::Utah Scottish Association::

Utah bagpipe band plans to open school for pipers

2010-09-11T11:23:00.000-06:00

SALT LAKE CITY -- The story is told of a Scot who visited America. Upon his return home, a friend asked about his trip.

"Americans are the rudest, loudest, most obnoxious people I've ever met," he said. "In New York, for example, I stayed at a fine hotel. But all night long, people were in the hall, boisterous and noisy. By 10 p.m., there were screams, shouts, and people pounding on my door. By 11, they were banging on my walls, and by midnight, there was pounding on my ceiling from the room above and on my floor from the room below."

"What did you do?" asked his friend. "Nothing," said the Scot.

"I minded my own business and just kept practicing my bagpipes."

The stories and jokes about bagpipes are legion. There's the one about why pipers march while they play (it's harder to hit a moving target). And the difference between a bagpipe and an onion (no one cries when you chop up a bagpipe). And what you have when a piper is buried up to his neck in sand (not enough sand). And hundreds more.

"We don't mind," says Mike Postma, drum sergeant for the Wasatch & District Pipe Band. "We even tell some of them ourselves -- especially we drummers!" Bagpipes are a unique instrument, he acknowledges. "It seems like people either can't stand them or they love them."

Members of Wasatch & District, naturally, fall into the second category. "There's nothing quite like standing in a circle with other pipers," says Marc Pehkonen. The swirling, forceful music. The tradition it represents. "I just really, really love it."

"There's no other instrument like it. You're in elite company when you play the bagpipes," adds Mike Page, who has been with the band for about a year.

Wasatch & District, which was started in 2004, actually has two pipe bands, one junior and one advanced, each with 28 members. The advanced band has competed nationally and internationally, earning a Grade 3 classification.

Bands are ranked on a scale of 1 to 5, explains Pipe Major Ross Morrill.

"There are only two Grade 1 bands in the U.S. and only eight Grade 2 bands. We are the highest-graded band within a 400 to 500 mile radius."

They earned their upgrade in 2007 when they competed in the North American Pipe Band Championships, in Ontario, Canada, and took fourth in their division. Then they participated in another competition the next day in Montreal, against many of the same bands, and took first place. "That was one of our proud moments," says Morrill.

Next year, they will compete at the world championships in Glasgow, Scotland. This year's championships recently took place, with a total of 237 bands participating from all over the world. "That would be something to see," says Postma. "We're very excited to be going next year."

They are also excited by a new venture they are starting this fall: a piping and drumming school. The eight-week course, taught by members of the band, will start Sept. 14 and will cost $130.

Classes are open to men and women (about half of Wasatch & District pipers are women), as well as girls and boys of all ages. It's a great chance for anyone who has ever had an interest in playing bagpipes or drums, says pipe sergeant Justin Howland.

Learning to play the bagpipes takes both patience and commitment, he says. It takes about a year to get any degree of proficiency.

"You start with a practice chanter, which is just a piece of the bagpipes," he explains.

There's only one scale, only nine notes. But that sounds deceptively simple. What complicates it are the embellishments.

Then, when you add the full pipes, "it is very physical," says Morrill. "You have to blow, regulate pressure and think about the music all at the same time."

Like any quality musical instruments, bagpipes are not cheap; a good set starts at about $1,000. So there is a financial commitment, as well, says Morrill.

But "we do it because we love bagpipe music. It's a great hobby and something that we feel is important to share with others."

The school is the first that they know about in Utah, although there are a lot of individual teachers, says Daniel Schneider, drummer and president of Wasatch & District. "But the school is part of the mission of our organization, which is to educate as well as to entertain. We believe there is a lot of good in the world, and music is a part of that. It makes people's lives better. By developing our talents, our creativity, we bring enjoyment to ourselves and to others."

In this area, he says, "there is a lot of interest in bagpipes, and there's a lot of talent."

There are annual festivals and a lot of people with Scottish heritage. Although that is not required, it does draw a lot of people to the music. But there are many reasons why people play the pipes.

"I've got Scottish blood lines on both sides," says band member Doug Hunter. "I always wanted to play the bagpipes, and when I became a grandparent, I decided if I was ever going to do it, I had better do it. I tracked down a local piper and asked him to teach me. It's been an awesome ride ever since."

Mike Page also "got a late start." He noticed a pipe band that came to his local cemetery every Memorial Day. "Finally, something just clicked, and I thought, I want to do that. I taught myself to play. That is not a recommended method."

Pehkonen got into piping when his mother gave him a teach-yourself-bagpipes kit as a joke Christmas present. But he tried it out. "It had a CD that offered some instructions. When it was obvious that I needed a better teacher, I went to a Highland Games in Buffalo, N.Y., where I lived at the time, and asked a piper to teach me. I've been involved in music since I was little, but this is by far the most fun thing I've done."

Paul Brunner is one of the younger members of the group. He learned to play in honor of his grandfather, "who was a big supporter. He always wanted me to learn. I love it."

Being in the band "is a very social thing," says Postma. "It's a very family-friendly organization and a great group of people. We rehearse two hours a week, give concerts on four or five weekends, march in a few parades. But it's very fulfilling and a lot of fun."

The school, he says, is a great opportunity. If you've ever wanted to play, it's a chance to find out what it's all about. "And if you think you love bagpipes now, just wait. You'll love them even more."

All those jokes notwithstanding.

President's notes June/July 2010

2010-07-15T20:48:00.000-06:00

June-July Significant Notes

Wow, you missed something pretty special if you were not present either Friday or Saturday (June 11 & 12) at the Lehi Scottish Festival & Highland Games. Those of us on the planning committee experienced a mixed sensation as we watched in both amazement and pride while dedicated patrons kept streaming through the entry gates despite the whipping wind and pouring rain. I only half joked while welcoming everyone to our tent covered Friday night Tattoo that Scots were a resilient group who could muster the commitment to celebrate their ancestry regardless of a little inclement weather. The roar of cheers that rolled back to me from the audience was actually palpable!

Our 9 marvelous pipe bands and skilled drum major marched through the tented performance hall aisles bringing to us all the unique simulation of being in the middle of a performing pipe band. Several brawny laddies came up to me later admitting the damp eyes and lumps in their throats that occurred during that stirring performance!

The standing ovations given our musical entertainers, the respectful roar of approval for our competing athletes, the exuberant applause acknowledging our dancers and the heavy visitation to our clan booths demonstrated clearly that no one’s spirits had been dampened during Friday & Saturday! The less than perfect weather seemed to bring about its own magic as we all accepted its challenge and just went on enjoying ourselves immensely. Really, you should have been there!

And if you did miss that great event or are ready to celebrate again, don’t forget that our crew is busily preparing for the popular Cache Celtic Festival & Highland Games that will take place August 27 & 28 up at the American West Heritage Center in Wellsville in Cache Valley. Tell your friends and come on up for another great party!! Check out the links on our web page for more details.

And in addition to all the necessary planning and effort needed to host these huge and popular events, the board of directors continues to meet and work through the necessary details that keep this association well organized, financially stable and successful . A hearty thank you to all of them and the committee volunteers who work so hard so that the rest of us may continue to celebrate our Scottish heritage so merrily!

TO THE LASSIES! USU

2010-05-16T14:36:00.001-06:00

"Women should rule the world." That's what former white House press secretary Dee Dee Myers wrote just two years ago. "If we were in charge," she writes, "things might actually change. Instead of posturing, we'd have cooperation. Instead of gridlock, we'd have progress. Instead of a shouting match, we'd have a conversation. A very long conversation. But a conversation nonetheless. Everyone would just hold hands and sing 'kumbaya'."

Or would they? what would it be like if women ruled the world, I began to wonder.

At this provocative suggestion, and recalling that it wasn't that long ago that the Democrats were seriously considering nominating Hillary clinton for president and the Republicans selected Sarah Palin as vice-president, I began to wonder as well.

If women ruled the world, would more things - like desktop computers, battleships or space shuttles - come in pastel colours?

Would baby-sitting, doing dishes, and making beds be considered "macho"?

Sould the hems of men's pants go up or down depending on the economy? Would men have to change shoes just because it was after Memorial or Labor Day?

Would 'Better Homes and Gardens' feature an annual "swimsuit" issue?

Would the men who design women's shoes be forced to wear them?

Would little girls read about "Snow White and the Seven Hunks"?

Would men bring drinks, chips, and dip to a bunch of loud, obnoxious women who had planted themselves on the couch all evening to watch the gold-medal round of women's figure skating?

Would all toilet seats be chained down?

would TV news segments on sports be limited to one minute?

As part of basic training, would all soldiers have to take care of a two-year-old for six weeks?

Would men be subjected to Menrichment night or "man" agrams?

Women would certainly do something about "mendicants" - "mendacity" - "manhandling" - "meningitis" - and all other kinds of "MENACES" beginning with the word "men".

What makes Dee Dee Myers think that women don't run the world already? They may not hold the white House of half the seats in Congress, but think about this, men. If women don't run the world, is it possible that they run the world as we know it?

Do they really need our help to open jars, get things down off shelves, or wire up stereo speakers? Probably not, but it's nice that they let us think they do. And this leads us to the best evidence that women actually fun the world - they have convinced us that we are truly the ones in charge.

To our mothers, our mothers' mothers, our wives, our sisters, and our daughters. Up on your feey, my laddies, and join me in a toast...

TO THE LASSIES!!!

TO THE LADDIES - JOYCE HOWELL

2010-05-16T14:31:00.000-06:00

Toast to the Laddies

We do love the laddies, but I must share a few thoughts about them before we make our toast.

Men love to barbecue – but of course any man will cook if danger is involved.
Men who have pierced ears are the ones best prepared for marriage; after all they’ve already experienced pain and bought jewelry.
A successful lad is one who makes more money than his partner can spend and a successful lassie is one who can find such a man.
Now we all know that men hate to go shopping. That is why the men’s department is usually located on the first floor of a department store and is just inside the front door.
When the lads play their favorite game – golf of course – they yell “fore”, hit six, and write down four.

So ladies, let’s stand and drink a toast.
“To the lads we honor most.
They are our heroes, strong and Spartan,
Especially when they’re wearing the Tartan!”

Ladies, please raise your glasses for toast, to the Laddies.

RESPONSE TO THE LADDIES

2010-05-15T13:57:00.001-06:00

Having been born and raised in Lancashire England, I cannont help but wonder how the Scots feel about a Lancashire lass giving this reply. We Brits are commonly referred to as SASSANACHS by the Scots and maybe it's a good thing I am not sure what that means!

Robert Burns was a frequent lover of women, having had at least 5 affairs and 13 children - Many of his poems directed to women and his love for them. How I wish we knew what all those women thought of his philandering, no wonder he was dead before he was 38 years old.

One lass declared to men:

Our strength's we'll defend with nail and tooth
Though comments on our age are always uncouth
We lassies do require a bit more space
For we smile and snarl with the same face
Our virtues and vices to not attempt to sieve
And if you're lucky we'll let you live.

Janie Krull said:

Two nights ago, I and my mate
Had an evening alone, we went out on a date.
A night to ourselves an evening to savor
"Oh by the way, can you do me a favour"?
A response to my toast is all that we need
Please don't make me get on my knees and plead
Emma can't do it, she doesn't have time
R.K. is in Scotland - the swine.

Just a small something and "oh by the way"
This verse that you write is due Saturday.
So much to do, so far behind
We can't help but end up changing our minds.
A request such as this quite often they spring
It's no wonder our moods are inclined to swing.
They do come in handy every once in a while
They say nice things and they make us smile.
When we can't reach things way up on high
All we do is call and it's easy as pie.

Crawling things come out and make our hearts go a fitter
These gents know how to get rid of a critter
They put up with our moods, our diets and hair-dos
They know how we get when we buy new shoes
They fix what's broken, they take care of our cars
They move heavy objects and program VCR's
When it's important to them, they are up with the sun
And still I wonder will my sewing room ever be done?
Through bad hair days and failed weight lost attempts
These men before us are awfully nice gents.

