Atlanta St. Andrews Society Burns Dinner

[M. A. C. Newsome]

My family and I just returned this afternoon from a trip to Atlanta. We had a good visit with family down there, but the primary reason for the trip was to attend the Robert Burns Dinner hosted by the St. Andrews Society of Atlanta, held at the Marietta Country Club.

It was a fantastic evening, with wonderful food, well-dressed attendees, and grand toasts all around. I was invited down with my wife to give the Immortal Memory speech.

I saw at least one other X-Marker in attendance, Gilmore. Sadly, we did not get many photos of the actual dinner. However, the St. Andrews Society did have a photographer going round documenting the evening, and I am told there will be a shutterfly site with all the pictures up. I'll post a link to that as soon as I get the details.

In the meantime, here is a "going out" pic of my wife and I prepared for the evening.


We actually took several such shots, but the lighting was terrible in nearly every one. The above represents the best, sad to say!

I did photograph one particular gentleman I met that evening, named Ephram MacLean. I had to have his photo, because when I saw him walk in the door, before I saw his face, I thought he might be our own Sanford MacLean from his outfit!


He was definitely the most colorfully dressed there, in the sea of other men all in their black jackets. He and I had a good chat about Highland attire. He has a doublet in the same tartan as his kilt (MacLean of Duart), which he actually had refashioned out of a tartan double-breasted sport coat that he picked up from a consinment shop for $35! Just happened to be a match for the colors and sett size of his kilt. Lucky SOB! :-)

In any case, a good time was had by all, and I will put up more pictures when/if I have them.

[Mael Coluim]

Great photo of you and the Misses, Matt. Mr. MacLean is one dapper looking gentleman! Look forward to seeing more photos of the evening.

[1MUNK3]

Thank you for sharing those wonderful pics. Both of you gentleman look outstanding. I've always been fond of the more traditional look myself. Your wife of course looks lovely. She did an awesome job on your kilt hose. You are a very lucky man indeed. I look forward to the future pictures.

[JSFMACLJR]

Excellent photos, Matt, as usual. I met Ephraim McLean a number of years ago in Atlanta. He is very involved in Clan matters, and certainly is one of the better turned out gentlemen. I have a photo of him in the tartan doublet:


Cheers,
Sandford

[Panache]

Matt,

You and your lovely lady look very smart!

Cheers

Jamie

[turpin]

And here is my own photo of the colorfule and well-traveled Mr. MacLean, taken at a Kirkin. On the left is our own Cawdorian.

[MacMillan of Rathdown]

I really have to ask if there is something so precious about Mr. MacLean's hat that he refuses to let it out of his sight for even one moment? Or is he just so proud of the fact that he owns a hat that he wants everyone to be aware of it?

Seriously, when attending a social function the hat shouldn't be tucked under your shoulder strap like some squaddie in the chow line. Also, if one is going to wear a dirk it should be worn on the right, not the left. They are also worn ahead of the point of the hip, not slung on the side like a pistol.

That said, WOW! what an array of outfits.

[SFCRick]

Matt, I think you both look great and your " new" plaid looks fantastic, I keep checking your site waiting until you offer them for sale.

[cessna152towser]

Super pics, sounds like a fun trip to Atlanta.

[M. A. C. Newsome]

I really have to ask if there is something so precious about Mr. MacLean's hat that he refuses to let it out of his sight for even one moment? Or is he just so proud of the fact that he owns a hat that he wants everyone to be aware of it?

Seriously, when attending a social function the hat shouldn't be tucked under your shoulder strap like some squaddie in the chow line. Also, if one is going to wear a dirk it should be worn on the right, not the left. They are also worn ahead of the point of the hip, not slung on the side like a pistol.

That said, WOW! what an array of outfits.

I should say that this weekend at the Burns Dinner he had neither hat nor dirk on his person.

I find that most of the time when I do see someone wearing a dirk, it is worn on the side. I think most people are unaware that it is traditionally worn more towards the front. I, personally, find that the dirk gets in the way and tends to be rather cumbersome, so I'm never tempted to wear one.

I'm glad, Sanford, that you posted the picture of his tartan doublet. Nice to see how it turned out after his story. He says that he spotted his clan tartan in a sea of plain-colored sports coats at a consignment store, and the clerk promised to make him a great deal on it if it was anywhere close to his size. Apparantly they had some trouble finding a taker for it!

When he got him to discover that the sett was a match for his kilt, he took it to a tailor and had the doublet you see made from it. I think he said even with the cost of the tailoring the whole thing ended up costing him less than $200. You know he would have spent over $500 most likely having such an item made for him otherwise. What a steal!