Kirkpatricks October 18, 2015

Saturday, we took some time to attend the Scottish Highland Games at Stone Mountain.  It was quite fun.   There were many, many people dressed in kilts or ancient-types of dress.  I had to laugh when I saw these kilts, made of camouflage.  I commented to one of the attendees (who was wearing a kilt) that perhaps it was just me, but that seemed a bit strange.  He laughed and said, no, it was not just me.


I found it especially interesting that there were tents for each of the clans.  The clans posted their names in large letters and were manned by people who knew the history of the clan.  I didn't expect to find anything because I could not think of anyone in our genealogy with a Scottish name.  I found that Kirkpatrick is actually one of the clan septs. (like a subset).  The clan spokesperson told me that our clan crest is a bloody dagger because when Sir Robert Bruce was once ambushed and used his dagger to escape, he returned to the safety of the Kirkpatrick clan and they asked if the man was dead.  "I think so" he replied.  The Kirkpatricks then responded "We make sure" and went back to be certain he was dead.  That, my friends, explains a great deal about us.  From stories about my boxing grandmother, "the fighting Grimms" (my father and his brothers) to my own personality traits, I see where we live by that motto.

The other thing that I found to be hilarious is that my brother, Tom, hates bagpipes, yet the two clans I could find were the names of his children's spouses.  Maybe he needs to take a trip to Scotland!

There were some very interesting events. One event was called caber tossing.  The competitor lifts something that looks like a telephone pole on the very end.  It has to be lifted straight up, then tossed.  In order to be a countable toss, the pole must land at a 90 degree angle before falling.  Pretty amazing!

We ate haggis.  Can't say that I liked it, though.  There was a great man who explained how to make haggis.  Technically, we do not have real haggis in the United States because our Food and Drug will not allow the use of the sheep lungs.  It was an entertaining explanation and I was designated as the one to hold the intestines (make of fabric)!  All in all, it was fun and informative.


We also had some other wonderful things this week, but I will have to save those for another chance to write.