Tam O Shanter the poem by Robert Burns issued a response titled "KATE O'SHANTER'S TALE"

And where do you suppose was Kate
When market days were wearin late
While Tam frequented wretched dives
and fooled aroond wi landlord's wives?

And rode poor Meg through mud and ditches
and had an eye for handsome witches

Played peepin Tam at Alloway
And yelled and gave himself away
And fled from there amid the din
And Maggie hardly saved his skin

Kate slaved away the lifelong day
They had so many bills to pay
The twins just had to have new shoes
And Tam he spent so much on booze

She bathed and clothed and fed the twins
She baked the bread, she knits and spins
She does the wash, she mends the clothes
And what all else God only knows!

She keeps the house all neat and trim
And makes the lunch for ploughboy Jim
A neighbour lad they hire by day
Who does Tam's work while Tam's away

She herds the sheep and cattle too
Feeds hens, milks cows and when she's through
makes cheese and butter and gathers eggs
And puts the homebrew in the kegs

For Tam to sell on market day
And drink the proceeds half away

At harvest time from early morn
Her sickle reaps the oats and corn
And many a bonny summer day
She and ploughboy Jim - make hay

When Tam got home that night at 4
And Maggie found the stable door
Tam stumbled senseless to the floor
To sleep it off 8 hours or more

He tossed and turned through hail and rain
And through the nightmare ride again
Aboot the middle of the day
The livestock had a lot to say

The chickens, donkeys, geese, hens and cows
Said we want food we want it NOW
Tam stirred then from his lowly bed
and saw Meg's stump above his head

An awfu thought ran through his brain
Oh God - that wisna hail and rain!

Tam struggled slowly tae his feet
He wisna clean he wisna neat
He scraped aff what he could but when
He made his way from but to ben

Tam stood dumbfounded - what the hell
For Kate was gone - the twins as well

But Kate had left a note for him
"I've sailed to Montreal wi Jim"
And we expect to settle soon
Out on a farm near Saskatoon!

Forgive me Tam and don't be sore
A couldna tak it any more
I had tae find a better way
Before I'd slaved my youth away

I had tae try and save myself
(You'll find the oatmeal on the shelf)
Don't fash yourself aboot the twins
I might as well confess - they're Jims!!

Remember this: behind most successful men there is a woman, take away the lassies and what's left?

TO THE LASSIES: USU by DAN HILL

2010-05-15T13:12:00.000-06:00

To The Lassies

WHEN considering a TOAST to the FAIRER sex
we LADDIES find ourselves QUITE perplexed
How best to SHOW how much we CARE?
How BEST to praise our lassies, FAIR?
With their grace, charm, beauty and all the REST
‘tis difficult to KNOW which parts are BEST
Their lovely CURVES? Their enchanting CALL?
When we FINALLY leave the MALL?

HOW could I be so CRASS?
Of COURSE, my dears, we LOVE to pass
the TIME with you HOWEVER you choose
EVEN watching you try on SHOES

Surely ONE of their greatest FEATURES
is their CARING for wee CREATURES
BAIRNS, some call them, children, AYE;
don’t leave their WELFARE to a GUY
We’d raise a GENERATION of USELESS ASSES
LET’S leave the REARING to the LASSES
The tender TOUCH and firm DIRECTION
NURTURING hands and FIERCE protection
they PROVIDE is matchless, TRUE
LASSIES; we’re just glad it’s YOU

NOW perhaps the lasses’ greatest FACET:
a delightsome, fine and splendid ASSET
The LASSES provide wealth BEYOND measure
GIFTS not measured in jewels or TREASURE
Now, HOW to describe it and not to seem RUDE?
Oh I’ll just say it: WE LOVE YOUR FOOD!

Our stomachs aren’t the ONLY place they TOUCH
In FACT, there’s NOTHING we like as MUCH
The lassie’s CARESS leaves us SO bewitched
that SCARCELY we notice, (until we’re HITCHED)
that there ARE a few MINOR QUIRKS
but we’d RATHER NOT be seen as JERKS
So, IF there ARE some faults to SEE
we’re SURE they’re OURS; and THUSLY we
will PASS them off; and REMAIN in THRALL
to our AGELESS BEAUTIES, ONE and ALL

Gentlemen, please rise… TO THE LASSIES!

-Dan Hill
Utah Scottish Association & Utah State University
2009 Robert Burns Supper

Presiden'ts Notes May 2010

2010-05-07T20:26:00.000-06:00

May SIGnificant Notes

If you think our Utah spring weather has been hectic with its many hourly changes rushing from one extreme to another, wait until you catch all the activity being undertaken by your stalwart board of directors and committee members as they gear up for our major spring-summer events.

These are the seasons when we really go public with our Scottish pride, sense of fun, competition, fine dining, fashion and unique music! Place these dates on your calendar so you are part of the joyful celebration of all things Scottish. Remember, we are always seeking additional assistance from interested folks who’d like to volunteer their time and service during these events. Please check our link for volunteers and let us know if you’d like to be included!

May 21,22,23 -Living Traditions SLC

We join other ethnic groups who celebrate their food heritage with samples to purchase during the busy weekend. A Scottish specialty has been selected to star in the invitational cooking demonstration.

June 12 & 13 -Utah Scottish Festival & Highland Games, Thanksgiving Point, Lehi

August 27 & 28 -Cache Celtic Festival & Highland Games, American West Heritage Center, Wellsville

These are our two annual public celebrations of Scottish and Highland traditions as well as traditional samples from our Celtic cousins, the Irish and Welsh. Thousands of visitors join us each year in these exciting displays of a memorable culture. Check our web page links to find the general schedule of events, available vendors with food and special Scottish themed merchandise, sign up for our various competitions and note the popular entertainers who will share their talent with us all.

This labor of love is made possible by a very few people who have enormous commitment, stamina and a deep sense of pride for their Scottish heritage. We honor our ancestors by sharing their traditions with the future generations. Some things in life are just too important to forget and the best of our Scottish heritage ranks right up there.

President's Notes April 2010

2010-04-06T15:20:00.001-06:00

April SIGnificant Notes

During April I encourage each of you to focus your attention and support towards TARTAN DAY on April 6. This is the day to wear your tartan and help others to appreciate the important historical contribution Scottish Americans have made to our country. Although the association will not be sponsoring a specific activity on that day, we do invite everyone to join us on April 23 in SLC for our annual Tartan Ball where we can celebrate with dancing, food, and great company! Check our Tartan Ball link for details.

For those of you not acquainted with this special day, I’ve included some excerpts from the National Tartan Day web page for a quick review of why and how this day originated:

On 6 April 1320 the "Scottish Declaration of Independence" was signed by the assembled Scottish nobility in Arbroath Abbey. It was a letter from supporters of Robert the Bruce to the Pope, seeking papal recognition of Scotland. According to Senator Lott's resolution, the Declaration of Arbroath was an influence on the signers of the American Declaration of Independence. It was a radical 14th Century document that introduced principles such as the king's responsibility to serve the people and the people's right to replace him should he become tyrannical.

The Declaration was an inspiration for future generations and became the basis of the American Declaration of Independence. Two signers of the U.S. Declaration of Independence, John Witherspoon and John Wilson, were Scots and other Founders had Scottish heritage. President Woodrow Wilson once said, "Every line of strength in American history is a line colored with Scottish blood."

National Tartan Day was created to celebrate the broad influence of Scottish Enlightenment philosophy on the founding fathers as well as the contributions of Scots and Scottish-Americans to the development of the United States. Tartan Day was observed on April 6, 1997, for the first time in U.S. history. On March 9, 2005, the House of Representatives unanimously adopted House Resolution 41, which designates April 6th of each year as "National Tartan Day.”

(A National Tartan Day web notation offers special thanks to Ms. Duncan MacDonald of the Caledonian Foundation for providing some of this information.)

President's Notes February 2010

2010-04-06T15:16:00.000-06:00

Significant Notes from the President (February 2010)

February 2010

Do Scottish Americans know how to add a Tartan Twist to poetry readings or what???

Those of you who didn’t join the almost 400 folks who participated in either one or both of our two Burns Supper 2010 locations, you missed some great celebrations!! Be sure you get these events on your 2011 calendar so you don’t have to be left out in the cold.

For all of you who did attend, regardless of the site, you know how much good food there was for the taking, the elegance of the table settings and room displays, the pride of our honor guards, the drama and anticipation during the presentation of and address to the Haggis, the delightful foot-tapping music offered by either Leaping Lulu or the BYU Celtic Ensemble, the heartfelt piping by our two pipers, the always edgy and humorous toasts to the Lassies and Laddies, the blend of humor, romance and politics in the open microphone Burns poetry readings by inspired participants, the special Burns poetry offered in song, the fun & chaos of Celidh (kay-lee) dance instruction and practice, and the generous USU and BYU scholarship donations made through our silent auction and ticket sales. (Check the web as we add samples of the toasts and photos of the fun)

Personally I enjoyed meeting and greeting so many of our members (and perhaps future members) who attended these two events. I must say how inspiring it was to see so many take such pride in their tartaned fashion sense as well as note their enthusiasm to participate.

I offer a special thank you to Brad Smith and Doe Corrin (our event committee chairs) and their respective committee members for coordinating two very successful celebrations.

An evening honoring the genius of Robert Burns with old and new friends is a great way to forget the gloomy valley inversions and cold temperatures!

Remember to keep assessing how you can bring even more assistance to these highly popular events and visit our volunteer tab to help make a meaningful difference.

President's Notes March 2010

2010-04-06T15:13:00.001-06:00

March SIGnificant Notes

During March Scottish Americans in the know lend their support and presence to all things Irish. That is because our links with Ireland were forged back in 400 AD when the Scotia tribe and their King, Fergus, crossed the narrow channel from the Ulster area over to the Argyll coast of what is now called Scotland. King Fergus ruled both the Antrim Scots and the Argyll Scots maintaining a very strong cross cultural tie. They named their new territories across the sea, Scotia, after their name for Ireland. It is by this title that the new territory became known as Scotland.

Despite the centuries of cross migration, the arrival of other peoples, wars, and political and religious upheavals to both countries, Scotland and Ireland are bound historically and culturally. As Scottish Americans, it only makes sense to celebrate our mutual origins with our Irish American cousins. For those of you interested in finding out more about those who are called Scotch Irish or Ulster Scots, see our March Clarsach edition.

The Association invites our members and friends to either join in or view from the curbside the annual St. Patrick’s Day Parade sponsored by the Hibernian Society on March 13 in Salt Lake City. The Association contributed a participant fee that enables our members to march in the parade. We will have assigned locations, unlike previous years, so please seek out your clan rep or Dan Stuart as we gather in the Gateway Center area that morning for your parade placement. The Association Board of Directors will march en masse proudly carrying our banner and reminding the community of the strong support we Scottish Americans lend to our Irish American kin.

Be sure to check the Calendar of Events as there are a number of Celtic themed events taking place this month along the Wasatch Front and up into Cache Valley. Hope to see you there!

PRESIDENT'S NOTES JANUARY 2010

2010-02-10T13:28:00.001-07:00

Significant Notes from the President (January 2010)

Welcome 2010!!

As usual the start of a new year provides each of us with a chance to reflect on our previous experiences and set goals and expectations for the future. Those reflections and expectations must take into account and balance the sorrows, failures, successes and delights that each of us will no doubt encounter. May each of us find the strength and desire to fulfill our own dreams, show compassion to others and successfully meet the challenges that may confront us in 2010.

