Men in Kilts

What could be better than writing about Scottish men in kilts? How about watching Scottish men in kilts?

I had the pleasure of attending the Foxburg Scottish Festival two weeks ago. The weather was steamy, but it could have been the men in kilts ;)

We started the event by sauntering through Clan Row. At the gate, the attendants presented Scotland passports to my kids with all of the clan names that were in attendance. Each clan had a tent set up with historical facts about their individual clan. When you present the passport at each clan tent, they stamp their crest badge into the passport. We had the pleasure of meeting Clan Donald, Clan Montgomery, Clan Campbell, Clan Oliphant, Clan Hay, Clan Stewart, Clan MacKenzie and St. Andrew's Society.

I was extremely pleased they had Clan Campbell and Clan Montgomery in attendance since they both play a part in Highland Savior.

My daughter pokes me and chuckles. "Do you think we should tell the bloody Campbells they are the bad guys in your book?"

For some reason, I did not think they would appreciate the humor. We refrained and kept our Campbell jesting to ourselves. Donna worry. There werenae battles with the verbal sword.  

We proceeded to the Highland games where verra strong men showed off their prowess in the caber toss. Aye, every mon was donned in a kilt! Boy, it was sure H-O-T that day!

 There were several events occurring at one time and we could not get to them all. We had the pleasure of listening to a lone bagpiper. In addition, the festival had a piper band.

Underneath the Scotland flag, a man narrated some of Scotland's history, but the kids got too bored and we walked away as he was speaking about Highland hospitality.

Meandering over to the Scottish tents, my wallet was smoking! Clan jackets, sweaters, tartans, kilts, kilt pins, flashes, scarves, sweatshirts, swords, daggers, sporrans, key chains, stickers... everything simply Scotland. I may have found a few things :)

As I was looking through the tartans, a man approaches his wife and says, "You know? I don't see anything MacGregor."

Needless to say, my daughter and I overhear the conversation and perk up. MacGregor? Wow! We've almost covered everyone in Highland Savior! We exchange a bemused look and smile--well, until the wife replied.  

"Of course there is nothing MacGregor," she spat. "They are nothing but a bunch of murdering thieves." Her nose crinkled up, the words like venom upon her tongue.

My daughter's mouth drops open. "Hey! Did you hear that?"

My eyes shot up. "Yes! Shh... She may stab ye with a dirk! I guess this isnae the place to be a fan of the MacGregor, my wee one."

And that's why the MacGregor's are the heroes in my manuscript. How would you like to be stripped of your name and hunted like dogs just for having the name MacGregor? Off my soap box, but I would have never believed that if I didn't hear it for myself. Geehz! What century was that?

Recovering from the MacGregor hater, I attended a Scottish Gaelic lesson. I am happy to report that my pronunciation was in tact and I was actually able to respond to the instructor with simple greetings and replies. When the kids wanted to go and see the horses, I told them to speak in Gaelic. The guy next to me was quite surprised when my kids replied in unison, "Mar sin leibh an dràsda." Goodbye for now.

On that note, I will leave you with this thought. Beware of spoken words that pass yer lips. Fer ye may ne'er ken who is on the other end to hear them.

MacGregor Clan

I am in the final stages of my manuscript, Highland Savior. Since my story is loosely based on the MacGregor and Campbell conflicts, I thought it only right to give the MacGregor's their 15 minutes of fame.

Clan Gregor, or Clan MacGregor, is a Highland Scottish clan. The Gaelic version of the MacGregor name is MacGrioghair. Their clan motto is 'S rioghal mo dhream (My race is royal).

Clan Gregor is believed to have originated in Scotland around the 800s. The MacGregor's suggest they take their name from Gregor (derived from the Latin 'Gregorius' and the Late-Greek 'Gregorios' meaning "Alert, Watchful, or Viligent"). Gregor is said to be a son of the Scottish king Alpin II Mac Eochaidh and younger brother Kenneth MacAlpin, Scottish king in 843 A.D. Alpin II was the son of Eochaidh IV 'the Poisonous,' High King of Scots, by his marriage to his cousin, the Pictish Princess Royal, and therefore had claims to the Scottish and Pictish Thrones.

They fought at the Battle of Bannockburn under chief Malcolm MacGregor during the 14th century. The MacGregor's suffered a reversal of fortune when the Scottish king, Robert the Bruce, granted the barony of Loch Awe, which included the majority of MacGregor lands, to the chief of Clan Campbell. The Campbells, a greedy lot, ejected the MacGregor's from these lands. The MacGregor's fought the Campbells for decades and eventually lost their lands. Reduced to the status of outlaws, no thanks to the Campbells, they rustled cattle and poached deer to survive.

Iain of Glenstrae died in 1519 with no direct heirs. Clan Gregor was in disarray and the powerful Campbells asserted claim to the last remaining MacGregor lands. In 1560, the Campbells dispossessed Gregor Roy MacGregor, who waged war on the Campbells for ten years before being captured and killed. 

Argyle and his clan henchmen were given the task of hunting the MacGregor's down. After suffering severe losses, the MacGregor's were finally overcome.

The Battle of Glen Fruin took place in 1603. The MacGregor's were again victorious and defeated five hundred Clan Colquhoun men, three hundred of them that were on horseback, by four hundred MacGregor's. 

The MacGregor's were formally banished in 1603 by King James VI who made it a capitol offense to bear the MacGregor name. If they did not renounce their name, they were to suffer death. From this period comes the clan's most historical figure, Rob Roy.

Clan Gregor scattered and many of them took other names such as Murray, King, or Grant. They were hunted like animals, flushed out of the heather by bloodhounds. Such persecution continued of the MacGregors until 1774 when they were permitted to be reestablished.