A calling of the clans: Our future is our past

BY JAREN GRAGG SPECIAL TO THE AJT

Every second weekend in July you can hear the sound of bagpipes ringing through Grandfather Mountain.

Thousands come to MacRae Meadows to experience the Highland Games, some for the first time and some who have been to the Games their whole lives.

What makes these Highland games so special? Is it the people that you meet while at the Games? Is it taking a step back into time and learning about your Scottish heritage, or maybe it is watching the athletes participate in events that have been a Scottish tradition for many years.

If you ask around, you would probably hear the same response over and over: It’s all of it. The Grandfather Highland Games are all about coming together with friends, but it’s also about preserving Scottish heritage. GMHG are the most traditional games in the world. These are Games that you would’ve been able to watch 75 to 100 years ago. As Steve Quillin, President of the Highland Games put it, “Our future is in our past.”

The Highland Games started as an idea from Donald F. McDonald in 1954, where McDonald took a trip to the Braemar Highland Games in Scotland. McDonald enjoyed the Games so much that he wrote articles about Braemar in the newspaper he worked for in Charlotte. Upon reading some of those articles, McDonald was contacted by Agnes MacRae Morton, whose family was affiliated with Grandfather Mountain. Morton wanted to hold a gathering of clans at MacRae Meadows and decided to contact McDonald about this endeavor. Both began planning for the Games in 1955 and the inaugural Games were to be held in 1956. To get the Games started, the endeavor needed to raise money, and the effort took place in creative ways.

“Donald MacDonald booked the Black Watch Regimental Pipe Band, who were touring around the U.S. in 1955. MacDonald booked them at the Charlotte Coliseum at a cost of $4,000,” Quillin recalled. “Every day at lunch, he would put on a kilt and go out into Charlotte and sell tickets… He ended up selling out the concert at the Coliseum. The money earned from that was the seed money for the first Games.”

With enough funding, the first GMHG was held on Aug. 19, 1956. The reason for this date was to commemorate Prince Charlie at Glenfinnan’s starting of the Jacobite rising in 1745. Many of the same competitions that were a part of the first Games are still very much alive in today’s Games, including such as the Hammer Throw, the Sheaf Toss and perhaps the most famous, the Caber Toss. It also included Highland dance and solo bagpiping and Gaelic song.

“We can’t have a monstrous field of athletes, but what we do have are high-quality athletics,” Quillin said of the Games’ current form. “That’s what we aim for at Grandfather Mountain, in all our contests. We draw competitors routinely from Scotland, New Zealand, Australia, Canada, to Washington State and Minnesota.”

Officials expected between 300 and 1,500 people at its first Games, but newspapers at the time estimated the attendance at approximately 10,000 patrons. Whether that number was official or not, the Games exceeded expectations. GMHG expanded the next two years and, in 1958, moved to the second weekend in July, which has remained the Highland Games official date since.

Since the Games’ incep- learn about a multitude of topics, and hear from experts and individuals from various walks of life.

“It’s a series of informative lectures, some of them are historical. Some of them are about Scottish clothing, some of them are about the innards of a bagpipe,” Quillin explained. “It’s a wide mixture of topics. These lectures are very strongly attended because people get to hear the truth. There is not misty romance, just the facts.” cial event that Grandfather holds, where every clan tartan is blessed. Probably the most unique and a staple to GMHG is the Calling of the Clans, where at approximately dark on opening night of the Games every society sends a representative declaring that they are present. Quillin says that he has witnessed more than 50 ceremonies and it gives him chill bumps every time. tion, GMHG has grown and expanded over the years to what we know it as today. The Highland Games draws in ten of thousands of patrons each and every year at MacRae Meadows. It’s like the Meadows come alive when the Highland Games return. As the people give it breath, one can hear the bagpipes and the Celtic rock that play during the weekend.

“What we are is the largest gathering of Scottish Clans and families, societies on the planet, anywhere in the world,” Quillin added. “As far as I’m concerned, it’s the most special little corner on the earth.”

In the beginning, the weekend of GMHG featured only a handful of clans, but today there are more than 100 clans participating who are represented. Educating attendees is a key component of the Games, and Quillin shared the significance of visitors educating themselves when it comes to their Scottish Heritage. One of the many unique opportunities at Grandfather is getting to go to the Scottish Cultural Village. There, guests can

As part of the effort to preserve GMHG’s historical significance, Quillin and Games officials are seeking assistance in the preservation of documents related to the Games, including the conversion of hard-copy paperwork into digital form.

“We have many artifacts and articles at the Games office that we are trying to preserve,” Quillin noted. “If anyone knows how to digitally enhance those types of things, we encourage them to contact the Highland Games office.”

One of the many things that the Grandfather Highland Games are proud of is being at the forefront of many events that are held at the site. GMHG was a pioneer for many events, not just in the United States, but also around the world. One of those special events is the Parade of Tartans. Participating clans send someone to march and represent their respective clan. Qulilin mentions that it is one of the single most photographed in the Scottish American Highland Games world. The Kirkin’ of Tartans is another spe-

Not only do the events of GMHG make it the spectacle that it has become over the years, but another of the unique aspects of the Games is the camping contingent that stays for the full weekend for the Games, sometimes arriving onsite many days early. Theses campers come and enjoy the Games, but they also form a special bond and have a camaraderie unique to the GMHG.

“These campgrounds have created these little villages, and they spend their vacation time here. These are families of choice and they refer to themselves as their mountain family, so there’s this phenomena I refer to as clanship that occurs at Grandfather Mountain,” Quillin explained. “I’m fortunate enough to have been to 26 Highland Games in my life, and I have never seen that clanship exhibited to any degree that approaches what we have at Grandfather Mountain.” That clanship will keep people coming back for years and years to come. As many at the Games say, “It’s all about the clans,” and is all about making friends and connections that will last a lifetime.

Grandfather Mountain Highland Games