As a counterpoint to the several days of seasonal inversions that leave most of us in gray, cold surroundings, the association is pleased to provide warmth, bright lights, music, laughter, good food and great company at our annual Robert Burns Suppers held at USU and BYU. These two delightful venues bring all of us together in comfort so we can celebrate the literary genius of Robert Burns while getting to know one another better. We are always delighted at the number of members and non members who actually attend both events despite the geographic distance between the two sites. So come join us at either one or both Suppers for an evening of gaiety, Scottish cultural exchange and good socializing regardless of the long, dark, cold nights this season brings us. January 29 and February 6 are the dates to attend. Visit the special features on both Suppers in this web edition. Reservations must be made at least 24 hours in advance.

The board and its committees remain active by gathering resources and personnel to engage in the various projects our 2010 goals have set for us. We have some exciting plans to better benefit our members as well as better facilitate our association efforts. Please consider joining one of our committees to lend your expertise, time, and enthusiasm!! Please note the committee listings and contacts so you can introduce yourself and lend a helping hand. Visit our volunteer link in this web edition. We recently enjoyed a couple of noteworthy successes:

Thank you Doe Corrine who decorated our award-winning holiday tree at the West Valley Cultural Tree contest. You’ve never seen such a collection of Scotland in one tree!

Thank you Gale Cotton who generated our first electronic and colored edition of the Clarsach for our membership. An edition filled with colorful photos and articles on things Scottish. Members, be sure to notify Gale of your preference for this color version by sending her your email address ASAP. Our print version will still be available to those without email service but will also remain a black& white edition.

I hope to see and meet most of you at our Burns Suppers later this month and early February! Til then, stay warm, surround yourselves with those you care for and enjoy each day!

PRESIDENT'S NOTES NOVEMBER 2009

2010-01-19T09:32:00.002-07:00

SIG nificant Notes from the President

It is a distinct honor to be inducted as the latest president of the Utah Scottish Association! I stand on a solid foundation that represents the legacy from those past presidents who worked so hard before me to bring our association to its current level of success.

An association such as ours is dependent on a great deal of heart and solid effort from all the dedicated volunteers who produce a wide variety of wonderful community events we are known to sponsor. We are a group who channels to remarkable heights our collective pride and enthusiasm in honoring our Scottish ancestry. We also graciously invite so many others to join us in our celebrations.

The officers and board of directors for 2009-2010 are primed and ready to tackle our responsibilities with a hybrid blend of experienced “old timers” and fresh “newbies” who together bring a healthy dose of creativity, sound reasoning and good energy so our association remains strong and successful.

Our leadership effort is greatly enhanced by the ideas and enthusiasm each one of you, our members, can bring to the dozen good reasons we offer for anticipating this coming year. Please look over the dozen good reasons and the member involvement form and consider what fun ideas and helpful energy you can lend to assist our success. Trust us; you don’t want to miss out on the fun and excitement of this year!!!

Sig

Dianne Siegfreid (Sig)

President, Utah Scottish Association

Bagpipes: You either love them or hate them

2010-01-11T11:26:00.000-07:00

Ron Rowe says that people either love or hate the sound of bagpipes.

Rowe, who manages and plays for the Galloway Highlanders Pipes and Drums, a group founded in the Top of Utah by his father, is one of the lovers.

So is Clinton Tibbitts, a 17-year-old senior at Ben Lomond High School, home of the proud Scots. A bagpipe player for the school, he first became interested in the instrument when it was used as an alarm clock at summer camp when he was a preteen in Virginia.

"For some reason, something that was really annoying, and related to waking up no less, caught my attention," said Tibbitts. "And then we moved to Utah, where it so happens that the high school I was attending offered it."

For Rowe, of Clearfield, the pipes are a family affair. His father, Albert Rowe, started Galloway in 1992 as a way for family and friends to play together. Albert's father also played.

"It's in the blood, I think," said Rowe. "Three of my four grandparents were from Scotland. My dad quit after his dad died -- too many emotional ties for him. But after my mom died in 1992, we talked him into taking it up again and teaching, to give him something to do. The next thing we knew, we had enough people for a band."

Albert Rowe passed away last year on Father's Day, but his legacy lives on in the Galloway Highlanders, which draws members from throughout Northern Utah.

The group practices weekly at Davis High School -- where groups from around the state will gather for the David Barclay Memorial Bagpipe and Drum Competition on Saturday. Barclay was a piper and longtime leader of the Utah Pipe Band of Salt Lake City, the oldest continuously playing pipe band in the western United States.

Tibbitts will compete in a quartet with Jordan Corey and Daelen McCumber, both juniors, and sophomore Lonnie Vandenburg -- pipers all. The Galloway Highlanders have competed in the past, but this year the group just wants to go for the fun of it.

"We won that competition last year," said Rowe. "This year, we've decided not to compete. Competitions are so stressful. We've decided to go back to the basics this year instead. So we might play in a mass band, where everyone plays together, but that will be it."

A haunting sound

What is the appeal of the pipes for those who are moved by them?

"It's interesting, because the people who are into them just always say they love them -- but never seem to say what it is they love about them." said Rowe. "To me, since I grew up with them, I've got a real emotional attachment."

Cory Jensen, the faculty adviser for the Ben Lomond Pipe and Drum Corps, notes that bagpipes seem to have a visceral connection to many people and cultures.

"Absolutely, they are ancient," said Jensen. "No one is even sure where they originated -- no one theory weaves everything together. But they seem to continue on and on as a part of life in many places, including here."

What is certain is that the sound of the Highland pipes has very much defined Scotland. The pipe were once used for marking time in the villages -- sort of like a musical town crier -- and also have, for centuries, led regiments into battle.

"It is a really haunting sound," noted Rowe. "If you were the enemy hunkered down, and you heard the pipes coming for you, I am sure that sound struck you with a fear-and-awe response."

Future looks bright

Rowe is no purist when it comes to the music, though he said his father and grandfather certainly were.

"While we play what are believed to be very ancient tunes, I have found the prettiest pieces might not be easily related to. But if you play something like 'Amazing Grace' or 'America the Beautiful,' people can really relate. So we do those things, too, especially for things like Memorial Day."

The Ben Lomond players go even further afield. But, Jensen notes, it can be tricky to update, as it is a limited instrument.

"The bagpipes only play nine notes, so some songs don't work because of sharps and flats, or too large of a range," he said. "But we do like to play around at sporting events, to get the crowd going."

Among the contemporary Ben Lomond favorites are "We Will Rock You" by Queen and "Thunderstruck" by AC/DC.

Said Tibbitts: "We are also school mascots, so we want to be crowd-pleasers. Those songs sure are. And some of us who are able to hear music and transcribe it have written out 'Lord of the Rings,' 'Harry Potter,' 'Star Wars,' and obviously, 'Braveheart.' " He laughed. "I guess we are not exactly traditional, because we are teenagers, and it is fun to experiment."

Tibbitts plans to attend Weber State University, which does not have a pipes program. But he hopes to perhaps start a club there, and eventually, his own corps.

"There is not a group between Ogden and Henry's Fork, Idaho," Tibbitts noted. "So I would like one that at least covers Ogden, Brigham City and Logan -- maybe a Ben Lomond alumni group."

As for Galloway, new players are coming all of the time. Rowe said his youngest player now is 14. And he sees it as part of his duties to teach the new players about the traditions of piping, as well as the music.

"Playing with us is a bit of a history lesson," said Rowe. "You have to understand where this comes from to understand why we do what we do."

The instrument has a long history ...

The bird flutes discovered last year in Germany, and determined to be 35,000 years old, suggest that people used reeds and bones with holes in them to change pitch and make music in ancient times.

But what if a player wanted to sustain a note while taking a breath, or wanted to play louder than the human lungs allow?

Add a bag made of animal innards or leather to the pipe, holding air to sustain and embolden the sound. Voila -- you've got a basic bagpipe.

Though commonly thought of in the Western world as a musical staple of the British Isles, variations on the instrument are found throughout much of Europe and the East. No one is certain whether they evolved in one place and migrated, or if similar instruments developed in several places.

What is fairly certain is the ancient Romans had a variation on the instrument called the tibia utricularis, which Emperor Nero (in the second century) was said to play. Some believe this variation arrived with the conquering Romans to the British Isles, while others think that a primitive version of the pipes were already in use by the native tribes well before then.

One thing is for certain -- by the 13th century in Europe, the pipes became a common visual element in European iconography. The Cantigas de Santa Maria, a Castilian manuscript dating back to the 13th century, shows illustrations of several simple bagpipes. They are also mentioned in the prologue to the Miller's Tale in "The Canterbury Tales," written around 1380. Examples appear in paintings, weavings, carvings, engravings and illustrations throughout the Middle Ages and Renaissance periods in Europe.

Actual examples of pipes prior to the 18th century are all but unknown, as they were commonly made from such biodegradable stuff as guts, leather, ivory and wood.

The classic pipes best known today in the West are the Scottish Highland pipes. The first serious study known of Highland pipes and their music dates from 1730 -- Joseph MacDonald's "Compleat Theory."

Though long used by Scottish troops to instill fear and awe in the enemy in local conflicts, the instrument's fame spread far and wide during the expansion of the Victorian British Empire when British military forces, which included Highland Regiments, used the Scottish Great Highland Pipes as part of their foot soldier forces and ceremonial parades.

Though mostly used to play traditional Scottish music, the instrument's repertoire has expanded greatly since the 1960s. Pipes can be heard on such recordings as AC/DC's "It's a Long Way to the Top" and Paul McCartney's "Mull of Kintyre."

The late African-American musician Rufus Harley's primary instrument was the Great Highland bagpipes, on which he played jazz and blues. As a young horn player, he was inspired to take up the pipes after seeing the Black Watch Royal Regiment on television at John F. Kennedy's state funeral.

Harley recorded his own material and also appeared on works by such artists as Sonny Rollins, Laurie Anderson and Herbie Mann.

Sources : www.hotpipes.com, Standard-Examiner interviews with Ron Rowe and Cory Jenkins, "Bagpipes" (University of Oxford, 1995) by Anthony Baines, www.bagpipehistory.info, www.discovery.com, liner notes for "The Cutting Edge" by Sonny Rollins (Milestone Records, 1975)

Celtic Festival on Saturday in Wellsville

2009-08-22T13:12:00.000-06:00

The American West Heritage Center and the Utah Scottish Association are teaming up for the Cache Celtic Festival & Highland Games, which will be held Saturday, Aug. 29, 9 a.m.-8 p.m.

"Celebrating Celtic culture fits well with the deep Scottish and Welsh roots of the northern Utah region," says Bob Gallimore, a member of the Utah Scottish Association board. "It's especially appropriate this year with the sesquicentennials of many area communities."

The event will feature food and merchandise vendors, bagpipe and drumming competitions, Celtic music performed by local musicians, Irish step dancing, and presentations on early Welsh and Scottish pioneers and mountain men.

Highland athletes also will compete in nine traditional throwing events, including the caber toss, stone putt and hammer throw.

Tickets are $7 for adults, $3 for children 4-12.

The American West Heritage Center is located along Highway 89-91 in Wellsville.

DESERET NEWS

Utah's Scottish Festival to have huge focus on clans, families

2009-08-06T13:19:00.000-06:00

Utah's Scottish Festival to have huge focus on clans, families
By Carma Wadley

Deseret News

Published: Monday, June 8, 2009 7:02 p.m. MDT
A Scottish tartan is woven with history, with a warp and weft of tradition, heritage and hardship that stretches back to the mists of time.

It is one of the most recognizable things associated with Scotland, a symbol of belonging, of patriotism, of pride.

To be a Scot is to be fiercely proud, notes the Utah Scottish Association. And a deep and abiding part of that pride is expressed in the clan association and the wearing of that clan's tartan, says Bob Gallimore, a member of the board of the association.

What many people don't realize, he says, is that Scottish clans are not just something out of history, "but a living, dynamic thing." Clan organizations still exist, not just in Scotland, but worldwide.

"The tartan," he says, "has evolved into a statement of one's Scottish roots, a way of identifying with the homeland though thousands of miles and generations distant. It's a living, breathing tradition. And clan histories are just as colorful as their tartans."

