"A Celebration of Scotland's Treasures"

Haddow House, Aberdeenshire, held in trust

As I travel around Scottish highland games, I ask people if they have ever visited Scotland.  A good number have – and have been many times – and the rest are either planning or dreaming of a trip.  In conversation they tell me that they would like to see Scotland’s historic castles and battlefields and majestic natural scenery.  Like all Scots I am proud to hear this as my country’s history is almost as dramatic as its natural beauty. And as David Eustace’s recent exhibition in New York has shown, the beauty of Scotland’s landscape changes with the shifting weather and seasons.  No view remains the same for more than a minute. 

Many of Scotland’s historic homes, natural history and battlefields are held in trust for all to enjoy by the National Trust for Scotland.  In all, the Trust is responsible for the upkeep of 129 heritage properties in Scotland, comprising some 190,000 acres of countryside, 1,770 buildings, and 16 islands, including St Kilda, the most westward point of the United Kingdom and a Dual World Heritage Site.

On Tuesday night, Melanie and I were privileged to attend the National Trust for Scotland Foundation USA’s annual gala dinner at the Metropolitan Club in New York.  Since 2000 the Foundation has contributed $6.7m to the work of the National Trust for Scotland.  That is a magnificent sum, and all who love Scotland, whether Scots, Americans or from elsewhere should be very grateful to the Foundation and all those who work hard to that end.

This year the gala honoured Ian Gow, the Trust’s Chief Curator and awarded him with the Great Scot Award. This is a truly deserved award that recognised his authoritative work on Scottish architecture and the decorative arts.  In his most recent book, Scotland’s Lost Houses, Ian Gow selects twenty of the 200 or so historic houses that were demolished since 1945.  While this is a poignant account of what we have lost, it also speaks of the invaluable work of the Foundation as it supports the National Trust for Scotland in its work of “protecting and promoting Scotland’s natural and cultural heritage for present and future generations to enjoy”.

http://www.ntsusa.org/donate-join/membership/

The Scottish Lion Meets the Asian Dragon

 

This year’s From Scotland With Love fashion show features the Scottish Lion and the Asian Dragon in a ying/yang design and beautifully captures the tone the 2013 fashion show held in New York last night.  It was a wonderful evening featuring not only traditional Scottish tailoring and Chinese Han Couture, but also fresh, contemporary designs incorporating tartan, tweed and silk.  Modelling designs from Dame Vivienne Westwood, new talent from Edinburgh’s Napier University and others were Josh Elliot, co-anchor of Good Morning America, Colonel Martha McSally, the first female fighter pilot in US history, and Lord McConnell, former Scottish First Minister.  Notably, Arun Gandhi, Mahatma Gandhi’s grandson, took to the runway to model the World Peace Tartan.

Linking the fortunes of the Lion and the Dragon makes good economic sense.  As the economies of the UK, US and Europe are stalling or stagnating, the Asian Dragon represents the dynamism of the eastern economies.  Last night’s event was an excellent opportunity to promote Scottish designers, manufacturers to a new and growing market. 

It was a dynamic, lively and fresh event and Melanie and I were delighted to be there.  In addition to providing commercial opportunities for Scottish businesses, the primary aim of this annual event is to promote a more contemporary vision of Scotland.  The event honoured the Scottish diaspora who settled across the globe – notably in Asia – and took their traditions and heritage with them.  But it gave a vision of Scotland today that is international and outward looking; taking the traditional brand of tartan, tweed, woollens and kilts but representing them with a renewed freshness and vitality.

See below links from the show.

http://abcnews.go.com/GMA/video/josh-elliott-kilt-video-bible-miniseries-smashes-dvd-18913085

http://foxnewsinsider.com/2013/04/09/watch-fox-news-channels-maria-molina-and-anna-kooiman-work-the-catwalk-in-support-of-the-wounded-warriors/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+FoxNewsInsider+(Fox+News+Insider)

Tartan Day in New York City

 

Melanie and I are in New York City to celebrate Tartan Week, a week of events celebrating Scottish culture, music, art and fashion, with a few surprises I am sure.  Tartan Day itself has been established in perpetuity on the 6^th April by Presidential proclamation and celebrates “the outstanding achievements and contributions made by Scottish Americans to the United States”. 

 

We join our new friends from Caledonian Club of New York at the head of the parade. The Caledonians are a very friendly club and we have already made a number of new friends and acquaintances at their ceilidh the previous night. Held at the Mount Vernon Hotel, which is reckoned to be the eighth oldest building in Manhattan, it was the perfect venue for Scottish reeling, good food and company. 

