The silver Musselburgh Arrow, which is claimed to be the oldest sporting trophy in the world, is competed for annually by members of The Royal Company of Archers. The Arrow was first shot for in 1603.
The members of The Royal Company, who are The Queen's Bodyguard in Scotland, assemble behind the Brunton Hall, Musselburgh, at 4pm and then march behind a pipe band to the Musselburgh Racecourse where the targets will have been laid out for the competition.
The prize is competed for over a distance of 180 yards and each archer fires two arrows standing in front of one target, towards a target at the far end of the range. When all have shot their two arrows all move to the other "end" and fire two arrows back at the other target. There are ten "ends" normally in these competitions.
If an Archer's arrow strikes the target which is called "the clout" then he scores two points, otherwise the nearest arrow to "the clout" scores one point. When ten ends have been completed the Archer with the most points is the winner of the Arrow. Should there be a tie then a prize end is shot with the closest arrow winning.
The Provost and Councillors of Musselburgh, wearing their colourful robes, come to watch the last few ends and the Provost presents the winning Archer with the silver Arrow. Then the Archers follow the Provost and Councillore who march back to the Brunton Hall where there is a dinner hosted by the Council.