Rallying the Clans together. Chiefs of Clans Bruce, Leslie, Macnab and Carmichael on Salisbury Crags with Edinburgh Castle below.

Clan chiefs have been sending out rallying calls to their Clansmen and Clanswomen all over the world to come and join them at the Edinburgh Tattoo this August.  Rather than setting a fire on-top of a hill – this time they’re using the internet.

Back in 2009 many of us remember the epic Clan March up Edinburgh’s Royal Mile to the Castle, Clans walking behind their banners and many with their Clan Chiefs, being cheered on by thousands of onlookers.  This was the largest Clan display by far seen in Scotland, Over 125 Scottish Clans took part in the parade . Since then Clans have had their individual gatherings and clusters of Highland games but nothing touching what happened in 2009.

Jamie Macnab – Chief of Clan Macnab said in an interview for The Times  .”It was absolutely phenomenal… I don’t think anyone who took part that weekend will ever forget it.”

Clan Douglas at the Clan Parade in 2009

So now in 2017 the Clans will be marching again – this time to the Tattoo. It will be a series of Clan Parades that will take place each night of the Tattoo. This will be a major event within the Clan-themed Events that will be happening throughout this year, backed by the Scottish Clan Event Fund.

There are 25 performances of the Edinburgh Tattoo. Tickets have been put aside for the clans to buy for each performance to make sure that as many tartan-clad clansmen, women and children attend as possible.

The Edinburgh Tattoo

The Tattoo’s Chief,  Brigadier David Allfrey approached the Standing Council last August to gain support for his ‘Splash of Tartan’ theme for the Tattoo. This opportunity provides an excellent platform to promote Ancestral Tourism to International audiences. 2017 is Visit Scotland’s year of History, Heritage & Archaeology. The Clans will be playing a large part.

Clan Chiefs have been contacted and have signed up, now it’s all about mustering up support to get people to follow  them up the Royal Mile. Currently 53 Clan Chiefs have signed up, so each night there will be 2 Clans in the parade. Some Clans have already got 100 people signed up.

Jamie Macnab explains that this is a great opportunity to reposition the views within Scotland of Clan Heritage.  Here especially it can be seen as a bit twee – a shortbread version of Scotland, one that is just for tourists not for the people that live here.   Jamie adds:
” My hope is that our involvement in the Tattoo will get some home-based engagement and Scots will don their tartan and go, ‘Right, I’m putting my kilt on and going on my clan night.’ I mean, I think this is the first time the Tattoo has ever done anything like this so hopefully it will generate some interest.”

Clan events have always attracted people from oversees. the Convenor of the Standing Council, Sir Malcolm MacGregor has been over in the US trying to drum up support for this event.

Visit Scotland’s research has shown that history and heritage is the second most popular reason cited by visitors coming to Scotland from overseas. First was landscape and scenery.

So if you’re interested in joining your Clan – please contact your Clan Society and join in, let’s make this a great event!

For full list of clans and dates please see: http://www.scotclans.com/list-of-clans-and-dates-for-tattoo-clan-parade/

The post Clans to take part in the Edinburgh Military Tattoo in August appeared first on ScotClans | Scottish Clans.

Lord Sempill will be attending the 2013 Stone Mountain Game

Every year during the third week of October, you’d be forgiven for thinking a little piece of Atlanta was in fact a little piece of Scotland. Over one weekend, the picturesque grounds of Atlanta’s Stone Mountain Park meadow resound with the sounds of bagpipes, fiddles and harps, as it plays host to one of the biggest Highland Games events in the world.

With only two weeks to go until the beginning of the 41st annual Stone Mountain Highland Games, half a world away in Scotland, Jamie, Lord Sempill is preparing to make the trek to his third international Highland Games event for 2013. “I’m coming back to America for a second time. Rain stopped play at Grandfather Mountain Games in July, so I’m coming back for a dry game – and I don’t mean no alcohol.” For American clans attending Stone Mountain, they’ll have the chance to meet with Jamie and who will be happy to share one of Scotland’s finest offerings, a dram of single malt whisky.

Lord Sempill comes from one of Scotland’s oldest families and has been actively involved in the international clan network for fifteen years. As the driving force behind Edinburgh’s 2009 Clan Gathering, Lord Sempill attracted 42,000 people from around the world to the event, which was described as the largest recorded international clan gathering. The Gathering also included a clan convention which became the largest meeting on record of Scotland’s clan chiefs. He’s certainly got his finger on the pulse in the world of the clans – as an active member of the Standing Council of Scottish Chiefs, an honorary member of the Council of Scottish Clans and Associations, Inc., and a board director at the American Scottish Foundation.

Over the years Lord Sempill has seen the relationship grow and prosper between the international clan network and Scotland, with his latest venture yet another step in building those ties. He’s currently working in collaboration with Macdonald & Rees, a new Scotland-based ancestral tourism company who specialise in providing the ultimate ancestral journey – bespoke visits to Scotland based on an individuals clan genealogy. Lord Sempill says that for many descendents around the world, tracing your roots can be a daunting prospect. “For many with Scottish ancestry, it’s a lifelong dream to travel to Scotland and discover family history and ancestral connections. Macdonald and Rees provide descendents with expert historians and genealogists on the ground, that ensure an incredibly meaningful and insightful visit home. Whether an individual or a family group, we can reconnect you to the world of your ancestors.” Jamie recently led a group of Clan Rose descendents to their ancestral homeland just east of Inverness, where they met with Clan chief Chief and 26th Baron of Kilravock, David Rose.