In honor of the 250th anniversary of national poet Robert Burns, Scotland has declared 2009 to be a time for the "Gathering of the Clans," with activities taking place all year to encourage Scots to seek out their heritage and celebrate Scottish culture.

This year, the annual Utah Scottish Festival \& Highland Games will also have a huge focus on clans and families, encouraging everyone with a drop of Scottish blood to find out more about their heritage, says Dianne Siegfreid, vice president in charge of clan relations for the Utah Scottish Association, which sponsors the event.

Several events at the festival will highlight the clans that have chosen to participate in the festival. On Friday, June 12, as part of the Tattoo, there will be a torchlight parade of clan representatives. "They will be called in following the old tradition," Siegfreid says.

On June 12, around noon, there will be a call for the clans and a procession from the fair area to the ceremony grounds. As part of the closing ceremonies at 5:30 p.m., there will be a special program where a dozen or so clan representatives will give a short presentation about their clan's history and involvement.

Throughout the festival, there will be clan booths, where the public may stop by to learn more about the clan, get help with family lineage and obtain other information about Scottish heritage. If you don't find a booth with your clan, you can also stop by the Utah Scottish Association booth to find out about other clans or how to get involved with the association, Siegfreid says.

"This year we are upping the ante on our emphasis on clans," she says. "They are the heart and soul that keep the Scottish spirit alive. One of the interesting things about Scottish history is that Scotland's greatest export has been its own people. Due to political strife, economic necessity or an adventurous spirit, large numbers left the country. There are far more Scots outside Scotland than inside. Major concentrations came to Canada, Australia and the U.S., but you find them everywhere. You see their fierce pride and joy in the societies they have created, in the festivals and games they hold. We will have clan representatives from all over the country at our festival."

Siegfreid's own clan is Campbell, which she connects to through her great-great-grandmother. Obvbiously, she says, "I don't have a Scottish surname, but that doesn't matter." There are no requirements to have a certain amount of Scottish blood in order to affiliate with a clan. "Most of us are hybrids. But the Scottish spirit is the one that calls out the loudest to us."

Several Utah Scots, in fact, are involved in national and international organizations of their clans.

Dale M. Forsyth Sandusky, for example, is national president of Clan Forsyth Society of the USA, and the chief's U.S. representative.

His clan's chief is presently living in southern France. "He had been staying in western Australia, tending his son's cattle ranch while his son was away at university. Chief Alistair now plans to return to Scotland and build a retirement home on the 200 acres he still holds."

As the chief's representative, Sandusky travels throughout the country, representing Clan Forsyth at various Scottish games and celebrations. He is allowed to wear two feathers in his hat (the chief has three). "The chief has had representatives in Australia and Canada. In 2002, he decided to appoint his first commissioner in the U.S., which was me. I 'stand in his shoes' in the U.S."

The Forsyth clan has three official tartans. Most common is the dress tartan, but you also will see ancient and weathered versions, he says.

The Forsyth clan is a bit unusual, Sandusky says, in that "we went 300 years without a chief. The clan system went by the wayside when Bonnie Prince Charlie lost the war in 1746. My clan was dissolved, and no one could find the chief. When the clan system was restored, our chief never showed up."

Not until the 1900s was the Clan Forsyth Society formed. "In 1978, Lord Lyon of Scotland looked into the genealogy of its members and decided that Alistair C.W. Forsyth has the purest line back, and we were recognized again as one of the old clans." The Lord Lyon King of Arms is the official registrar of Scottish clans.

There are some 500 members of the society in the United States, Sandusky says — "and there are about 27 different spellings of the name." Scots being frugal, he adds, "it only costs $25 to join."

Sandusky is connected on his mother's side. He takes great pride in the fact that his clan stretches back to the time of Charlemagne. "We have an impressive history." Among other accomplishments, one ancestor was a horticulturalist; the forsythia plant was named after him. In Utah, Forsyth Mountain in Pine Canyon was named for a clansman.

Leslie Dorius-Jones is a member of the Maxwell clan. She is also the seanchai, or storyteller, of the Utah Scottish Association.

Her mother and grandmother were also seanchais, she says. "As a girl, I remember going to reunions and gatherings."

But her own involvement didn't come until she ended up in Utah as a single-parent with a 5-year-old son. "I saw a notice for a kirkin' of the tartan, and I thought that would be a way to get my son involved in the culture."

Dorius-Jones became involved with the association and also with the House of Maxwell Society for America, for which she is the Intermountain Region representative, an involvement, she says, that "has been fun and also helped me find great joy."

The Maxwell clan is interesting, she adds, in that it split off into five distinct branches. "My branch is Jewish." At the same time, former LDS apostle Elder Neal A. Maxwell was a member of the clan. "Many of the early members were reapers, weavers and tax collectors, which made them highly unpopular at times. But they were also part of the Knights Templar, and we are connected to the physicist James Clark Maxwell."

The clan has not had a true chieftan, she says, "since the last one was killed in the 1800s," but there is a society organization.

It takes about 20 years to learn to be a seanchai, says Doius-Jones, "and I'm still learning." But when people come to the booth at the festival and want to know what clan they belong to, or learn about stories, history or food, she can tell them. A lot of clans have others families that have been adopted in or associated with the clan. For example, among the main "septs" or families of the Maxwells are Pollocks, Cardones, Monreith and Farnham.

But, says Dorius-Jones, there is nothing like knowing you belong to a clan. "It means you are proud of your heritage. It gives you a sense of belonging. It connects you with the universe."

She wears the Maxwell tartan with pride. Women don't wear kilts, she points out, "unless they are a member of a pipe band or sadly uninformed. But we wear the plaid over the shoulder, often pinned with a clan crest pin."

Lots of people, she says, "feel alone in the world, and I feel badly for them. As for me, I know who I am. As a former teacher, I used to tell my students that if you know where you came from, if you have values that have been passed down to you, then you know where you can go. Knowing that comes with obligations, but it is also freeing. That's what being a Maxwell means to me."

Gentlemen — The Tartan!

Here's to it!

The fighting sheen of it,

The yellow, the green of it,

The white, the blue of it,

The swing, the hue of it,

The dark, the red of it,

Every thread of it!

The fair have sighed for it,

The brave had died for it,

Foemen sought for it,

Heroes fought for it,

Honour the name of it,

Drink to the fame of it —

The TARTAN!

— Murdoch Maclean

E-mail: carma@desnews.com
© 2009 Deseret News Publishing Company | All rights reserved

A bit of Scottish history

2009-08-06T13:17:00.000-06:00

A bit of Scottish history
Published: Monday, June 8, 2009 7:02 p.m. MDT
CLANS AND TARTANS

The roots of the Scottish clan system stretch back to the country's Celtic past. In ancient times, the area was occupied by a variety of peoples, including the Britons, Romans, Angles, Vikings and Picts.

Originating as an Irish tribe, the Scots arrived in the sixth century A.D., and were united with the Picts by Kenneth MacAlpin in 843. They became organized along tribal lines, with each tribe also belonging to a "great tribe," but with all tribal lands held in common.

The word clan comes from clanna, which means "children" in Gaelic.

Wool was plentiful in the Highlands and came to be woven into cloth consisting of crisscrossed horizontal and vertical bands. These were first worn as a long strip, pleated and belted, which could then be used in a variety of ways, including cloaks, shields and bedding. This plaid evolved into the kilt. But the word "tartan" comes from the French word "tiretain," which meant woven (as opposed to knitted) cloth.

Historians suggest the earliest tartans indicated a region or district more than a specific clan. Local weavers would use plant and animal dyes indigenous to the area. Not until the mid-1800s were specific tartans associated with specific clans.

After the failure of the Jacobite revolution in 1746, the wearing of Scottish tartans was banned along with the use of bagpipes and other Scottish symbols and accoutrements.

That proscription was lifted after Queen Victoria fell in love with all things Scotland, and Robert Burns and Sir Walter Scott generated literary interest in the country. As clans reformed they began to adopt specific tartans.

Nowadays, the Scottish Register of Tartans is Scotland's official keeper of the tartan. There are around 3,000-3,500 officially recognized tartans, although new patterns are still being registered.

And while there are no specific laws regarding wearing of tartans, there is a tartan etiquette associated with their use by clans and families.

But there are also specific tartans associated with districts, the armed services, pipe bands, and more. Salt Lake County has a tartan, as does Utah.

— Carma Wadley

Tartan Day lecture is free April 6

2009-06-03T13:22:00.000-06:00

Tartan Day lecture is free April 6
Published: Tuesday, March 31, 2009 10:21 p.m. MDT
"The Mark of the Scots on Utah" will be presented at noon on National Tartan Day, Monday, April 6, in the Zephyr Room, Rio Grande Building, 300 S. Rio Grande St.

The lecture will be presented by Fred Buchanan, emeritus professor from the University of Utah.

Buchanan is one of the founders of the Utah Scottish Association, which is co-sponsoring his address along with the Utah Historical Society.

Seating is on a first-come, first-served basis, but it is free and open to the public.

For more information, go to www.utahscots.org and www.tartanday.org.
© 2009 Deseret News Publishing Company | All rights reserved

Principal forces kilt-wearing student to change

2009-05-17T13:13:00.000-06:00

Principal forces kilt-wearing student to change
Associated Press

Published: Sunday, May 17, 2009 1:03 p.m. MDT
WEST HAVEN, Utah (AP) — A kilt-wearing middle school student will get an apology from a principal who said the boy could be mistaken for a cross-dresser.

Gavin McFarland says he wore the kilt twice to Rocky Mountain Junior High as a prop for a school art project.

"I don't think there's anything wrong with it," McFarland said.

But last Wednesday, Principal Craig Jessop told the 14-year-old Hooper boy that the outfit could be misconstrued as cross-dressing and forced McFarland to change his clothes.

McFarland removed the kilt, hand-sewn over 40 hours by his mother, and wore shorts the rest of the day.

"It's ridiculous," said Paula McFarland, the boy's mother. "A kilt is a distinctive garment. Nobody mistakes it for a skirt."

Weber School District spokesman Nate Taggart said the district recognizes the kilt as an expression of McFarland's Scottish heritage. He says the kilt was not inappropriate, especially if it was part of a school project.

Taggart says Jessop has been asked to apologize.

The McFarland family actively celebrates its Scottish heritage. Preston McFarland, Gavin's father, manages a Web site for clan McFarlane and has a booth at Utah's Highland Games & Scottish Festival each year.

The kilt controversy has become a catalyst for discussion at school, Paula McFarland said.

"It's given (Gavin) a great chance to explain the Scottish kilt and tell them a little about what we do as a family," she said.

Consummate wordsmith: BYU exhibit honors Robert Burns' 250th birthday

2009-03-29T13:26:00.000-06:00

Consummate wordsmith: BYU exhibit honors Robert Burns' 250th birthday
By Carma Wadley

Deseret News

Published: Saturday, March 28, 2009 8:47 p.m. MDT
Two-and-a-half centuries ago, a wee laddie was born near Alloway, South Ayrshire, Scotland. His parents named him Robert.

Growing up in poverty and hardship as the son of a self-educated tenant farmer, with hardly any chance for formal education, the boy had little to suggest that he would one day become one of the most famous and revered literary figures in the world.

But there are few people today who have not heard of Robert Burns. Poems such as "A Red, Red Rose," "To a Louse," "A Man's a Man for a' That," "To a Mouse" and "My Heart's in the Highlands" are not only still widely read, but phrases from them, such has "best laid plans of mice and men" and "to see ourselves as others see us" have become embedded in the language.

And who has not sung "Auld Lang Syne" to welcome in a New Year?

Burns became known as the National Poet of Scotland almost from the time he began writing; clearly, he has become a poet of the ages, says Matthew Wickman, associate professor of English at Brigham Young University and co-curator of an exhibit at the Harold B. Lee Library that honors Burns and his legacy.

