The Flight of the Saltire

[M. A. C. Newsome]

I arrived at work this morning, and began my normal routine of opening up the museum, checking our email, etc., and thinking about going down for a cup of coffee. As I headed out the door, I felt something odd in the front of my kilt....

No, it wasn't that!

I looked down, and it seems that something had crash landed in my sporran.


It was the XMTSAS Saltire, come to Franklin to see me! It had flown in from Grantsboro on the other end of the state, where it had been visiting with BEEDEE for a while.

When I fished it out, it was so disoriented I had to remind it where it had landed.


I walked it across the street to assure it that it had arrived in the lovely town of Franklin, NC.


When I brought it back to the museum, it was very happy to see a couple of familiar faces.


Seeing its old friends helped the Saltire feel more at home, but it was still a bit parched from the journey. So we directed it to the gift shop's cooler for some refreshment.

It enjoyed a little taste of Scotland, as well as the "taste of the Carolinas!" It was especially happy to try some Pepsi, seeing as it had just recently been in New Bern, NC, where the drink was invented.

It's thirst now quenched, it wanted to see a tour of the museum, so I pointed it in the right direction.


In the museum gallery it had a great time seeing all the lovely displays. First the official Town of Franklin tartan, on the old farm loom in our "weaver's croft" display.


Near the loom, it spied our reproduction of the Christina Young arisaid. "Hey," it said, "We've been talking about Dress tartans on X Marks, I have to see this!"


Then it hung out for a while with some of the older kilts in our exhibits.

Both of these kilts are four yard box pleated civilian kilts from the very early 1800s.

It looked for the X Marks tartan on the display boards, but was dissapointed not to find too many tartans beginning with "X."


More to come....!

[NorCalPiper]

When is the Saltire going to come and fly over to Northern California to visit this shop?????

[M. A. C. Newsome]

Like most visitors to our museum, the Saltire wanted to be sure to spend some time in the gift shop.

It went straight for the Lewis hose -- for some reason it was most attracted to the "St. Andrews Blue" color.... hmmmmm...


Because it was in the Carolinas, it had to see what the Carolina tartan looked like. It drooled over the bolt of heavy weight kilt cloth, and really considered getting measured for a kilt, but decided to think about it.


Next it wanted to see some of the nice hand-made products we have. I showed it some of the neat sgians that are made by Al Bullman, one of our regular volunteers and Vice President of our Friends of the Museum group.


On the way out of the sgian dubh case, it nearly flew into one of the Storm Capes, made by Empire Canvas.


Next, it was over to see the wonderful belt buckles that we get from Tyger Forge.


The Saltire asked how far away Tiger, GA, is from Franklin. Maybe it's thinking of it's next trip.....

Of course no visit to the Scottish Tartans Museum gift shop would be complete without taking a look at some of our sporrans.


Unfortunately, the Saltire must have left its wallet back with BEEDEE, because it didn't buy anything. But it says a nice new sporran is definitely on its wish list! :-)

[McMurdo]

It was so nice to see the Saltire again Matt I'm sure it will love the stay in Franklin.

[duchessofnc]

It was nice to see the Saltire this afternoon since it's really the first time I've been really out and about since getting sick. No we are not following it around. I can't help that Franklin is my home town.. lol.

There will be many more pictures I'm sure.

[Nick the DSM]

Whats the gas mileage for this thing?

[piperdbh]

Whats the gas mileage for this thing?

Nick, did you feel the breeze as the noble ship flew over Mecklenburg?

[M. A. C. Newsome]

The XMTSAS Saltire snuck home with me from work in -- where else? -- my kiltmaking bag!


Not too long thereafter, we were at my front door.


As usual, my youngest son Alister was at the door, eager to greet me. He was excited to see what Daddy had with him. Though I couldn't seem to convince him that it wasn't an "airplane." (My other sons kept asking where the wings were).


After explaining to the wife and kids why Daddy was carrying around this strange blimp-shaped object painted up like the Scottish flag, it was time to head out to check on the chickens and make sure they were all tucked into their coop for the evening.


All the birds were safe and sound, so it was back into the house. I had just enough time to change clothes before eating, so the Saltire got to see where my kilts go to hang out when not in service...


Soon my lovely wife had dinner prepared and on the table, and the Saltire got to join my family for a special Advent blessing.

(Note, to the right, a "boquet" of flowers my kids made from egg cartons and pipe cleaners).

After supper, while I bathed the kids, the Saltire accompanied my wife into our craft room, and helped her sort through her stash of yarn, to see what she might be interested in listing for trade on Ravelry. (She's on that site more than I'm on X Marks!)


Of course, yarn is not the only thing the Saltire found in our craft room.


Lastly, before settling in for the night, we had to make sure that the Saltire understood that if it were going to be staying under our roof, there are certain "rules" that must be followed...

[Deil the Yin]

Well done, Matt!

[Highlander31]

Well done Matt. It's nice to see the Saltire is enjoying that wonderful
Southern hospitality.