This year thousands of Scottish descendents will don their family tartans and make the trip to Stone Mountain, where two days of Highland Games competitions will take place including the ever-popular heavyweight events, piping, drumming and Highland dance competitions. There will also be a parade of the tartans and Clan Challenge athletic events, open to any attendees. The guest of honour, Margaret Elliot of Redheugh Chief of Clan Elliot will also be making the trip from Scotland. As well as Lord Sempill, other distinguished guests include Andrew Morrison – Viscount Dunrossil, Lord Montgomerie – Younger of Montgomerie and David Rose Chief of Clan Rose.

Lord Sempill and Mike McAlpin at Grandfather Mountain Highland Games, 2013

Attendees will also have the chance to find out more about their genealogy in the clan information area, with 65 clans and family associations confirmed in attendance. You’ll most likely find Lord Sempill at the Scottish Heritage USA tent, however he will be making visits to clan association tents. “The torrential rain stopped play at Grandfather Mountain, so I didn’t get to speak to a lot of the clans who were there. I’m especially interested in meeting those who want to make the trip to trace their roots and discover Scotland.”

For more information on the Stone Mountain games, view our event listing over at TartanFootprint.com where you can also download the schedule of events and get in touch with Lord Sempill directly.

The post Lord Sempill to Attend Stone Mountain Games appeared first on ScotClans | Scottish Clans.

Some details have finally been released about a clan event happening in 2014 as part of the Homecoming Scotland 2014 celebrations.
The original dates of 11 – 13 July, 2014 announced have now changed, and the revised plan is to centre a general clan gathering directly around the Bannockburn 700th Anniversary activities in the last weekend of June (28 – 30, 2014).
You can keep fully up-to-date with everything that’s happening so far at our new Clans2014 site at clans2014.com.

The post Clans 2014 Dates Announced appeared first on ScotClans | Scottish Clans.

The Gathering 2009

The Scottish government has also designated 2014 as Scotland’s second year of homecoming. The first took place in Edinburgh 2009. It was a hugely important event for Scottish Clans all around the world becoming the largest clan meeting. So excitement about this next event is starting to build.

This time it will take place just outside Stirling, at Bannockburn, this coincides with 700th anniversary of the Battle of Bannockburn, where Robert the Bruce was victorious over the English on 24 June 1314.

Stirling council are going to be organising a summer long programme of events.

It’s going to be a busy year as Scotland will host the Commonwealth Games in Glasgow and the Ryder Cup at Gleneagles.

The council has already announced a £5m visitor centre, which will be built at the battle site in time for the anniversary.

Provost Fergus Wood said it was a chance to put Stirling on the “world stage”.

“Let’s all rise to the occasion and start planning now for a terrific 2014. I’d like to encourage everyone in the Stirling family to help shape our celebrations,” he said.

“I hope as many local people as possible will join in by giving us their ideas and getting involved in their communities.”.

We’d love to hear what people are thinking about Bannockburn 700. We have set up a facebook page: The Gathering 2014

The post Plans announced for ‘Bannockburn 700′ appeared first on ScotClans | Scottish Clans.

The post Edinburgh Gathering organisers admit they got it wrong appeared first on ScotClans | Scottish Clans.

Clan members outside the Scottish Parliament in Edinburgh at the Clan Convention

At a speech given to a gathering of chiefs at this years Gathering, Robert McWilliam president emeritus of the Council of Scottish Clans and Associations, said that Scotland’s Clans must turn to social networking websites such as facebook and twitter to increase their ranks in the 21st Century.

Holyrood was host to the Clan Covention with more than 100 Clan Chiefs taking part in the debate. This is the first time in recorded history so many chiefs have been assembled in one place. The purpose for this was to debate the Clan systems future and their roles within it.

Mr McWilliam from the US told the other chiefs that he had a message from American Scots that they need to use modern forms of communication.

“That would reach a different group of people,” he argued. “If you wanted to reach young people, you get your name in front of them on Facebook.”

Donald MacLaren, chief of Clan MacLaren, said: “A minority of chiefs think this is not for them. It’s a great disappointment for those who look upon them as the head of their family.”

He said some thought the clan system moribund since the mid-18th Century, but he disagreed and insisted it still had a future. North America alone has a clan membership exceeding 100,000.

What do you think? Are Clan Societies doing enough to communicate to a younger audience?

The post Scottish Clans Must Turn to Facebook and Twitter appeared first on ScotClans | Scottish Clans.

Gathering preparations at Holyrood

Our roving reporter took this photo of the preparations for the Gathering this weekend – lots more to follow, watch this space, and hope to see lots of you there!

The post Gathering preparations at Holyrood appeared first on ScotClans | Scottish Clans.

Lord Simple, director of the 2009  Gathering is calling for legislation to prevent cloth woven overseas being sold as ‘made in Scotland’.  Currently, tourists in Scotland have no real guarantee that the kilt or scarf they are buying is the genuine article, and merchandise is often misleadingly labelled.

The  Scottish Tartans Authority has already made moves asking  the European Parliament to give legal protection for genuine Scottish tartan products , in much the same way that Scottish whisky is protected.

Unfortunately it seems to be all too easy for vendors to mislead customers, even with protection schemes in place, and will probably be a tricky battle to win.  In the meantime, if you’re planning on buying tartan, check the vendors credentials and don’t be fobbed off with cheap imitations!

The post Kilt Credentials appeared first on ScotClans | Scottish Clans.

Planning to attend the Gathering this summer?  Best not to bring your claymore unless you want to face up to 2 years in jail.  Official warnings have apparently been posted on the Gathering website advising people not to turn up with anything more lethal than a sgian-dubh and no brandishing!  Of course many people will be coming from oversees and may have problems getting even a sgian-dubh through customs.

The post Sgian don’t appeared first on ScotClans | Scottish Clans.