THE GATHERING EDINBURGH 2009: SCOTLAND

Guy and Betty Irvin from rural Mt. Pulaski hosted a 16 day tour to Scotland 21 July - 5 August for members of Clan Irwin and friends from 16 states and Canada this summer, ending with another 5 day tour to Orkney and its Neolithic Sites and the Northern Highlands with Co-Editors and friends, Phil and Donna Gray from Alabama. As many of us came on different flights, we assembled at Glasgow Int’l Airport and were enthusiastically met by Guy and our coach driver, Alec, who became very much a part of our group of 44. A local guide showed us the main attractions of Glasgow while we waited for the hotel staff to freshen up our rooms.

The new laird, Christopher Irving, wife Claire, and their four children welcomed us to their Bonshaw Tower and Estate for an afternoon of touring Bonshaw Tower and gardens (we call them lawns & flower gardens, but they are ‘gardens’ in U.K.), followed by tea and scones in the dining room. We have spent many wonderful days at Bonshaw with Drs. Bruce and Margaret Irving. Bruce has since passed while Margaret is living in Edinburgh, and it was lovely to once again hear the laughter of young children in the big house and see them riding bicycles on the drive. On a humorous note, James Irvine from Surrey, England, was pushing Betty in her chair when they saw a skateboard setting on a shelf on one side of the ancient Tower. With a smile on his face James said, “I don’t believe that’s what that shelf was used for back in the 1400’s!”

Meeting of Standing Council of Scottish Chiefs
Guy Irvin, Chairman & Lieutenant to the Chief, spent Friday the 24th at the Scottish Parliament Building where ‘Meeting of Standing Council of Scottish Chiefs’ was held. The clans met to discuss the future of the clans system in the 21st century and the role of the clan chief. What did the rest of us do? Shop!!!

Homecoming “The Gathering 2009”.
“Cead Mile Failte”, A Hundred Thousand Welcomes the year of the Homecoming, The Gathering 2009, Edinburgh, Scotland, 25/26 August! This spectacular event was the first Gathering held in Scotland since Sir Walter Scott’s Royal Pageant in 1822. It was the first time in recorded history that more than 100 of Scotland’s clan chiefs had assembled in one place, and it was a brilliant weekend with 51,000 in attendance and marked the 250th birthday of its favorite son the poet Robert Burns.

Holyrood Park, Edinburgh
Failt’ air an duthaich is failt’ air a’ bhaile…”Welcome home to our village…” The park at Holyrood Palace was filled with white peaked tents, including large restaurants with buffets. Approximately one-hundred twenty-five clan tents, most with their respective chiefs and ladies in attendance were filled with clansmen/women from around the world. David of Drum and Lady Carolyn’s extra large tent was filled to capacity both days with well-wishers from New Zealand, Scotland, Ireland, Canada, and the U.S.A. We renewed acquaintances with old friends and were greeted warmly with hugs by the hosts as we visited each tent. Lord Ailsa, 8th Marquess of Ailsa, Chief of Clan Kennedy; Chief Malcolm Forbes & Lady Jenny from Clan Forbes; Chief Loren Mclean and Lady Sandy from Clan McClain of Lochbuie; Chief John Carmichael of Clan Carmichael were among those we have been friends with for many years and met again at The Gathering. ‘Tis hard to believe the Highland clans did not emerge until 1314 when Robert the Bruce defeated the English at Bannockburn.

Patron of The Gathering, HRH Prince Charles, Duke of Rothesay
The Patron of ‘The Gathering 2009’ was His Royal Highness Prince Charles, the Duke of Rothesay and Lord of the Isles, together with the “Duchess of Rothesay. Prince Charles and Lady Camilla welcomed us to this magnificent celebration of Scotland’s culture and heritage and the largest international gathering of clans. HRH Prince Charles said his Great, Great, Great Grandmother, Queen Victoria, would have marveled at knowing that her patronage and support for such Games have become such an enduring part of the Nation’s heritage.