"Burns has been popular with diverse audiences over the past two centuries," Wickman says, "from Victorian proponents of family values in the 19th century to socialists in the 20th century. The qualities of his poetry enabled people to see in him an image of themselves."

Burns' birthday, Jan. 25, has long been celebrated in Scotland and abroad, particularly in the United States, with Burns suppers that include lots of piping, Burns' "Address to a Haggis" and much merriment.

But this year, the birthday has kicked off a yearlong celebration in honor of the 250th anniversary.

Scotland has declared 2009 to be the Year of Homecoming, hoping to attract visitors with Scottish roots from around the world. Some 300 events have been planned, including a huge gathering of the clans in Edinburgh in July.

England's Prince Charles has made headlines at home and on the Internet with recitations of two Burns poems as part of a BBC project that includes other distinguished readers, as well.

So far, more than 175 of Burns' works have been recorded, and the Web site, www.bbc.co.uk/robertburns, has received thousands of hits.

A couple of new biographies have been written, including one called "The Bard: Robert Burns, a Biography," by Scotland's Robert Crawford, which, Wickman says, is getting a lot of buzz in the academic community and "which could well be the definitive Burns biography."

National Tartan Day is April 6 and honors all Americans of Scottish descent, roughly 6 million at last count. (For information, visit www.tartanday.org.)

Closer to home, the Utah Scottish Association not only celebrated with a Burns Supper in January, but it will also be holding its annual Tartan Ball on April 11 at the Joseph Smith Memorial Building in Salt Lake City. (Ticket packages begin at $28. For more information, visit www.utahscots.org.)

And you can bet that Burns will be in the spotlight at the annual Scottish Festival and Highland Games, scheduled for June 12 and 13 at Thanksgiving Point.

There has always been a lot of local interest in Burns, Wickman says. "One reason is that we have a lot of Scottish ancestry here and a big interest in genealogy. The Utah Scottish Association has always had a robust membership."

The BYU exhibit honoring Burns will run through 2009, says co-curator Maggie Gallup, and contains items and artifacts from BYU's extensive collection of Burns materials.

The BYU collection ranks right up there with other major archives, she says. "It certainly is the biggest Burns collection in the West."

Much of the material was collected in the early 20th century by a Salt Lake librarian, Mrs. Robert Foster. "That's about all we know about her. The collection was donated to BYU in the 1920s."

Over the years, more items have been added. "It is all print materials," Gallup says, "books, articles, speeches, pamphlets, souvenirs."

They do not have an original copy of the famous Kilmarnock edition, which was the first printed copy of Burns' work, but there is a facsimile.

There are originals of the first Edinburgh edition and the first American edition of his works. There is a 19th-century Masonic edition, with the cover made from wood of the house where Burns was once married. And there's a miniature edition so small it can fit in a locket.

Before working on the exhibit, "I had not realized what a commodity he was in the 19th century," Gallup says. "All the tourism tie-ins go so far back."

Nor, she says, had she realized how much he had influenced American writers such as John Greenleaf Whittier, Henry Wadsworth Longfellow and Ralph Waldo Emerson.

"Whittier was called the American Burns. Walt Whitman drew on Burns' images. It was even said that Abraham Lincoln mimicked Burns' cadences in his speeches."

But for all his popularity, Burns has not been without controversy, Wickman says. "He was very much a man of his times. And he led a morally, religiously and politically complex existence." So, Wickman says, Burns should be memorialized as a complex figure.

"There's no doubt that his work leads all kinds of people to identify with it. People identify with his background, his class, his nationality, his viewpoints. Maya Angelou is a huge fan. Burns just lends himself to wide appeal on diverse grounds."

Burns' legacy is profound, Wickman says. "He's been widely translated into 50, 60 languages. He almost immediately went into French and Scandinavian."

But what sometimes get overlooked, he adds, is that he was very, very good.

"In some ways, the commercial oversimplification is a tragedy, because it downplays the fact that he was an expert poetic craftsman. He has been marginalized as the poet of the masses but not as a significant literary figure."

There is more scholarly attention now, as there should be, Wickman says. "His work has much to say on social issues ranging from slavery to the environment, but it's also very well done. It's funny, it's poignant, it's lyrical. It's a pleasure to the ear and the mind. It's beautiful writing."

E-mail: carma@desnews.com
© 2009 Deseret News Publishing Company | All rights reserved

Celebrate Scot's life

2008-11-01T13:30:00.000-06:00

Celebrate Scot's life
Published: Friday, Jan. 11, 2008 12:21 a.m. MST
Scot or not, anyone who wants to celebrate the life, work and spirit of one of the greatest Scots of all is welcome to attend the annual Robert Burns dinner.

This year it will be Jan. 19 at the Terrace in Brigham Young University's Wilkinson Center. A gathering and silent auction start at 6:30 p.m.; "Address to a Haggis" and Burns' "Selkirk Grace" precede dinner, which begins after 7. Auction proceeds will benefit BYU's Interns Program to the Scottish Parliament. Highland attire or best dress is appropriate.

Tickets are $20 for Utah Scottish Association members and $24 for the general public. They must be purchased by Jan. 16. Call 801-422-5001 or visit www.utahscots.org/burns.html.
© 2009 Deseret News Publishing Company | All rights reserved

Bagpipers use more than their lungs — they play with their hearts

2008-10-06T13:28:00.000-06:00

Bagpipers use more than their lungs — they play with their hearts
By Carma Wadley
Deseret News
Published: Tuesday, June 10, 2008 12:07 a.m. MDT
Watch any bagpiper play, and you will see an amazingly intricate process taking place. He or she must blow air into the bag through a windpipe and then force the air out through the three drones with pressure applied by the arm the bag is tucked under. Intake and outtake must remain steady and constant, because if it is not, the pitch of the pipes will change and will sound out of tune.

All the while the air pressure thing is going on, the piper is fingering the tune on the chanter. Because there are relatively few holes, some notes may require awkward finger positions or half-covered holes and such. Plus, the chanter is always producing sound, so there is no rest between notes, and to play the same note twice in a row, a short note, called a grace note, must be played in between.

Add the fact that each set of pipes has four separate, very finicky reeds, which are subject to changes in temperature, altitude, humidity and other things, and you'll see why bagpipes are hardly the easiest instrument to play, let alone master. They require the coordinated effort of lungs, diaphragm, fingers, arms, brain — and as they are often played on the move, legs.

Listen to any bagpiper play, however, and you will soon discover that another body part is involved. Bagpipers also play with their hearts.

More than many other instruments, bagpipes seem to pull out additional layers of emotion. For most players, there are elements of heritage and tradition and passion that run deep into the soul.

"Hereditary insanity is not necessary," jokes Jack Marinello, drum major for the Salt Lake Scots. But it's usually there, he says. Despite his Italian last name, "my mother was Scots-Irish, so it's in me, too."

To be a Scot, the Utah Scottish Association notes, "is to be fiercely proud, patriotic and competitive." Nothing illustrates that any more than the bagpipes, which have become a quintessential symbol of Scotland and all things Scottish.

The thing about bagpipes, says Andrew Morrill, pipe master for the Wasatch & District Pipe Band and president of the Western United States Pipe Band Association, "is that when they are played well — there's nothing like it in the world." On the other hand, when they are played badly, "well, there's nothing like it in the world."

Fortunately, he says, "We've learned so much about playing bagpipes. It's gotten so much better." If you went back and listened to how pipe bands were in the early days in this state, "they'd sound pretty hideous. It's amazing what we put up with. But it's gotten so much better. All the companies sound really nice."

Utah has its fair share — perhaps more than it share for a state its size — of pipers, Morrill says. "We even have two high school pipe bands, at Ben Lomond and Payson. That's very unusual."

In all there are about 10 pipe bands in the state. You can see them marching in parades, playing at weddings and funerals, performing in memorials and other events. They also participate in competitions all over the country.

Many of them will be out in full force, with other pipe bands from around the region, to play and compete at the annual Scottish Festival & Highland Games, which will be held at Thanksgiving Point this weekend.

The festival will include athletic competitions, such as the caber toss and the hammer throw, dance competitions, concerts, food, vendors and more, including pipe and drum competitions and mass performances.

The bagpipe tradition in Utah has a rich heritage. The Utah Pipe Band was formed in 1937 by Robert S. Barclay and is still under the direction of the Barclay family today.

"We are the oldest continuously organized pipe band in the Western United States," says Shelly Barclay, whose husband, John, now directs the band and whose four sons — three pipers and one drummer — play with the band.

In the early days, she says, "the Utah Pipe Band was considered (LDS Church) President David O. McKay's pipe band. He insisted that it be right behind him in all the parades. And our motto is 'Where ere thou art, act well they part,' which he used to say."

Morrill shares the same great-grandfather with John Barclay and, in fact, played with the Utah Pipe Band for years before starting the Wasatch & District band. In fact, he says, most of the bands in Utah have come out of the Utah Pipe Band.

His great-grandfather, Robert Dougan, played the pipes in Scotland. The Duke of Northumberland gave him some ivory and silver to make the duke some pipes. He saved enough ivory and melted the family silver to make a set for his son, James. But the sacrifice paid off. When he was 18, James competed in the Queen's Jubilee, was named the best piper in Britain and got to play for Queen Victoria.

After the family emigrated to Utah, Morrill says, "they missed the music of Scotland. There were also some missionaries who had been there. They all had their kids learn how to play the bagpipes."

Morrill's mother continued the tradition, and he picked it up from her. Piping has taken him amazing places, he says. He got to solo with the Utah Symphony; he's played with the Mormon Tabernacle Choir; he was asked to play at the cemetery for the funeral of President Gordon B. Hinckley of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

"That was such a special thing," he says, "even if I did have to stay out in 27-degree weather for several hours."

But, he adds, "I've done more incredible things with pipes than I ever thought. It's been a joy."

Marinello came to the pipes in a very different way. "I was 50 years old when I took them up." He grew up in Southern California, and after his high school did the musical "Brigadoon," "I fell in love with them. I went out and bought me a set."

But he quickly learned, "they are not an instrument that can be self-taught. It's not like a guitar that you can pick up and play. You need someone that knows what to do, and I couldn't find any teachers in Southern California at that time. So they sat on my mantel for 25 years."

Marinello moved to Salt Lake City, saw the Salt Lake Scots marching in a St. Patrick's Day parade, "and I knew that was the group I wanted to play with."

The Salt Lake Scots, which has about 20 pipers and 10 drummers, was formed in 1962. Marinello has been associated with them for the past 13 years. "Six years ago, I competed with them for the first time."

The band competes throughout the West, but in 2003 it went to the World Bagpipe Championships in Glasgow, Scotland. That was a sight, he says, "some 7,000 pipers and drummers from 252 bands. It was very stirring."

When played at their best, "there's nothing like bagpipes," Morrill adds, "they are magical."

It is truly music of the heart.

If you go

What: 2008 Scottish Festival & Highland Games

Where: Electric Park at Thanksgiving Point

When: Friday, 5-10 p.m.; Saturday, 9 a.m.-10 p.m.

How much: Friday Night Tattoo, $7; Saturday, $10 adults, $7 children; both days, $13-$16 at the gate

Web: www.thanksgivingpoint.com; www.utahscots.org

Also: Register to win a trip for two to Scotland.

Pipers at the festival

The following pipe bands will be participating in the Scottish Festival:

• The Salt Lake Scots

• Wasatch & District Pipe Band

• City of Denver

• Colorado Isle of Mull

• The Henry's Fork Pipes and Drums

• J.T. Dunnie

• Payson High School

• Utah Pipe Band

• Galloway Highlanders

• White Peaks Centennial

They will all be performing at the Tattoo at 7:30 p.m. on Friday. The massed bands will play Saturday at noon and again at 6 p.m. Competition will start around 12:30-1 p.m. and run to around 4:30 p.m. The public is invited.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

E-mail: carma@desnews.com
© 2009 Deseret News Publishing Company | All rights reserved

Celebration will honor Scottish author

2008-03-17T13:29:00.000-06:00

Celebration will honor Scottish author
Published: Thursday, Jan. 17, 2008 12:29 a.m. MST
PROVO — The local annual celebration honoring Robert Burns, Scotland's national bard, is coming up at Brigham Young University.