 

The parade is the centrepiece of the day, and 83 Scottish groups are registered to take part. This includes over 20 pipe bands, Scottish highland dancers, together with representatives of charitable societies, clan associations and Scottish University alumni groups in New York.  More surprising were the Viking Jarl Squad from the Shetland Isles, a pack of West Highland and Scottish terriers, Shetland ponies dressed in Fair Isle sweaters, a Nessie puppet and the Scottish hip-hop band, Stanley Odd.  Scotia in all her glory is represented here today!

 

We set off to the skirl of the West Point College band and march down Sixth Avenue. A bit foot sore having run the Scotland 10K around Central Park earlier in the day, but the crowd that line the sidewalks are enthusiastic and cheer us on.  It is hard to believe that we are marching down one of the most famous streets in the world.  On the other hand, we are representing a small country with a readily identifiable brand.  The pipes, tartan and dancers were to be expected; the Vikings and hip-hop band less so.  All together they represent the rich, vibrant culture that is Scotland's.

"Our Wandering Footsteps Guide"

Our marriage service in Stone Mountain a year ago  opened with that old Scottish paraphrase, "O God of Bethel".  It is a great hymn and was once called the unofficial national anthem of Scotland. The third verse - "Through each perplexing path of life our wandering footsteps guide; Give us each day our daily bread and raiment fit provide" - is certainly a fitting anthem for a diaspora who left Scotland to face an uncertain future, but with a providential belief that God would meet their needs.

 

A year later, Melanie and I celebrated our wedding anniversary in the Scots' Kirk, Paris. The congregation is part of the Church of Scotland's Presbytery of Europe which includes 12 congregations in Europe, one in Bermuda and another in Sri Lanka.  In themselves, these congregations of "the Kirk" are a testament to Scotland's interests in the scholarship and commerce of the continent long before the formation of the modern European Union.  Indeed, Scots were emigrating to the European continent long before 1707 when they acceded to the Act of Union and gained access to England's wealthy colonies in North America.

 

So on the first Sunday of the new year, we were given a very warm welcome by the current minister, the Rev Jim Cowie and his congregation. The congregation was composed of folk from all corners of the globe: Africa, the Carribean, and the far east. Perhaps the diversity of the congregation in that fashionable corner of Paris was shaped by the global influence of presbyterian missionaries from Scotland?

The Parisian congregation has been worshiping on the same site since 1885 and their most famous minister was the Rev Donald Caskie, otherwise known as the Tartan Pimpernell.  A native of Islay, Caskie was minister at the time of the German invasion of France in 1940.  Following the Fall of France he bravely remained to help establish a network of safehouses and escape routes for Allied soldiers and airmen trapped in occupied territory. He was eventually betrayed and sentenced to death, only to be repreived following the intervention of a German pastor. 

Just five days before the fall of Paris on the 14th June, Caskie conducted Sunday worship at the Scots' Kirk.   Writing about that "sombre dimanche" in 1940, he noted in his memoires that "the walls of our little church had become like a strong hand confidently and happily holding us secure from the world".  Before leaving to go their separate ways, the congregation closed the morning service by singing an old Scottish paraphrase to the tune of Salzburg.  Fittingly, it was "O God of Bethel". 

"To the Ends of the Earth"

 

Today is St Andrew’s Day, feast day of Scotland’s patron saint. Andrew was one of Christ’s apostles and his connection to Scotland goes back nearly 1,500 years. In 733 a Byzantine monk named Relugas was commanded to remove the Andrew’s relics from Constantinople to “the ends of the earth”.  In sailing as far as he could, Relugas eventually landed with Andrew’s bones on the east coast of Fife, at a spot now known as St Andrew’s.  Today, all around the world Scots are celebrating our national day, so where better for Melanie and I to be than with our friends from Grandfather Mountain Games Buddy, Beth and Sam Arnold in Johnson City, east Tennessee.

As the Scottish historian Prof Tom Devine has observed, Scots have long been a travelling people.  In his excellent history, “To the Ends of the Earth” he accounts for this global phenomenon and why today’s date will be celebrated in the US and Canada, and also across Europe, India, Australia, New Zealand and the Far East.  In travelling, we have taken our customs and culture with us. Our tartan, pipe bands, the poetry of Robert Burns and our romantic history are just some of the icons of what is considered to be a global brand.

Over the past few weeks, it has become clear to me that the celebration of Scottish heritage is not confined to the Scottish highland games and festivals, or even St Andrew’s day and Burns Night.  These are important events, and indeed Melanie and I were delighted to be invited to the St Andrew’s Society of Atlanta annual dinner a couple of weeks ago (kilts swinging to the Atlanta Swing Band being a fun example of a fusion of Scottish and American cultures).  As I tour around Scottish games and festivals, the people I meet often tell me of the other Scottish and Celtic events that they attend throughout the year. And as I am finding out, the calendar in Atlanta is full of such events.

