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On Sunday ![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
rfrench and I visited the Highland Games in Pleasanton. I had no idea the Highland Games ever showed up outside Scotland, but apparently they most certainly do.
I brought my (ahem, Clare's) quad-cane and boy was I ever glad I had it. I'm stable enough, but I simply cannot be on foot for long without something to help bear the weight. I should have had the walker, really, and even better would have been one of these so I could sit. Oh well - hindsight is 20/20!
There were an incredible number of vendors at this thing. I spent most of my time shopping; here are some pictures of clothing I ogled. I wish I'd taken photographs of a few more items as well!
A lot of people who came were dressed up. Some looked much more RenFaire than Scottish, but many men wore full formal dress with the kilt and sporran and flashes and all, and quite a few women were wearing the plaid draped over one shoulder. I wish I'd taken a few photographs of the folk in nifty clothes.
We heard some bands, some good and some loud (mostly disjoint sets). We saw a stage packed with fiddlers, leaving just enough room at the front for a few people dancing the Highland fling. We stopped in at a booth selling all manner of edged weapons and we chatted for a while with the armored woman (a SCA fighter, I understand) who was helping keep an eye on the stock. She recommended a shortsword for my light weight and small hands, and darned if it wasn't comfortable to hold! If I'd been in the market for a sword.... We saw two pair of Highland cattle, "Bonnie and Clyde" and "Fiona and Ceilidh". I'd never seen Highland cows anywhere but, well, the Scottish highlands! We also saw a display of birds of prey, where four birds (apparently all brought by one falconer) gazed steadily back at us from their perches. The birds looked rather bored, actually.
One event I had never seen before was the sheepdog trials. At one of these, a handler and a dog walk into the large dirt-floored arena; a timer is started and four sheep are released into the ring. Within minutes the human shepherd and the dog, who is usually a young border collie, must work as a team to get the sheep to and through several narrow passageways scattered around the area and then at the end they must herd the sheep up a ramp into a trailer. When all the sheep are in the trailer the announcer reads off how long it took. Man, those dogs can MOVE. Their concentration and focus are just as incredible as their energy. That was fascinating, and I would have watched a lot longer if my feet hadn't been hurting.
Oddly enough, the things we didn't see were the traditional mainstays such as the caber toss. Seating in the grandstand was limited and cost extra, and there was no place to stand and watch. I would have enjoyed seeing those competitions, but it's okay that we didn't -- I had a great time doing what we did do.
Unsurprisingly, achy feet drove us out of there. And yeah, I "paid for it" a bit today; I'm glad I didn't have to do much. But I don't regret going. I enjoyed myself, I've got a lovely bodice that will arrive in late September, and I now know I can go to an event like this for part of the day. That's a pretty good combination.
rfrench and I visited the Highland Games in Pleasanton. I had no idea the Highland Games ever showed up outside Scotland, but apparently they most certainly do.I brought my (ahem, Clare's) quad-cane and boy was I ever glad I had it. I'm stable enough, but I simply cannot be on foot for long without something to help bear the weight. I should have had the walker, really, and even better would have been one of these so I could sit. Oh well - hindsight is 20/20!
There were an incredible number of vendors at this thing. I spent most of my time shopping; here are some pictures of clothing I ogled. I wish I'd taken photographs of a few more items as well!
A lot of people who came were dressed up. Some looked much more RenFaire than Scottish, but many men wore full formal dress with the kilt and sporran and flashes and all, and quite a few women were wearing the plaid draped over one shoulder. I wish I'd taken a few photographs of the folk in nifty clothes.
We heard some bands, some good and some loud (mostly disjoint sets). We saw a stage packed with fiddlers, leaving just enough room at the front for a few people dancing the Highland fling. We stopped in at a booth selling all manner of edged weapons and we chatted for a while with the armored woman (a SCA fighter, I understand) who was helping keep an eye on the stock. She recommended a shortsword for my light weight and small hands, and darned if it wasn't comfortable to hold! If I'd been in the market for a sword.... We saw two pair of Highland cattle, "Bonnie and Clyde" and "Fiona and Ceilidh". I'd never seen Highland cows anywhere but, well, the Scottish highlands! We also saw a display of birds of prey, where four birds (apparently all brought by one falconer) gazed steadily back at us from their perches. The birds looked rather bored, actually.
One event I had never seen before was the sheepdog trials. At one of these, a handler and a dog walk into the large dirt-floored arena; a timer is started and four sheep are released into the ring. Within minutes the human shepherd and the dog, who is usually a young border collie, must work as a team to get the sheep to and through several narrow passageways scattered around the area and then at the end they must herd the sheep up a ramp into a trailer. When all the sheep are in the trailer the announcer reads off how long it took. Man, those dogs can MOVE. Their concentration and focus are just as incredible as their energy. That was fascinating, and I would have watched a lot longer if my feet hadn't been hurting.
Oddly enough, the things we didn't see were the traditional mainstays such as the caber toss. Seating in the grandstand was limited and cost extra, and there was no place to stand and watch. I would have enjoyed seeing those competitions, but it's okay that we didn't -- I had a great time doing what we did do.
Unsurprisingly, achy feet drove us out of there. And yeah, I "paid for it" a bit today; I'm glad I didn't have to do much. But I don't regret going. I enjoyed myself, I've got a lovely bodice that will arrive in late September, and I now know I can go to an event like this for part of the day. That's a pretty good combination.
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I need to figure out which clan I belong to as well. The last name is Smith (duh, like yours) and from what I've been able to figure out its either Macintosh or Macphearson. I have a birth place, but I'm not sure after that.
I am annoyed I missed the games this year. I haven't been in awhile and I really wanted to go this year.
Gotta love seein' all those lovely men in kilts!
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Searches on Smith tend to come up MacPhearson in my experience, yeah. I'm not a Smith in terms of genealogy; two generations back there are no Smiths in my family tree at all, and at four or five generations back you see my dad's maternal line taking that name upon arrival at Ellis Island. So I'm not likely MacPhearson. I have a bit of figuring to do.
Hey, there's always the Ben Lomond one first weekend of October! C'mon out! Sock your mom with the twins! ;-)
White Cockade
Re: White Cockade
Re: White Cockade
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Tho we are thinking of Renn Faire!
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