For more than 200 years, Burns' poetry and life have been commemorated each January as part of a worldwide tradition.

Hosted by the Utah Scottish Association, tickets are available through BYU Catering or online at www.utahscots.org. Ticket deadline is Jan. 17. No tickets are sold at the door. Supper will be served buffet style to more readily accommodate the large number of attendees. Scottish attire or "best dress" is appropriate, as is tartan.

A silent auction, with the proceeds going to BYU's Scottish Parliament Intern Program, will be held. Last year an autographed BYU football was the highest-bid item. Local businesses donate many items. A special feature this year will be a display of items from the BYU Lee Library Special Collection.

The evening will start with a gathering at 6:30 p.m. for socializing and silent auction perusing. At 7 p.m. Burns' famous Selkirk Grace will be pronounced, followed by the presentation of the haggis, with its chef escorted by a piper with men-at-arms. Then Burns' "Address to a Haggis" will be recited. "A Toast to the Lassies" is countered with "A Toast to the Laddies," each good-naturedly noting the others' foibles. "The Immortal Memory," a speech on Burns' literary significance, this year is to be by Fred Buchanan, emeritus professor, University of Utah. Then the Scots' bard is toasted. Songs and poems by Burns will be interspersed throughout the program.

Festivities will conclude when all present stand, join hands and sing Burns' commonly known ode to friendship, "Auld Lange Syne."

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

If you go

What: Robert Burns Supper
Where: Wilkinson Center, BYU campus, Provo
When: 6:30 p.m., Jan. 19
Cost: $24/$20 students
Phone: 422-5001
Web: www.utahscots.org
© 2009 Deseret News Publishing Company | All rights reserved

Celebration will honor Scottish author

2008-01-24T12:33:00.002-07:00

Deseret News
Published: January 17, 2008
PROVO — The local annual celebration honoring Robert Burns, Scotland's national bard, is coming up at Brigham Young University.
For more than 200 years, Burns' poetry and life have been commemorated each January as part of a worldwide tradition.

Hosted by the Utah Scottish Association, tickets are available through BYU Catering or online at www.utahscots.org. Ticket deadline is Jan. 17. No tickets are sold at the door. Supper will be served buffet style to more readily accommodate the large number of attendees. Scottish attire or "best dress" is appropriate, as is tartan.

A silent auction, with the proceeds going to BYU's Scottish Parliament Intern Program, will be held. Last year an autographed BYU football was the highest-bid item. Local businesses donate many items. A special feature this year will be a display of items from the BYU Lee Library Special Collection.

The evening will start with a gathering at 6:30 p.m. for socializing and silent auction perusing. At 7 p.m. Burns' famous Selkirk Grace will be pronounced, followed by the presentation of the haggis, with its chef escorted by a piper with men-at-arms. Then Burns' "Address to a Haggis" will be recited. "A Toast to the Lassies" is countered with "A Toast to the Laddies," each good-naturedly noting the others' foibles. "The Immortal Memory," a speech on Burns' literary significance, this year is to be by Fred Buchanan, emeritus professor, University of Utah. Then the Scots' bard is toasted. Songs and poems by Burns will be interspersed throughout the program.

Festivities will conclude when all present stand, join hands and sing Burns' commonly known ode to friendship, "Auld Lange Syne."

Burns Night Supper

2007-12-01T14:37:00.000-07:00

Burns Night Supper
Published: Friday, Jan. 12, 2007 12:05 a.m. MST
Reservations are being taken for the Utah Scottish Association's annual Burns Night Supper, to be held Jan. 27 at 6:30 p.m. in the Wilkinson Student Center at Brigham Young University in Provo.

The evening will feature "lowland" Scottish fare, music, dancing and readings of Burns' poems, plus singing of "Auld Lang Syne." Dress is "Sunday best" or Scottish attire.

Tickets are $22 ($20 for association members) and can be purchased online at utahscots.org; by mail at 2895 E. Nora, Salt Lake City, UT 84124; or by calling BYU Catering at 422-5001. Reservation deadline is Jan. 22.

© 2009 Deseret News Publishing Company | All rights reserved

Scottish night will be Jan. 27

2007-10-01T14:33:00.000-06:00

Scottish night will be Jan. 27
Published: Wednesday, Jan. 10, 2007 12:09 a.m. MST
PROVO — Haggis, bagpipes and Scottish dancing will highlight the Utah Scottish Association's annual Burns Night Supper. The gathering, held in honor of Scottish poet Robert Burns, will take place at BYU's Wilkinson Center on Jan. 27 at 6:30 p.m.

Burns Night Suppers have been held across the world for 200 years.

Tickets must be purchased by Jan. 20. The cost is $22 for the public and $20 for association members. Sunday dress or Scottish attire is encouraged. Payment can be sent to Trenda Barney, E. 2895 Nora, Salt Lake City, UT 84124. For more information, call BYU Catering at 801-422-5001 or visit the Utah Scottish Association Web site at www.utahscots.org.
© 2009 Deseret News Publishing Company | All rights reserved

'Open your heart to the Highlands'

2007-08-06T13:31:00.000-06:00

'Open your heart to the Highlands'
By Carma Wadley
Deseret Morning News
Published: Friday, June 8, 2007 12:15 a.m. MDT
Whether you have Scottish ancestors or just want to be a Scot for a day, the Utah Scottish Association invites you to "open your heart to the Highlands" at ScotFest 2007, the 33rd annual Utah Scottish Festival & Highland Games at Thanksgiving Point this weekend — in the center of Utah's own "highlands." Gates open at 5 p.m. today and 9 a.m. Saturday.

Tonight's activities include the strong-man contest, with ExtremeSports-style events; a concert by Ocean's Apart, a Celtic duo comprised of Steve Colby and John Good; a military tattoo; and a torchlight gathering of the clans. Fireworks will end the evening.

Saturday's events include pipe bands, the Scottish-dance competition and the heavy-athletics competitions, including the caber toss, hammer throw, stone throw and others, featuring some of the world's best athletes.

Musical entertainment will take place throughout the day, with miniconcerts by Ocean's Apart, Wicked Tinkers and Molly's Revenge during the day, and a major concert at night. Local musicians Dorian Mirth and Cynthia Douglass and her harpist ensemble, and St. Louis-based uillean piper Tommy Martin will also perform.

The March of the Clans will take place at noon, and at 1 p.m., a haggis will be ceremoniously piped in.

Throughout the day, there will be vendors, Scottish food, a chance to do family history research, and demonstrations of kiltmaking, weaving and Irish step-dancing.

There will be sheepherding demonstrations with border collies, and a chance to see Highland cattle, also known as Hairy Coo. A diorama of the Battle of Culloden will be on display in the Clan MacIntosh tent. And British cars will be lined up for inspection.

There will also be special activities/events for kids.

A little bit of history

Scottish dances have their roots in the history and culture of the country. There are actually two kinds of dances, Highland and Country or National dances.

Some of the dances grew out of victory celebrations back in the Middle Ages. The earliest references to dances in Scotland appeared in a chronicle compiled by Water Bower in 1440, telling of the marriage ceremony of Alexander III.

Another story tells of Scottish mercenaries who performed a sword dance before the Swedish King John III in 1573. Supposedly, at a given signal, the dancers were to take up their swords and assassinate the king, but the signal was never given.

"Sword dance and Hieland danses" were also performed at a reception for Anne of Denmark in Edinburgh in 1589.

When the 1747 British Act of Proscription tried to suppress Highland culture and forbade the wearing of kilts, much of traditional Highland culture went underground. But after the act was repealed in 1782, and later boosted by Queen Victoria's love of it, Highland dancing enjoyed a revival. That was when Highland Games as we now know them began.

Scottish dances are generally performed to bagpipe music. Although four dancers may compete at the same time, they are each judged individually.

Some of the most common Scottish dances include:

Highland Fling: A victory dance, tradition says, performed by warriors on their small, round shields called targs. Because most targs had a sharp 5- to 6-inch spike of steel in the center, the need for quick and precise footwork was paramount.

Sword Dance: Also called the Ghillie Callum, this dance is said to date back to the Battle of Dunsinane in 1504. Ghillie Callum was a Celtic prince who slew one of MacBeth's chiefs, and taking the chief's sword, crossed it with his own on the ground and danced over them.

Seann Triubas: The Gaelic pronunciation is "shawn trews," which translates to "old trousers." Although it depicts a person shedding trousers, the origins of the dance are unclear. Some say it dates to 1783, when the repeal of the British Act of Proscription of 1747 once again allowed Scots to wear kilts and tartans.

Strathspey and Highland Reel: According the legend, the dance came about as a group of townspeople waited for a minister to arrive at a wedding. The day was cold, and they began dancing in order to keep warm.

Scottish Jig: Similar to the Irish Jig, but the Scottish version adds arm movements to the traditional footwork. It is said to be a parody of an Irish washerwoman in an agitated frame of mind.

Scottish Lilt/Flora McDonald's Fancy/ Scotch Measure/ Earl of Errol: These are among those known as National dances. They are of more recent origin and have a more balletic or flowing style than the Highland dances.

Sailor's Hornpipe: A dance common to many places in the British Isles, it is said to imitate shipyard activities from the days of wooden sailing ships. Accompanying music was often played on the hornpipe (something like a modern-day tin whistle) rather than on the bagpipes.

Sources: www.highlandnet.com, www.scottishdance.net
© 2009 Deseret News Publishing Company | All rights reserved

Scotland is coming to Thanksgiving Point

2007-06-07T13:06:00.001-06:00

LEHI — Scottish athletes like to throw things.

They will get their chance, said Jeff Loosle, athletic director of the "Heavy Events," when the Utah Scottish Association holds its ScotFest 2007.

The 33rd annual Scottish Festival and Highland Games starts at Thanksgiving Point's Electric Park at 5 p.m. Friday and 9 a.m. Saturday along with Scottish merchandise and food vendors. The games may be the oldest in history.

Other Scottish cultural happenings are also scheduled along with a concert that includes the Wicked Tinkers, Molly's Revenge and Oceans Apart.

"What you will see, simply, (is) some of the best Scottish athletes in the world competing at the National Sheaf Toss Championships," Loosle said.

In the sheaf toss a burlap bag, weighing 16 to 22 pounds, is thrown for height with a pitchfork. The bag has to clear the bar to be a legal throw.

Other athletic events include:

• The Braemar stone, a 22- to 30-pound stone thrown from a standing position.

• The open stone, a 16- to 21-pound stone thrown with an approach.

• A 56-pound heavy weight thrown for distance with one hand and two spins.

• A 28-pound light weight thrown with one hand, two spins, for distance.

• A heavy hammer with a 22-pound ball on a 50-inch handle thrown backward for distance.

• Weight Over Bar — a 56-pound weight thrown one-handed for height. (Weight has to clear an overhead bar.)

"The most famous is the caber toss — a k a telephone pole/tree toss. A caber, up to 20 feet long and weighing 150 pounds, is thrown for accuracy. At a game in Pomona, Calif., last year the game's announcer was asked, "Why do you throw telephone poles?"

"I have always loved his answer, 'Because we can!"' Loosle said. "True, not many can nor would want to, but it's sure an experience to see those that have trained to compete, compete so passionately and so well. Extreme — yes. Guys, big guys, in kilts."

It isn't all about the athletics, however.

"Traditional Scottish dancing, pipe bands, Scottish folk music, food, colorful tartans and Scottish culture create a wee bit o' Scotland in Utah's own Highlands," said Bob Gallimore, spokesman for the Utah Scottish Association.