Tonight as we celebrate our culture and heritage, we also pay tribute to the international outlook of the Scots whose contribution to world history has been disproportionate to our size. This feat was acknowledged earlier today by the Prime Minister, David Cameron who said in his St Andrew’s Day message:

“Scotland's people are international in their outlook and have taken their flair, inventiveness and determination to succeed to the four corners of the globe. Scots and Scotland have done so much to shape our modern world. So, this is a day for everyone to celebrate our shared history and look forward to our future prosperity together”.

 

“Sweet Home Caledonia!”

When I moved to London 18 years ago, I shared a flat with a Scottish friend, Alison.  She introduced me to the Scottish folk band Old Blind Dogs.  On evenings when we felt homesick we would put on their CD’s, turn up the volume and - with dram in hand - would think of home.  Eighteen years later, Melanie and I are driving across Alabama to hear a great Scottish singer Jim Malcolm who was part of Old Blind Dogs all those years ago.

 

On a stormy evening in November, a group of fans gather in the intimate setting of the Kennedy Douglass Center for the Arts in Florence, Alabama.  It is like being in somebody’s sitting room and Jim is there with guitar, harmonica and accompanied by Scooter Muse on banjo. It is a great evening of good songs, music and chat.

 

Jim has been on the road for a few weeks, starting in Albuquerque in New Mexico and travelling east.  He notes the many towns and cities with Scottish names that he has passed through on his journey. Some of them like Dallas and Houston are great metropolis compared to their Scottish counterparts, but all are reminders of the influence of the Scots and the Scots-Irish who came here seeking new opportunities. However, Jim’s song, From the Clyde to Susquehanna, is a reminder that coming to the States was a hard life for many, and some lost all they had in an attempt to make their fortune.

 

Having been on the road for some weeks, Jim’s thoughts turned to Scotland. He sings The Wild Geese, a sad song of the exile longing for Scotland, “Oh tell me what was on your road, ye roarin’ norlan’ wind, As ye cam’ blawin’ frae the land that’s niver frae my mind?”. Eighteen years on, I don’t feel so homesick for Scotland, but it makes me feel good to hear Jim's songs.  Proud too.

 

Driving back to our home in Atlanta we listen to Jim’s take on Lynyrd Skynyrd’s Alabama “anthem”, Sweet Home Caledonia. Indeed!

http://www.jimmalcolm.com/

The Friendly Games

On the morning of my wedding day, my best man, Bruce Macpherson and I, climbed to the top of Stone Mountain.  We stood and looked for miles across the rolling plains of Georgia, punctuated by the skyscrapers of downtown Atlanta.  It was an awesome sight and for a moment I felt a little overwhelmed by the size of my new adopted home.  Having got me safely down the mountain, Bruce was to be at my side once again as Melanie and I celebrated our wedding with family and friends at Memorial Drive Presbyterian Church.

 

So the Stone Mountain Scottish Festival and Highland Games are very much our home event and it was particularly good to be there for their 40^th anniversary.  In this special year, the games were graced by the presence of no less than 12 clan chiefs, led by the Guest of Honour, the Earl of Caithness, chief of the Clan Sinclair.  Over two days thousands of visitors came out in the beautiful fall weather to watch the highland games, participate in country dancing, listen to fiddle music, the clarsach, pipe bands, folk music and Celtic rock bands and wander round the vendors and over 100 clan and Scottish society tents.

We started our weekend on Friday night attending a concert by the folk group, Stonewall.  The group is based in Co Armagh, Northern Ireland and play Irish and Scottish reels, jigs and ballads.  This repertoire reflects the ‘Scots Irish’ heritage particular to this part of the USA. Indeed, the group took their name from the Confederate General “Stonewall” Jackson whose Scots-Irish family came from the Birches, Armagh.  It was an evening of good ‘craic’ with excellent music and friendly banter.

As Melanie and I wandered round the games field it soon became evident why these are known as the “friendly games”.  Perhaps it was the good weather, but people we met had the time to stop and chat, or “visit” as they say in these parts.  We met Scots who had moved here from Scotland, others who were seeking out a barely remembered heritage and those who were simply curious.  For us, it was a weekend of renewing old friendships and making new ones.

The enjoyable purpose of the event was well summed up by the Earl of Caithness who told me, “The wonderful thing about Scottish games in America is that they are inclusive … and here we have 108 clans all swapping stories and swapping history.  And you don’t need to be Scots to come to one of these events and enjoy yourselves”.

http://stonewallmusic.co.uk/