Last weekend was the annual Scottish Highland Games of 2009.The dog on the left is an Elk Hound and the two dogs on the right are Irish Wolfhounds.
This is one of the Pipe & Drum Bands competing in this year's event. You can see one of the judges in the left of the picture watching them as they march to the performing field.
There is an annual procession of all the clans that are present and they walk past the grand stands for viewing. This is the Clan McKay with their piper following.
Clan Cian
Clan Stewart
This was the marching field and the grand stand. The dancing competition was also held in this general area.
Clan Wallace
Clan Campbell
Clan Gunn
Part of the crowd of people who attended the fair. Last year there were over one-hundred pipe & drum bands competing. Due to the recession, there were no where near the same numbers.
The featured musical groups this year were "Golden Bough", "Molly's Revenge", and "The Wicked Tinkers."
The weather wasn't as bad as it was forecast. It was in the 80s with a nice intermittent breeze.
Unfortunately there wouldn't be enough room to show pictures of every clan that attended and I didn't get pictures of them all. There are lots of things to see and do at this event with plenty of ethnic foods to sample as well.
Enjoy!
10 comments:
It’s great you had a good time; your band was not performing?
Bet a kilt really helps you beat the recent heat, eh? Although as hot as I'm hearing its been for you, AC's probably the best defense. Have a cool one for me!
Martin: I always enjoy attending the annual fair. Even though it is mainly for people of Scottish lineage, you will see those of Irish and Welsh lineage as well. Actually, everyone is invited whether they have a drop of Celtic blood or not. This year I knew I wouldn't last trying to walk around the fair for three hours or so. (That's about as long as I enjoy. Usually, it is very warm up in this part of the foothills of the Cascade Mountains. This is also farm land and most vegetables and fruits do well. I do not like the heat but even though it was on the warm side, there was a breeze that helped make it palatable.
During the summer months, the band is pretty much on one form of holiday or another. Our bodhrán player and his wife live on their sailboat during the good sailing months up near the San Juan Islands of Washington. They also prefer the Canadian waters near Vancouver, BC. Peggy and her husband have a sailboat as well, but it is in for repair so they took a course on sailing and navigation and are now able to charter any sailboat and operate it. It was quite an intense week for them. There was a total of six people aboard a forty-seven foot sailboat, including the captain who taught the course. It was "hands-on" from the very beginning.
We didn't play for those main reasons and that we didn't apply to play. The weather out of doors, even though it's covered, is good for my harp. I struggle to keep it in tune with this type of weather. I only take it out during the Autumn, Winter or Spring months if we have a gig that requires me to do so. Otherwise, we travel much lighter with fewer instruments.
I enjoyed the excerpt from the St. Matthew Passion, by Bach. I had mentioned singing that aria among others but forgot to say we sang it in English. I usually do not like English translations since they do not capture the vowel and the words usually are clumsy. I sang another translation that Benjamin Britten used in one of his productions of it. It made much more sense of the text and the words were closer to the German vowel sounds. That is a very difficult aria and I never looked forward to singing it. I guess that won't be a problem since I have retired from that genre. My voice had to be in the best condition to sing classically but, I do not have to make the same vocal production singing in the Celtic genre.
I am really blathering away this morning, a friend sent along some new coffee for me to try and I made a latté. I think it is making me very chatty. ( or at least more than usual } ;-)
Greg: The kilt does help. It's also very interesting when on is driving back and has the A/C on in the car. Those wee zephyrs are stimulating. ;-) ( but I won't go any further with that thought )
I've been staying mainly in the house unless I just have to go out. I had a doctor's appointment in Tacoma and when I came out afterwards, it had reached 111 degrees F. All the way home the temp stayed in-between 107 - 110 degrees F. This is the Northwest. We aren't supposed to be having this hot of weather. My neighbors up the hill from our backyard filled their hot-tub with cold water and stepped in to cool themselves. They do not have any A/C and I'm sure listening to our heat-pump cooling our house all night must not have been pleasant. Last night the weather broke and it cooled down a bit.
I haven't seen your Columbine's yet in any of your pictures. How did they do? I'm anxious to see where you plant them and how they look in your Midnight Garden. You stay cool as well.
Thanks for sharing the pics...
: )
Johnny: You bet!
Butch I just wanted to say (originally 2 days ago) I really enjoyed you „chattering“, I want to say something witty too, but I’m not witty today, it’s too hot & sultry (was I ever witty, I have to look in my notes), I hope, you have a wonderful Sunday, it’s nearly gone here, hopefully we have some thunderstorms tonight.
Martin: It sounds like it's too hot to be witty. I hope your weather breaks and you get some cooler weather with the rain. When I used to live in Michigan as a lad, the weather many times before a thunder storm was hot and muggy and afterwards, refreshing and cooler. There were those occasional thunder storms when it was cold as the dark clouds and wind picked up. I think this was my favorite type of stormy weather. It felt dangerous and most likely, was when the lightning started.
My being chatty may be a product of my Irish lineage. ;-) And yes, I have kissed the Blarney Stone. ;-)
ps
Regarding the harp. I meant to say it does not do well in the hot weather. It goes out of tune faster. That reminds me of the saying: An harpist spends 50% of the time tuning the harp and the other 50% playing out of tune!
I assume you've been fairly mum about your recent health issues on purpose, but whatever they are/were, I hope you're on the mend. It seems like a good sign that you've been up and about, in a kilt no less. No, I don't know why a kilt seems like a sign of health, but it does, doesn't it? Love the photos. I never went to the Enumclaw games when I lived in Seattle. It was on the long list of things I meant to get to. Sigh. Thanks for sharing your visit though.
Patrick: Thanks for your best wishes, I haven't said much but, this year I've been having some health issues. My fall injury seems to be mending but, slowly. That was my "good leg." So, taking steps is almost out of the question, since they affect my knee. I had fractured my elbow in my fall and reinjured it trying to twist a cap off of a jar. ( Live & learn ) I now have an electric jar opener. (neat) Not to belabor my health but I'm testing out different medicines for my diabetes and they don't seem to be working. ;-( My next step would be insulin if I can't get my fasting levels in the normal range. Otherwise, . . . ;-)
I love going to the highland games. I don't know but, it may be a clan-ish bonding that makes one feel like they belong in the gathering. People are generally quite friendly, and my tartan stumps the most familiar of those who can spot a tartan and tell you which clan it is. I realize I'm throwing them a curveball since my tartan is an Irish one.
This year I wasn't able to walk around the whole fair like previous years so, I brought along my wheelchair and Steve had the honors. He doesn't seem to mind and I am grateful.
Nice to see you here,and I hope your summer brings better things.
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