Friday events begin at 5:30 p.m. and include a strong man contest, the athletic events and a concert by Oceans Apart. The evening's program starts at 7:30 with a military Tattoo. Preview concerts, Scottish dance and the "stirring" torch light are also planned.

Gathering the Clans follows with fireworks.

Saturday events include pipe bands, Scottish dance and heavy athletic competitions. Clans will be at the festival with family histories and cultural/historical displays.

At noon more than 100 pipers join with the clans to participate en mass in a parade. Opening ceremonies in the Barn begin at 1 p.m. when the Scottish dish, haggis, is brought in with pomp, with free samples.

Other events include a shortbread contest judged mid-afternoon, while the LDS Family History Library staff will be available all day at the barn handling genealogy queries.

Tommy Martin and the Salt Lake Piping Club perform throughout the day at their tents. Pre-concert performers Cynthia Dougalass, a Celtic harpist, and Dorian Mirth start after 5 p.m., and the Wicked Tinkers, Molly's Revenge and Oceans Apart are in concert beginning at 7:30 p.m

DESERET NEWS: http://www.deseretnews.com/article/1,5143,660226907,00.html?pg=2

Scottish event Saturday

2007-06-04T13:33:00.000-06:00

Scottish event Saturday
Published: Friday, April 6, 2007 12:14 a.m. MDT
The Tartan Ball and Banquet on Saturday is a gala evening of fine dining, live music and dancing presented by the Utah Scottish Association at Wheeler Farm's Activity Barn, 6351 S. 900 East, Murray. Doors open at 7 p.m. and the six-station buffet dinner starts a 7:30 p.m.

Dancing begins at 8:30 p.m. with music by the St. Thomas Jazz Band and lasts until 10. Highland attire is encouraged at this formal event, though semiformal or best dress is welcome as well. See www.utahscots.org for menu details and driving directions.

Seating is extremely limited and only available by prepaid registration. Tickets are $28/person for association members, $33/person for nonmembers. Call 278-6798 for reservations, which must be prepaid.
© 2009 Deseret News Publishing Company | All rights reserved

Living Traditions Fest offering a weekend taste of 20 cultures

2007-05-16T13:33:00.000-06:00

Living Traditions Fest offering a weekend taste of 20 cultures
By Valerie Phillips
Deseret Morning News
Published: Wednesday, May 16, 2007 12:43 a.m. MDT
Flavors from all over the globe are going to be in one spot this weekend — The Living Traditions Festival, on the grounds of the Salt Lake City-County Building, 450 S. 200 East.

Presented by the Salt Lake City Arts Council, the festival is free and runs Friday, 5-10 p.m.; Saturday, noon to 10; and Sunday, noon to 7 p.m.

Vendors from 20 cultural groups will sell food at this year's festival. It's a way to raise some ethnic awareness and raise money for each group's programs and services as well.

If you go, here are some of the dishes you can expect to find:

• Basque chorizos (pork sausage in a bun), batter-fried steak and churros, from the Utah Basque Club

• Bolivian anticuchoas (seasoned skewered beef), saltenas (turnovers filled with meat and vegetables) and choclo con queso (corn on the cob with melted cheese), from the Bolivian Association in Utah

• Hawaiian teriyaki beef, won tons and shaved ice, from Hui O Hawaii

• Pakistani samosas, chicken kabobs and curries, and daal (mildly spiced beans), from the Pakistani American Association

• Filipino pancit (noodles with vegetables) and lumpia (egg rolls), from the Filipino American Association of Utah

• Tongan sosisi (sausage fried in coconut oil) and moa tunu (barbecued chicken), roast pig and fried plantains, from the Tongan Singers of Utah

• Tibetan MoMos (dumplings), fried rice, noodles and spicy potatoes, from the Utah Tibetan Association

• Lebanese hummus, falafel sandwiches and stuffed grape leaves, from the Salt Lake Lebanese Community

• Salvadoran pupusa (corn tortilla with beans or cheese and cabbage relish), tamales, quesadillas and frijoles (refried beans), from Fraternidad El Salvador

• Greek gyros (grilled lamb on pita bread) and baklava, from the Greek Dance Groups

• American Indian tacos (fry bread topped with beans, cheese and tomatoes), from the Indian Walk-In Center

• Mexican chile verde burritos, carne asadas tacos, pork and chicken tamales, from the El Centro Civico Mexicano (Mexican Civic Center)

• Scottish sausage rolls, pastries filled with beef, potato and onion, and shortbread, fruit pies and raisin squares, from the Utah Scottish Association

• Italian meatball and sausage sandwiches with marinara sauce, from the Italian-American Civic League

• Sudanese chicken Sheia (chicken stew), spinach and couscous, and Sudanese kabobs, from the Dinka Sudanese Community of Salt Lake

• Swiss bratwurst sandwiches, cucumber and tomato salad, and tortes (rich cakes), from the Swiss Chorus Edelweiss

• Chinese sweet and sour chicken, vegetable chow mein, chicken kabobs and egg rolls, from the Chinese Performing Arts

• Vietnamese spring rolls, fried noodles, chicken kabobs, ham fried rice and chicken salad, from the Vietnamese Volunteer Youth Association

• Tahitian pua'a cascroutte (roasted pork barbecue sandwich), tuna pa'a (barbecued chicken on rice), nem (vegetables and hamburger in egg-roll wrapper), from Kanamu Productions

• Thai barbecue chicken, fried tofu, spring rolls, chicken curry, fried rice, fried bananas and sweet potatoes, from the Thai Buddhist Temple

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

E-mail: vphillips@desnews.com
© 2009 Deseret News Publishing Company | All rights reserved

Indigenous languages

2007-04-02T11:31:00.001-06:00

http://thescotsman.scotsman.com/letters.cfm?id=507102007

The Scotsman
Mon 2 Apr 2007
Opinion - Letters

Indigenous languages

Dr Brian Campbell (Letters, 30 March) is offended that maps of the
Outer Isles show the place names in Gaelic. But it would make as much
sense to complain about maps of Germany showing place names in
German.

In Italy, not only substantial languages like Neapolitan but local
dialects like Ladin each have the support of national and local
government in maintaining websites, publishing text books and
ensuring an important place in the school curricula.

In Scotland, languages with the enormous literary, cultural and
historical importance of Gaelic and Scots are treated as if they were
of no consequence whatever; and when the government does take some
action in support of Gaelic, the response of some people is a chorus
of girns.

William Neill, a Lowlander who learned enough Gaelic to become one of
its finest poets, well characterised the Scotland in which we live as
a "dim, miserable little spiritual desert".

J DERRICK McCLURE, Rosehill Terrace, Aberdeen

©2007 Scotsman.com

MICROSOFT BRETON MOVES

2007-04-02T11:29:00.000-06:00

Microsoft software will soon be available in the Breton language
thanks
to an agreement made last week between the Breton Language Agency,
Brittany's Regional Council and Microsoft.

The news comes just weeks after the League announced that Microsoft
will also be launched in Scottish Gaelic in September 2007. Breton
is now the latest Celtic language being made available by Microsoft,
primarily thanks to the presence of the respective national language
agencies working to further the use of the different languages.

With the addition of Breton, Microsoft will soon be available in:

Breton
Scottish Gaelic
Irish Gaelic
Welsh

Manx and Cornish are the only other two Celtic languages that
Microsoft
has, to date, not been provided in.

J B Moffatt
Director of Information
Celtic League

02/04/07

The Celtic League has branches in the six Celtic Countries. It works
to promote cooperation between these countries and campaigns on a
broad range of political, cultural and environmental matters. It
highlights
human rights abuse, monitors all military activity and focuses on
socio-economic issues.

TEL (UK)01624 877918 MOBILE (UK)07624 491609

Internet site at
http://www.manxman.co.im/cleague
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/celtic_league/

Scottish celebration set

2007-03-30T13:35:00.000-06:00

Scottish celebration set
Published: Friday, March 30, 2007 12:22 a.m. MDT
Aye, laddie, 'tis time to don the kilt and head for the ball.

The annual Tartan Ball and Banquet will be held on April 7 in Wheeler Farm's Activity Barn, 6351 S. 900 East. Sponsored by the Utah Scottish Association, the event will feature a buffet dinner as well as dancing to the St. Thomas Jazz Band. Highland dress is encouraged, but semiformal dress is welcome as well.

Seating is limited and only available with prereservations, which are due by April 3. Tickets are $28 per person for association members and $33 per person for nonmembers. Send checks, payable to Utah Scottish Association, to Trenda Barney, 2895 E. Nora Drive, Salt Lake City, UT 84124.

The event celebrates National Tartan Day, which honors Scottish heritage and Scottish-American contributions to America and Utah. For more information visit www.tartanday.org.
© 2009 Deseret News Publishing Company | All rights reserved

LANGUAGE STRATEGY 'A DISAPPOINTMENT'

2007-03-12T12:38:00.001-06:00

CELTIC LEAGUE - PRESS INFORMATION

LANGUAGE STRATEGY 'A DISAPPOINTMENT'

The Celtic League has described the Scottish Executive's A Strategy
of Scotland's Languages as 'a disappointment'.

The draft version of the strategy is open for public consultation
until 19th March 2007 and responses from individuals and organisations
or ad hoc groups of either are invited by email, letter or made
online.

The League has expressed its disappointment with the strategy for
being too little too late, coming only a couple of months before the
Scottish May elections, so that a new Government could be in place
who could completely ignore, in theory, any recommendations made.

In addition, the League makes the comment that the strategy fails
to resemble a language strategy at all and consists mainly of a series
of statements of largely inadequate measures that the Executive have
already done, especially in regard to the Gaelic language.

Nevertheless, the League is happy that the Executive have made an
attempt to produce a language strategy for Scotland, but are positive
that a better document would have been produced if the Executive had
taken time to look at similar strategies from Cymru and Éire.

The League's non confidential response will be made public in hard
copy format at the Scottish Executive Library by 13/04/2007 and in
full or summary on the Scottish Executive's web pages (
http://www.scotland.gov.uk/Consultations/Current)
by 20/04/2007

The draft strategy can be found at
http://www.scotland.gov.uk/Publications/2007/01/24130746/0
and responses to the strategy should be sent to the Scottish Executive
by e-mail to: scotlandslanguagestrategy@scotland.gsi.gov.uk or sent
by mail to the address below:

A Strategy for Scotland's Languages
Scottish Executive Education Department
Cultural Policy Division
Area 1-A North
Victoria Quay
Edinburgh
EH6 6QQ

The Alba Branch of the League may also respond to the Strategy as
a Branch.

(The Celtic League submission and this report have been prepared by
the Secretary General, Rhisiart Tal-e-bot)

J B Moffatt
Director of Information
Celtic League

11/03/07

The Celtic League has branches in the six Celtic Countries. It works
to promote cooperation between these countries and campaigns on a
broad range of political, cultural and environmental matters. It
highlights
human rights abuse, monitors all military activity and focuses on
socio-economic issues.

TEL (UK)01624 877918 MOBILE (UK)07624 491609

Internet site at
http://www.manxman.co.im/cleague
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/celtic_league/

TIRELESS WORKER FOR THE MANX LANGUAGE DIES

2007-02-11T19:36:00.001-07:00

TIRELESS WORKER FOR THE MANX LANGUAGE DIES CELTIC LEAGUE - PRESS INFORMATION

TIRELESS WORKER FOR THE MANX LANGUAGE DIES

Walter Clarke who has died, aged 78, was one of a small number of
Manx Gaelic speakers who through their efforts in the late 1940s and
early 1950s ensured the survival of a spoken record of the Manx
language
by undertaking an exercise to record the surviving native Manx
speakers.

Initial recording of the native speakers had been undertaken by the
Irish Folklore Commission and this work was continued by Clarke and
other dedicated enthusiasts to ensure that a spoken record of Manx
was not lost to future generations. Clarke, together with Dougie
Fargher,
Charlie Craine, Bill Radcliffe and Mark Braide ensured that a treasure
trove of spoken Manx was not lost.

