22nd Annual Texas Scottish Festival

[Morris at Heathfield]

Geoffrey (Tailor)'s booth.



"Designed in Scotland" does not mean made in Scotland.

[Morris at Heathfield]

Buchanan tossing the weight near the Frugal Corner tent.



Weight for distance on the north field.



Bad composition, but at least the weight is airborne in this photo.



The most well-known Highland event.



The competitors.

[Morris at Heathfield]

Between dances.



One of the last teams to compete. The girl in the black won quite a few medals, but the one in the middle won the trophy.



Dress Blue Buchanan (one of at least three who competed) wins a medal.



One final dance-off.



Buchanan wins the trophy for her age group.



The trophy winners for all four age groups.

[Cynthia]

Great photos! Thanks so much for sharing

Were the caber toss photos from the amateur event on Saturday? I can't remember what time it would have been... probably shortly after noon or just before 1 pm... if so, we might have been on the next small seating area that was to your right. Hahah!! And with the tent/stage photos of the NTCP&D band, we were behind you, standing just outside the tent and looking in. Too funny! Who knows how close we might have been passing by.... I was looking out for your vest (I believe it was you who posted a photo of what you were going to wear?), but with my hubby feeling so bad from his cold I was a bit distracted.

Next time, perhaps! I'm sure we'll have a kilt night at some point in the near future

[michaelbeeman]

Wonderful pictures, thanks for sharing those!

[12stones]

Great photo-presentation of the day. Was sorry to miss this one as I was out of town for Houston's Highland games too.

[Morris at Heathfield]

Great photos! Thanks so much for sharing

Were the caber toss photos from the amateur event on Saturday? I can't remember what time it would have been... probably shortly after noon or just before 1 pm... if so, we might have been on the next small seating area that was to your right. Hahah!! And with the tent/stage photos of the NTCP&D band, we were behind you, standing just outside the tent and looking in. Too funny! Who knows how close we might have been passing by.... I was looking out for your vest (I believe it was you who posted a photo of what you were going to wear?), but with my hubby feeling so bad from his cold I was a bit distracted.

Next time, perhaps! I'm sure we'll have a kilt night at some point in the near future

I was hanging out at the clan booths until I heard the NTCP&D performing at the Glengarry tent. The weight for height photo is from 2:11, the weight for distance photos are from around 3:00, and the caber toss photos are from between 4:11 and 4:22. So, these would the master events.

My vest is solid black in back, so I guess I wasn't very distinctive from behind. Maybe I should have added more detail: white T-shirt, blue jeans, and Converse All-Stars (which can be seen in one of the Celtic Craft Centre pictures). I did look for a woman with long hair, a guy with a goatee and long hair, and two kids in strollers, but I didn't see anyone that I was more than 50% convinced was an Xmarker. Of course, I spent my time wandering around everywhere, taking in all the sights, so I wasn't looking very hard.

[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.