At the Games

When our daughter, Megan, was four years old, we lived in San Diego, California. One sunny Saturday, we attended a Scottish Highland Games. Ian was only a few months old, but I knew he would enjoy it. The month before he was born, I’d had to leave a Christmas parade as he marched along with the bagpipes, leaving me doubled over in pain. The Highland bagpipes are an instrument you either love or hate; there is no in-between. And, having Scottish heritage, I love them!

Megan fell in love with the Highland dancers and, for the next several months, leaped and pranced through the house with her arms held over her head, her hands forming perfect antlers. Unfortunately, we would be relocating back to the East Coast that summer, so I promised we would look for a teacher once we reached Norfolk. I half expected her to forget by then, but I should have known my daughter would remember. By late July, we were settled in our house, and the search for a teacher began. We were off and running! Over the subsequent years, we hit at least one Highland Games each month, February through October. Our outings stretching from Florida to New York.

So, what are Highland Games? If you’ve never attended one, check and see if there is one near you. These competitions can be found in almost every state, with some having several opportunities. This unique mix of music, dance, athletics, and culture is purely Scottish. Some believe they originated as small gatherings in Ireland as early as 2,000 BC and migrated to Scotland around the 4^th century AD. They quickly became popular, and they took on a whole new dimension, prominently featuring in the Scottish summer calendar. Today, the Games rank among the country’s oldest and most treasured traditions.

Echoes of these early tournaments can be seen in the modern Games, especially from the contests of skill and strength, running, throwing, and riding competitions organized by Malcolm Canmore in 1040. He used these games as a method of selecting and training soldiers. During his reign, King Malcolm held races challenging men to run up Craig Choinnich high above Braemar. He aimed to identify the fastest runners, whom he would then select as his messengers.

Scottish Games grew in popularity until the Acts of Proscription prohibited them following the Scottish defeat at the Battle of Culloden in 1746. In an effort to subdue the boisterous Scots, the Acts banned the people from celebrating their heritage, their music, and even their dress. While the ban lasted over forty years, the enterprising Scots found ways to keep their culture alive, and when the Acts were eventually repealed, Highland Games quickly sprang up.

The resurgence of the Games was given a considerable boost in 1822 when King George IV visited Scotland. This increase in popularity spread, and the first Games in the United States were held in 1836 in New York City. In 1866, the Caledonian Club of San Francisco hosted its first Highland Games. It boasts of being the oldest continuously running festival in the United States.

Though I haven’t attended in recent years, our family participated in the Grandfather Mountain Highland Games in North Carolina for twenty-five years. I always believed that the four-day festival was the largest of them all. But I was wrong. It is actually ranked number three; the New Hampshire Games and the larger Northern California Games attract more attendees. The Cowal Games in Dunoon, Scotland, typically see over 23,000 people come to watch a whopping 3,500 competitors. Wow!

While there are minor variations in each festival, the essentials are the same: athletic competitions, bagpipe and dance competitions, marching pipe bands, Celtic music, clan tents, merchandise vendors, and food and drink. Some even have Gaelic song and storytelling. Events range from one day to as many as four or five days. Grandfather Mountain, for example, starts on Thursday evening with the Calling of the Clans torchlight ceremony. A member of each clan is called forth to announce their presence and place their torch on the cross.

The events are usually finished by late afternoon on Sunday when everyone packs up to go home except for those of us who camp on-site. The Games are not truly over until we gather on MacKay Meadow late Sunday night as the moon rises over the mountain. We try to sit quietly in anticipation of the ghost piper who returns to the field to bid us farewell until the following year.

After a hiatus of over four years while we lived in Germany, Dave, Widgit, and I attended a few Highland Games on our return. It brings back so many memories and feels like coming home. We listened to bagpipe bands, watched the caber toss (flipping a telephone pole, hoping it lands in the 12:00 position) and sheaf toss (throwing a bag containing fleece over an ever higher pole), and visited the Clan tents. I did a little shopping and enjoyed some fish and chips washed down with a pint of Tennants.

Of course, I spent time doing my favorite thing: listening to Celtic music. I love everything from traditional tunes to those with a modern twist. A piece of random trivia: it was at such an event that I first heard Mark Knopfler’s song “Sailing to Philadelphia.” That song became the inspiration for setting Death on the Line on the Mason/Dixon survey.

Have you ever attended a Scottish Highland Games?