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NEWSLETTER OF THE SCOTTISH SOCIETY OF TIDEWATER The Thistledown Volume 16, Issue 4 September-October 2000
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| President’s Message | ||||
| As I write this President’s message, summer is nearing it’s end. How quickly it has flown! C. G. and I managed to attend the Chesterfield Celtic Festival and the Grandfather Mountain Highland Games this summer.
The Chesterfield festival is off to an auspicious start. Although it was a hot summer day, the Pocahontas State Park provided a beautiful setting among the trees for clan and society tents. Having grown up in the mountains, I always look forward to the trip to western North Carolina for the Grandfather Mountain games. The weather was beautiful this year. The torchlight ceremony gave me chills as our own Ham Hamilton announced the presence of his clan and the Duke of Hamilton, who was attending from Scotland. I also had an opportunity to meet the leader of Clan MacAuley, a delightful gentleman from the Sutherland area of Scotland. The COSCA workshops at Lee-MacRae College in Banner Elk once again offered an opportunity to learn more about our Scottish heritage. Karen Becker from our Tartan Day celebration presented a program as did Carolyn Barkley. I especially enjoyed the kilt presentation by Matt Newsome, curator of the Scottish Tartan Museum in Franklin, North Carolina. Congratulations are in order for both Rita Hamilton and Carolyn Barkley. The Thistledown and the Clan Hamilton newsletter both placed second in their respective divisions in the competition sponsored by the Odum Library in Moultrie, Georgia. Great work, lassies! And finally, an article in the Sunday Mail notes that a small Scots film company is producing a film about Robert Burns entitled Red Rose. The producers had hoped to cast Scottish heart-throb Dougray Scott, in the lead, but that’s now in doubt because of the actor’s high profile role as the villain in Mission Impossible 2. Don’t forget the Society picnic on Saturday, September 16th and the Williamsburg Scottish Festival on Saturday, September 23rd. Your aye,
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| Clans Celebrate Anniversaries at Grandfather Games | ||||
| Clan Hamilton’s 25th. Oliver Hamilton hosted 260 members of Clan Hamilton for the 25th anniversary celebration of Clan Hamilton July 8. Ham is the President of Clan Hamilton. This Silver Anniversary Celebration was held during the Grandfather Mountain Games where the Clan was first organized.
The Duke and Dutchess of Hamilton were the honored guests for the Grandfather Games and also were the honored guests for the 25th anniversary celebration. The Duke presented letters from David Steele of the Scottish Parliament and the Lord Lyon (the Lord Lyon’s greetings appear on page 1 of this issue). The Duke also presented Ham with an official appointment as his representative in the United States for all matters concerning Clan Hamilton. Adding to the festivities, Rita Hamilton, announced that the National Scottish Harp Competition will be held at Grandfather Mountain next year, where Rita is the Chair of the Harp Competition. Clan Barclay’s 20th. Clan Barclay’s President and Commissioner to the Chief, Bo Barclay, welcomed members of Clan Barclay from across the country to Grandfather Mountain for the Clan’s 20th anniversary of its first annual meeting held there in 1980. Peter C. Barclay, XXXI of Towie and of that Ilk, Chief of Clan Barclay flew to North Carolina from his home in London to join in the celebration as a Distinguished Guest of the games. The traditional “Barclay Bash” at Clan headquarters on Beech Mountain was a high point of the weekend. The Clan’s Secretary, Susan Barkley McIver of Richmond, produced a commemorative program with pictures and highlights of the past 20 years.
The Duke of Hamilton (second from left) and Peter Barclay, Chief of Clan Barclay (far right) step out to lead the Parade of Tartans on the meadow at the Grandfather Mountain Highland Games in July
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| In The Past...September & October 1982 | ||||
| The Thistledown was edited and published by June Alvey with Margaret Caplin as contributing writer. The September issue thanked Willard Forbes for his slide presentation on Scotland, part of a program that ended with country dancing. The annual picnic was scheduled for August 8 at the home of Willard and Thelma Forbes in Old Trap, North Carolina. Recipes for Kentucky Bourbon Balls and Yorkshire Pudding were included, as well as details of Society members’ upcoming participation in the Neptune Festival on October 3rd of that year. Finally an ad for the Kirk Wynd Highland Shop Kiltmakers in Kirkcaldy, Scotland, advertised a “working man’s kilt” for $179.00 and a worsted wool jacket for $119.
