22nd Annual Texas Scottish Festival

[Morris at Heathfield]

You don't have to wear the kilt to dress stylishly. But a kilt alway helps.



The first kiltie I saw wearing the Texas Bluebonnet tartan. I saw a total of three.



Captain Jack Sparrow wears the kilt when the occasion calls for it.



And to think, a few days ago I'd never even heard of Scotch eggs. I actually wanted to have Forfar bridies for lunch, as I have so many ancestors from Angus. But, since I didn't see any signs offering bridies, I settled for the Scotch eggs.



A member of the 42nd Texas Jacobite Regiment.

[Morris at Heathfield]

Clan Stewart. The Black Stewart was the most common Stewart tartan I saw, but there were a few Royal Stewarts as well, of course. I saw one or two kilties wearing Old Stewart, and I vaguely recall seeing someone wearing Stewart of Atholl, but it could easily have been Kerr instead. I don't recall seeing any kilts in the Hunting Stewart tartan.



Clan Donnachaidh. I don't recall seeing any Robertson kilts either, apart from the NTCP&D's Hunting Robertson.



What's this? A representative of Clan Campbell wearing an unauthorized tartan? Oops! Never mind, it's not Campbell of Argyll: it's Campbell of Loudoun, ancient colors. The guy with his forehead in his palm may very well be wearing the Campbell of Argyll tartan, though. He's probably thinking, "Why did I pay $500 for a kilt when I didn't even check first to see if the tartan was authorized by the Duke of Argyll?" Or maybe a mosquito landed on his forehead.



Hmm.... If I sat down in that chair, how long do you suppose it would be before someone found out I wasn't exactly an expert on MacIntyre lore? I seem to recall finding a "McEntire" or "MacEntire" from Canada or New England in my genealogy, but I haven't come across the name recently, so perhaps I just imagined it.



If my experience at the NTCP&D booth was surreal, it was still nothing compared to this. See that tablecloth? I swear, that's the same fabric my mom used to make my kilt from nearly two decades ago. It's the tartan I now refer to jokingly as "Campbell of Saltoun, modern colors". It's a plain weave. I'm not sure what the fabric is. I thought it was wool, but my mom isn't sure. It could be rayon.



Another view of the Clan Donald complex.



Am I Scots-Irish?

[Morris at Heathfield]

Since I heard them playing the pipes, I decided to drop in on the Scottish Rogues' performance.



But then the hammer throw caught my attention, and I decided I could watch the hammer throw and listen to the Rogues at the same time. Of course, the hammer throw ended up capturing most of my attention. According to my program booklet, this is Harrison Bailey practicing his throw. I'm not sure what tartan he's wearing. The Baillie tartan is mostly blue and green, but his appears to be mostly blue and brown. And the blue looks to deep for it to be a weathered tartan.



MacDonald throws the hammer.



Irn Bru takes his turn.



And now it's Bailey's turn.

[Morris at Heathfield]

Graham of Menteith, ancient colors, if I am not mistaken.



I admit I had to look this tartan up: it's the Johnston, ancient colors. I recognized the judges' tartans instantly, though. The one on the left is wearing one of the Ogilvie tartans, the one that seems to be regarded as the clan tartan. The one on the right is wearing the MacFie (or MacPhee), ancient colors.



You may recognize this piper from the Highland dance pictures.

[Morris at Heathfield]

If I read my program guide right, this is David P. Webster, O.B.E., president of the International Highland Games Federation. He appears to be wearing the Lindsay tartan. Check out those hose.



Harrison Bailey tosses the caber.



This, I believe, is reigning world champion Gregor Edmunds. I didn't stick around to find out if he retained his title, though.



MacDonald tosses the caber.



And, lastly, Irn Bru.

[Morris at Heathfield]

I saw these people filming while the Highland dance piper was playing. I figured they were either from a local news channel or from the University.





After the competition. I went up and talked to the judge. His name is Bob Richardson. (Richardson is a sept of Ogilvie.) The woman in the kilt asked me about my vest, and I in turn asked her about her tartan. I had mistakenly assumed it was Morrison. It was Flower of Scotland.

[Morris at Heathfield]

Three girls for every boy.



Duncan and MacAulay. It took me a while, but I remembered these two tartans eventually. Note how far down the pleats are sewn on the MacAulay kilt. I'm not sure I care for that look.



Fraser Hunting, on the other hand, I immediately recognized.







Oops! Looks like baby Bruce wants to join in on the fun.

[Bryan]

You may recognize this piper from the Highland dance pictures.

Just plain wrong!

Edit: Ok, on further review of the pics, this guy really WAS in the Highland Dance pics. I thought you were making a funny, yet tacky, joke alluding to said piper dancing. My apologies.

[attworth]

Good fun!

The circled wee lass is my future niece-in-law. (2nd in line, not the first.)



Gregor did not retain his title, but placed third. He took the year off from training and competition to work on some movie biz. He did ask if my fiance and I wanted to go out for some pints and visit Hoffbrau. Unfortunately we were both exhausted at about 9pm. He's been doing some "dating game" business and my fiance's mother has been helping the show on that one. Frankly he's tired of being the "Big, hot, Scottish man, with sexy accent and kilt."

We had a nice conversation on what the Scots call a "20 pinter," and he even mentioned a "50 pinter."