soldiers sang together to bond and alleviate fear, sharing songs from contemporary music halls as well as creating their own.

"However, looking back on the music of the war today, we can see how attitudes towards the conflict changed over its course.

"From the early, jingoistic songs that promoted recruitment and betrayed an innocence about the reality of war, through to the resignation, black humour and resentment present in the later songs, the progression reflects the bitterness which grew among troops as they became disenchanted."

The cast of 26 performers, including Scottish folk scene favourites such as Barbara Dickson, Siobhan Miller, Dick Gaughan, Ian McCalman, Iain Anderson, Professor Gary West, Stephen Quigg and Ian Bruce, will also visit Aberdeen, Oban, Portree, Ullapool, Dundee, Stirling, Inverness, Dumfries and Edinburgh, all of which were closely associated with Scottish regiments and therefore at the heart of recruitment during the war.

The show will also incorporate stories about local men at each performance, which are being sourced as part of a community engagement project led by Legion Scotland.

The tour is being delivered by WW100 Scotland in partnership with Legion Scotland and Poppyscotland.

Remaining tickets, which cost cost £15 (£10 concession), for the Selkirk show on August 5 are available from the Scott’s Selkirk Shop, 18 Market Place.

They can also be purchased online at http://bit.ly/2KCsV9g.