In October, the Society’s President, Bob Paterson, described the upcoming tent at the Neptune Festival, complete with pies, sausage rolls, bridies, shortbread, and ice tea. The Tartan Ball at the Elizabeth Manor Country Club in Portsmough was announced for October 23rd and the September meeting was scheduled to be held at the Life Federal Savings & Loan Bank at Wards Corner, Norfolk.
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| Report from Fredericksburg | ||||
| June 10th and 11th found Clan MacGregor once again at the Fredericksburg International Scottish Games and Irish Festival kicking off our season of Scottish Games. The Fredericksburg Games are a smaller game with a strong emphasis on Highland athletics. Many of the athletes were members of the World Class Professionals and have been shown on the ESPN2 show “Ultimate Heavy Athletics”. For air times check their web site at www.uhatv.com. To our delight, the organizers rearranged the games layout bringing the fifteen plus clan and society tents up front, so that visitors first past the tents on their way to the athletics, vendors or pub tent. The clan tents also backed up to the athletic field so the athletic events and other activities on the main stage could be seen clearly from the clan tents.
We further enjoyed on Saturday two of our hometown pipe bands: Tidewater Pipes & Drums and Trad Na Trad youth band. Both bands marched and performed over the entire games area for the whole day in the sweltering 90 plus degree temperatures. We had a rain free weekend but paid for it with the high temperatures, a good preparation for the upcoming Virginia Games at the end of July. Without the threat of bad weather as in past years, this year’s ceilidh was held on the grounds in the pub tent. It was another good showing of the day’s musical talent and an opportunity for a new and upcoming act, The Jeff Greer Band, to be seen. This band (Greer being a Sept of MacGregor) is scheduled to make several appearances in the pub tent at the Virginia Games in Alexandria, Virginia at the end of July. We had a good number of guests visit our tent over the weekend, including the appearance of Senator Chuck Robb (D-Virginia) who stopped by the MacGregor tent. Senator Robb noted that his grandfather had researched the family genealogy and there was a possible link to Clan Gregor. Upon returning home Senator Robb was going to check his grandfather’s records. To our surprise and enjoyment, one family and several of the ladies from the Society ventured out in the heat for an excellent weekend of music, food, and entertainment. Again this year, we had a very excellent weekend, with good hospitality and very economical prices. It is a shame that these games have to compete with the Potomac Celtic Festival, which is only one hundred miles away and held on the same weekend. Scott MacGregor & Sandy MacGregor
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| Report from Scottish Dance Theater of Virginia | ||||
| The last issue included a snapshot of Eleanor Unger’s dancers in 1976. The more things change the more they are the same. The Scottish Dance Theatre of Virginia has been invited to perform at the Janaf Library and the Neptune Festival once again, in 2000.
This has been a very busy few months for the group who rehearsed endlessly at Scope to dance in the international Tattoo in April. This is a great event and was well worth the effort. Tidewater Pipes and Drums and Trad na Trad also participated. The other big event for the season was Op-Sail 2000 in which the company dancers were showcased in five performances featuring two choreographed pieces by Eleanor Unger, “Op-Sail 1700,” music arrangements by Burt Mitchell and “Celtic Millenium”, music by the Chieftains. Those of you who were at the 7-Nations concert will remember this one. Several of the company dancers competed at the Fair Hill Games and all came home with medals. They won’t compete at Grandfather Mountain this year as Eleanor is judging, but they are all working hard for Alexandria, Williamsburg, and the Richmond games. It is wonderful the way the respective dance committees work with each other to produce outstanding trouble free competitions. Two of the company’s dancer/teachers are to be married shortly. Shannon Burnham, daughter of John and Carolyn Burnham of Portsmouth (country dancers) will be married at Christ of St. Lukes on August 5 and Elizabeth McKay, daughter of Nancy McKay and the late Sam McKay, will marry on October 14. The company will take a short break from classes and rehearsals in August and will start new classes in September. Anyone interested in the Dance Theatre’s programs should call Eleanor at 481-2165. Eleanor Unger
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| Report from the Beach | ||||
| The Tidewater Scottish Festival presented “Beach Bagpipes” again at the 24th Street location in Virginia Beach—this year as part of the Multicultural Alliance of Virginia’s “World Bazaar 2000”. This event featured over thirty performing groups and over thirty nations with their represented foods, crafts and cultures.