The Golden Mile
The sight of 6,500 clansmen and women from 125 clans drawn from all four corners of the globe, walking up the Royal Mile from Holyrood Palace to Edinburgh Castle on Saturday evening for the epic production of “Aisling’s Children; Tales of The Homecoming” was a spectacular sight. Under command of Major Drummond Moray, the Grand Parade was lead by the Atholl Highlanders, Europe’s last remaining private army. Each clan in attendance, some large, some small, were given rousing cheers as they marched up the Royal Mile between spectators standing five deep. The Irvine Clan was one of the largest contingents including members from New Zealand, Ireland, Scotland, America, Canada, along with Sherrie Irwin and her ‘dressed to the nine’s’ puppet, Holly, who bowed and waved and was a big hit with the crowd. David of Drum, Lady Carolyn, and Chairman Guy Irvin lead the Irvine Clan with Guy’s grandson, Sage Lamoreaux, carrying the Chief’s banner. The entire tour group that was able to ‘walk the walk’ marched up the old cobblestone mile.

“Aisling’s Children; Tales of The Homecoming”, was one of the most spectacular sights Edinburgh has ever seen. Created and produced by an award-winning production team it wove a magical tale, starting from the very beginning of the Scottish nation and running through to the present day to tell the dramatic story of the clans’ role in the history of Scotland, and takes its rightful place as the jewel in the crown of the Homecoming Scotland celebrations. Long flowing strips of cloth carried by young actors and shimmering in blue lights created waves on the ocean. Drenched in colored lights the actors/actresses danced, they sang, they shouted, they ran – it was magnificent! It brought together both Scotland’s far-reaching Diaspora and its native inhabitants as the story of Scotland’s dramatic history unfolded in a bold and breathtaking finale

Leaving Edinburgh we motored through beautiful Highland scenery, past Loch Lomond to the Port of Oban, Seaport to the Western Isles. We ferried to the Isle of Mull to visit Iona Abbey where in 563 St. Columba and his boatload of 12 Irish Monks sailed to Iona’s ‘I chaluim Chille’ and built its first Celtic church, making it the center of Christianity. Many Scottish kings are buried here, including Shakespeare’s MacBeth. A stop at Duart Castle, ancestral home of Clan McLean, was a real challenge for our driver up a narrow & winding dirt road.

Standing sentinel in the middle of a small island, lonely Stalker Castle made for a photo stop.

Driving through the ‘Vale of Weeping’ brought back memories when the Campbell’s, under orders of King William, accepted the hospitality of the MacDonald clan only to kill many of them in the middle of the night, men, women & children, leaving some MacDonald’s dead in the snow.

Ruins of Urquhart Castle on the shore of Loch Ness, home of ‘Nessie’, is the story of fierce battles & fire having left the castle in shambles. ‘Nessie’ was no where to be seen!

Ian Mackenzie, Retired Pipe Major of the Queens Own Highlanders and our good friend & guide once again lead us around the restored Culloden Battlefield near Inverness to a large stone cairn dedicated to the clansmen who were slaughtered by the troops of the English Crown during the battle in 1746. 700 clansmen were killed during the first 3 minutes of battle, 1500 ultimately succumbing in 45 minutes. The English even killed women & children standing behind the Highlanders while waiting to gather up the wounded and those killed. Kilted ‘to the nine’s’, Ian played a lament on his bagpipes to the fallen Highlanders as he slowly walked around the cairn. Even the sky wept with all of us as we silently listened and prayed for their souls.

A tour of Glenfiddich Distillery and get dressed for a Ceilidh (kay-lee/party) held for the Irvines/Burnetts/ Hayes Clans in the Woodend Barn in Banchory. Dinner with gingerbread puddings and Mackie ice cream w/treacle sauce. Cachan Yell furnished the music for Scottish Country Dancing.

Under the Patronage of the Most Honourable The Marquis of Huntley, we gathered on the grounds of Huntley Castle for a welcome cup of coffee/tea and scones/jam. We became part of the first ever parade of clans to march onto the grounds of Aboyne Highland Games. Doug Irwin, umbrella in tow, pushed the first ever mechanized division (Betty, the wheel walker) in the parade. We Irvine’s were the largest contingent, and we marched proudly and waved to everyone along the way - the ‘queenly wave’, of course!

Chief David and Lady Carolyn gave guided tours of the Castle and Gardens, the gardens in full bloom with many varieties of plants including four centuries of roses – quite lovely.

Guy, our chairman, held the clan’s Annual General Meeting in the library, the first AGM Clan Irwin ever held outside the continental U.S.A. We lunched at the Irvine Arms Restaurant and visited The Caput, a small plot of land owned by the Laird of Drum that will be passed down from generation to generation making it possible for the lairds to keep their barony title. In 1975 the castle and grounds were bequeathed to the National Trust of Scotland.