Jan Watson, of “Will ‘O the Wisp,” manned the Scottish food booth with her fine imported products. Rebecca Ickes, the Scottish born daughter of John and Vonia Ickes represented her country well as runner-up in the “World Bazaar 2000 Queen” competition. She was escorted in the opening ceremonies by Ian McMillan of “Trad Na Trad” who did a great job as the flagbearer of the St. Andrews Cross. Trad Na Trad played the introduction to these ceremonies and the Doorway Singers sang a medley from around the world. Eleanor Unger, as the Art and Culture Chair, was her usual busy self while Annette Harris, dressed as “Granny McLeod”, told stories to the wee folk. Don Gregory, Drum Major of the Tidewater Pipes and Drums, built a wonderful competition platform for the dancers. Local competitors were very successful in the dance competition on Sunday, with Shannon Burnham winning the Best Hornpipe Trophy, Elaina Owens winning the Society’s Best Scottish Lilt Trophy, and Denise Erickson the Dancer of the Day award. All in all the Scots were very well represented and a good time was had by all. For information about the activities sponsored by the Tidewater Scottish Festival, Inc., call 481-9614.
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| The News from Scotland
Nessie Explained |
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| DRUMNADROCHIT, Scotland, July 12. It may finally be safe to go back in the water of Loch Ness, if researcher Adrian Shine is to be believed. The man who has established himself as one of the world’s premier Loch Ness Monster experts, now claims his research has proven that Scotland’s most enduring mystery may be nothing more than a massive underwater wave.
Shine, who has dedicated the last 25 years to studying “Nessie,” says most of the sightings that have occurred can be attributed to giant sub-surface water movements, some of them as large as 131 feet. Shine told ABCNEWS he believes that friction between different “layers” of water has created unusual tidal patterns, which have led people in the past to believe that they have spotted a monster. “This could explain a great many of the sightings,” he said. Shine, who runs the Loch Ness Project in Drumnadrochit, Scotland, says the underwater waves could be attributed to Loch Ness’s location on a fault line as well as its position facing winds from the southwest. In conjunction with the Loch Ness Exhibition 2000, he has set up a laser-driven demonstration to illustrate this tidal effect. Shine has sought to prove that the Loch Ness Monster could be a hoax before. In 1993, in an effort to convince locals that Nessie may be little more than a big fish, he “grew” a Baltic Sturgeon in a pond adjacent to the Loch. The experiment was designed to show that large fish could survive and grow in an environment like Loch Ness, which provides meager nutrients for fish. His sturgeon still lives in the Pond, Shine said. But Ian Cameron, a police inspector and old friend of Shine’s, says what he saw while out fishing one night in 1965 was no sturgeon, and no wave pattern either. “I’m perfectly satisfied that the object had a decision-making process of some sort, call it a brain if you like,” Cameron says. He describes a large object moving with the current and then turning around to move away from the shore and against the current. His report was corroborated by seven other witnesses, who claim they saw the same object behaving the same way on the same night. Cameron’s is the longest sighting on record. He claims he saw the monster above the water for 50 minutes. Asked if he believes that science and the work of Adrian Shine might refute his explanation as well as the mystery of the monster, Cameron says no, “I saw it. There’s no doubt about that, with seven witnesses.” Shine, who describes himself as an agnostic when it comes to the lake monster, said he hopes his latest research will allow people to sort out for themselves whether anything lurks beneath the waters of Loch Ness. But he does not deny that his friend saw something unusual. “This doesn’t explain everything,” he said about his wave theory. “But it might give people some of the answers they’re looking for.” from ABCNEWS.com
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| Scots Humor | ||||
| When Hector’s cat died he asked the minister if he could bury it in the church cemetery. “Certainly not!” said the minister. Hector then asked the Anglican minister and got the same answer. The next day Hector met his own minister who asked him if he was still trying to bury his cat. Hector told him that in desperation he had even offered the Jewish Rabbi fifty pounds to bury him but he had refused too. The minister’s face immediately lit up. “Why didn’t you tell me it was a Church of Scotland cat?”
Contributed by George MacRae |
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| While shopping in Scotland, an Englishman bought an article, placed a five pound note on the counter and went out without his change. The shopkeeper tried frantically to attract his attention by knocking on the window with a sponge. A meeting was held in a Scottish town to protest about the fact that bus fares had been reduced from twenty pence to fifteen pence. Citizens were annoyed because previously they had saved twenty pence by not using the buses whereas now they were saving only fifteen pence.
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