A church service was held in Drum Chapel for our group, the Rev. Lisa Eunson presiding. We sang the hymn, “The Lord’s My Shepherd (tune Crimond) by Jessie Seymour Irvine (1836-1886); our chief gave the reading: Isaiah 52.7-10 (NIV) and our chairman read Psalmody - Psalm 36 (vv 5-8). Hymns and more readings were followed by Rev. Eunson’s blessing of: “Holy & Gracious God, Be thou a bright flame before us, Be thou a guiding star above us, Be thou a smooth path beneath us, Be thou a kindly shepherd behind us Today and for evermore. Amen.”

Drum and The Lady Drum lead us on a walking tour of Aberdeen, St. Nicholas Kirk, and the Irvine Aisle in particular where some lairds of Drum & their wives are buried. King’s College was lovely with one of the stained glass panels depicting the 3-holly leaves given to Drum by Robert the Bruce.

© Copyright 2009 - Aberdeen City Council.

Lord Provost of Aberdeen gave us a private tour of the Town House, the city council’s old restored building. We found gold pins waiting for us when we returned for refreshments.

The Irvine Dinner was held at the Treetops Hilton Hotel in Aberdeen where we were staying. Honored guests were David of Drum, The Lady Drum, Lord and Lady Provost, Peter and Sandra, who presented Guy with a beautiful pen and Betty with a lovely amethyst pin.

We stopped at Stirling Castle with its re-conditioned Great Hall and its bright harled (stucco) facade on our way to Glasgow Intl. One of the most fascinating & controversial monarchs of the 16th century, it is written Mary Queen of Scots cried throughout her baptism when she was 9-months old. We missed that baptism!

The Wallace Monument commerates Sir William Wallace, 13th century Scottish hero, knight & landowner. The young macho men in our group, our grandson included, climbed the 246 step spiral staircase to the top of the monument and back down again, running of course. With the maiden name of ‘Welch’ Betty is, also, a member of the sept of the Wallace Clan. Fortunately she wasn’t present when Wallace was captured by King Edward I, hanged, drawn & quartered - quite barbaric.

ORKNEY

The Old Man of Hoy rock formation was drenched in sunshine as we passed by on the ferry towards the big island of Orkney. Seabirds abounded & we birders could only imagine what it must have been like during nesting season.

Ring o’ Brodgar is most likely the finest Bronze Age or late Neolithic Stone Circle found to date, probably erected between 2500B.C. & 2000B.C.

Uncovered when a great storm blew in from the sea and blew away the sand, Skara Brae, a neotholic settlement dated from around 3000B.C. & was inhabited continually for over 600 years.

The Italian Chapel, built by Italian prisoners of war during the years 1942-45 on the island of Lamb Holm is truly remarkable. Given 2 Nissen huts joined together end to end the prisoners built a façade that rivals any chapel. Inside the artisans created mosaics that have to be touched to be certain they are indeed fashioned from paint.

One of the great natural harbors of the world, the German Fleet was held captive at Scapa Flow by the British after WWI, and on command a German officer scuttled the whole fleet while school children & their teacher stood on shore awed by the sight.

Crannog Heritage Centre is an Iron Age exhibition of the period. Sitting alone, sheltered from the drizzle beneath a tent, a charming gentleman came & sat on a stump beside Betty. It turned out he was head archeologist for the site, owned the exhibition centre, & had lead the underwater expedition & retrieval of artifacts of the iron age people at this site, making it possible to reconstruct dwellings of the period. Some things experienced vicariously are more worthwhile than the real thing.

Scottish humor
And it is here that we must entrust you with one small Scottish joke. As many of you know the Scots were known for their Reiving (stealing of cattle and women) from across the borders. One Englishman was heard to say, “And why did ye na take the women instead of the cattle?” Whereupon the Scotsman replied, “We came to ta the women, but when we sa their faces we took the cattle instead!”

TOUR FOR 2011

We are in the early stages of planning a tour to Wales, Cornwall & Cotswolds Region in 2011. If you are interested in joining our group, or might be, please email us your name, address, phone number, and we will keep you apprised of plans as they progress.

by Betty Irvin, Clan Irwin Association