He continued his work for Manx by teaching evening classes and also
undertook a number of workshops on the language together with the
late Freddie Cowle.

Walter Clarke was one of that small number of enthusiasts who worked
tirelessly to maintain a profile for the Manx language when it was
in a parlous state. He, like the others, received little
acknowledgment
for many years of the vital work that he did, outside of the small
circle of like-minded proponents of Manx, although he did in 2001
receive the National Reih Bleeaney Vanannan award

However, he was more fortunate that some of his contemporaries in
that he did live to see the cause to which he gave a life's work come
to fruition with the official recognition given to the Manx language
through its introduction onto the curriculum of Island schools.

An obituary in the Isle of Man Newspapers was entitled 'Helped to
Keep Language Alive' and that is exactly what Walter Clarke dedicated to.

J B Moffatt
Director of Information
Celtic League

10/02/07

The Celtic League has branches in the six Celtic Countries. It works
to promote cooperation between these countries and campaigns on a
broad range of political, cultural and environmental matters. It
highlights
human rights abuse, monitors all military activity and focuses on
socio-economic issues.

TEL (UK)01624 877918 MOBILE (UK)07624 491609

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2007-02-01T21:51:00.000-07:00

Burns Supper recalls Scottish traditions

By Rodger L. Hardy

Deseret Morning News

PROVO — The star of the traditional Robert Burns Supper held at Brigham Young University's Wilkinson Center was, of course, the infamous haggis.
BYU's Executive Chef John McDonald brings the Haggis into the room with an armed guard at the Robert Burns Supper at BYU (Scott G. Winterton, Deseret Morning News)
Scott G. Winterton, Deseret Morning News

BYU's Executive Chef John McDonald brings the Haggis into the room with an armed guard at the Robert Burns Supper at BYU.

The dish was brought in on a silver platter accompanied by a bagpiper and two members of the Scottish-American Military Society with their swords drawn. It was then paraded around the hall to a standing audience.

Burns' address, "To the Haggis" was given by Eric Gilzean preceding a toast.

Traditionally made from a sheep's heart, lungs and liver with oatmeal, spices and other ingredients, then broiled in the sheep's stomach, haggis is an acquired taste, said Bob Gallimore, spokesman for the Utah Scottish Association. (So it was with trepidation that I took my first bite. "Not bad," I thought. Being a fourth generation Scot I'd had it before, just didn't know it by that name.)

Haggis has many names, Gallimore said, most of them not printable in a family newspaper.

Some 20,000 Robert Burns Suppers were held around the globe last week, honoring the poet whom many scholars say gave birth to Scottish literature. It was his dying wish that friends gather and have supper to remember him. The suppers continue, more than two centuries later, emcee Dodd Greer said.

The BYU supper drew 350 diners, the largest attendance in Utah history, said chairman Trenda Barney.

Professors Gary Hatch and Karen Pierotti of BYU's English department presented the humorous Toast to the Lassies and Toast to the Laddies after a traditional Scottish roasted lamb chop dinner prepared by BYU Food Services.

The ideals Burns advanced weren't just Scottish ideals, Hatch said. They were also human values.

Three-time U.S. National Scottish champion dancer Kelsey Crane did a sword dance and highland fling and was presented with the annual "MacGregor of the Year Award."

BYU interns to the Scottish Parliament Study Abroad program; Kendra Keller, Jeanine Plamondon, Adam Wardel, Jessica Best and John Maher; recited Burns' works.

Other entertainment included Scottish bands Rusty Reel and Caol Ida. The evening concluded with an auction to raise money for upcoming Scottish association events, a desert of BYU's new oat praline and caramel ice cream with berries and Burns' "Auld Lang Syne."

Haggis worth addressing

2007-01-25T02:49:00.000-07:00

AS you are probably aware, tonight is Burns Night and some of you will doubtless be dusting off your kilt and dancing shoes in preparation for a night of hearty food, whisky and dancing. Some of you may even have the honour/horror of addressing the haggis or giving the ladies' reply as part of the traditional Burns Supper.

This meal is traditionally three courses of cock-a-leekie soup, haggis and cranachan. These days you might find that the experience has been sanitised slightly, with the haggis served as a starter and a more universally enjoyed main course such as chicken or steak to follow, but Burns purists would surely not approve of downgrading the "great chieftain o' the puddin' race". In some areas of the country it's also been known to substitute stovies for the haggis, though how you go about addressing a stovie is surely a mystery.

Utah Scottish group sets Burns supper

2007-01-19T14:35:00.000-07:00

Utah Scottish group sets Burns supper
Published: Friday, Jan. 19, 2007 12:13 a.m. MST
The Utah Scottish Association is hosting an annual celebration of bard Robert Burns, which will be at BYU's Wilkinson Student Center Jan. 27 at 6:30 p.m..

Honoring Robert Burns has been a tradition for more than 200 years among the Scots.

Tickets are $25 for association members, $30 for all others, and are available until Jan. 20. Payment can be sent to Trenda Barney, 2895 Nora, Salt Lake City, UT 84124. Online payment is available at www.utahscots.org

The supper's menu is Lowland Scottish fare , provided by BYU's Catering & Food Services.

The program includes Scottish dancing, songs and presentation of the haggis accompanied by piping.

Traditionally, anyone may read a Burns' poem at the event. All attendees stand, join hands and sing Burns' ode to friendship, Auld Lange Syne, to conclude the formal program. Dress is Sunday best or Scottish attire. Burns' works are available on the Internet and are in the public domain.
© 2009 Deseret News Publishing Company | All rights reserved

Utah Scottish group plans Burns Supper Jan. 27 at BYU

2007-01-18T14:36:00.000-07:00

Utah Scottish group plans Burns Supper Jan. 27 at BYU
By Rodger L. Hardy
Deseret Morning News
Published: Thursday, Jan. 18, 2007 12:12 a.m. MST
PROVO — When Scottish poet Robert Burns was on his deathbed in 1896 and his friends asked what they could do, he remarked that they could gather and have supper, according to Scottish lore.

So for more than two centuries, Burns suppers have been held on his birthday, Jan. 25. However, the Utah Scottish Association holds its annual Robert Burns Supper on Saturday, Jan. 27, at Brigham Young University.

The dinner commemorates the birth of this 18th-century Scottish lyricist and poet and begins at 6:30 p.m. with a silent auction at the Wilkinson Student Center in Room 3280.

The traditional dinner includes a soup of smoked salmon, "Cullen skink" with minted "smashed" peas and oatcakes, mixed greens, a haggis course, roasted lamb chops over Scottish "bashed" potatoes. Dessert is a new flavor from the BYU Creamery, oat praline and caramel ice cream with berries, said association spokesman Bob Gallimore.

Cost is $22 per person or $44 per couple; $20 per person or $40 per couple for those with BYU ID cards or members of the Utah Scottish Association. Reservations should be made by Jan. 20 in writing to 2895 E. Nora, Salt Lake City, Utah 84124, calling 801-422-5001 or online at www.utahscots.org, Gallimore said.

Born Jan. 25, 1759, Burns is regarded as the national poet of Scotland. Burns' Night is celebrated with Burns Suppers around the world, Gallimore said.

The event begins with a silent auction of Scottish items and memorabilia, including books on Scottish and tartan history; dirks, or short swords; long, two-handed swords, or Claymores; clothing items, jewelry and donated items from merchants.

The program includes entertainment during the dinner, a color guard, a reading of the Selkirk Grace, a Burns-authored invocation and blessing on the food and a reading of "Immortal Memory (of Robert Burns)" by BYU English professor Gary Hatch and the traditional presentation of the haggis. Dress is Sunday best or Scottish dress.

Anyone with an interest in Burns or Scottish history may attend, Gallimore said.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

E-mail: rodger@desnews.com
© 2009 Deseret News Publishing Company | All rights reserved

Flowers of the Forest January 2007

2007-01-10T00:16:00.000-07:00

Professor John Boag
William Graham
Magnus Magnusson
Lord Lambton
Tommy Connor
Eric Ridehalgh
Iverach McDonald

Professor John Boag

BY TOM FLEMING

PROFESSOR EMERITUS JOHN BOAG Research scientist, former head of the Institute of Cancer Research
Born: 20 June, 1911, in Elgin. Died: 2 January, 2007, in Edinburgh, aged 95.

WITH the death of Jack Boag, Scotland has lost one of its most distinguished and innovative sons in the realm of physics as applied to medicine. He was also a tireless campaigner in the cause of the peaceful uses of scientific knowledge and research.

His father had served aboard sailing vessels and latterly became a first officer on Clan Line Ships sailing out of Glasgow. Boag attended Queen's Park High School, where he won a gold medal and several bursaries which enabled him to attend Glasgow University and obtain a degree in electrical engineering. He became an apprentice with British Thompson-Houston at Rugby in 1930 and in 1933 won a scholarship to spend a year at St John's College, Cambridge, where he worked with John Cockcroft in the Cavendish Laboratory. This resulted in the award of a travelling scholarship which took him to Braunschweig University in Lower Saxony. There he undertook research into designing new types of rectifiers. However, the worsening political situation in Germany forced him to leave his research work in 1936 and return to British Thomson-Houston in Rugby.

Boag bought his first car, an old Triumph (which he called "Pegasus"), to enable him to pursue his courtship of Isabel Petrie, a highly intelligent fellow Scot he had met at Cambridge, who was now teaching at Hinckley, 15 miles from Rugby. They were married in 1938.

When war broke out, Boag was classified as being in a reserved occupation but he nevertheless registered as a conscientious objector. In 1941, he worked at the Radon Centre, in Bedfordshire, and in 1942 joined the radiotherapeutics unit at Hammersmith Hospital where he worked on the development of the 2MeV Van der Graff accelerator and contributed with characteristic originality to the clinical trial of X- versus gamma-rays in the treatment of cancer. His contributions to solid state dosimetry and the efficiency of ion collection in pulsed radiation fields are regarded as landmarks.

In 1953, Boag was visiting scientist at the National Bureau of Standards in Washington DC, working on aspects of radiation biology. In 1954, he was awarded an honorary doctorate by Glasgow University and during 1955-57 worked with Professor Joseph Rotblat (later Sir Joseph and Nobel Peace Prize winner), at St Bartholomew's Hospital. Boag's long association with the Pugwash Conferences on Science and World Affairs dates from this time.

In 1958, he was invited by his close friend and former colleague at Hammersmith, Dr LH (Hal) Gray to join the British Empire Cancer Campaign research unit in radiobiology at Mount Vernon Hospital, in Northwood. It was here, during the next seven years, that some of his most significant work was done. In collaboration with Dr Ed Hart, a chemist from Argonne National Laboratory, he first observed the spectrum of the hydrated electron which had been predicted years earlier. In 1964, he became the Royal Society (Leverhulme) visiting professor to Poland, working with Dr David Shugar in Warsaw. (Shugar had had to leave Canada during the McCarthy era in the United States.)

In 1965, Boag was appointed professor of physics as applied to medicine at the Institute of Cancer Research, University of London, and the Royal Marsden Hospital, Surrey. Until his retirement, in 1976, his genius for recruiting brilliant colleagues and his continuing zest for innovation were much in evidence. His principal interest was in the study and measurement of the interactions of ionising radiation with biological tissues. He embarked on a major investment in a linear accelerator and Cobalt-60 irradiation unit with laboratory buildings to house them, and also in developing electrostatic-imaging (the Xerox type process of X-ray imaging which gave much better contrast).

In 1990, he jointly published Kapitza in Cambridge and Moscow - Life and Letters of a Russian Physicist (Pyotr Leonidovich Kapitza).

A former president of the International Association for Radiation Research, the British Institute of Radiology and chairman of the Hospital Physicists Association, Jack Boag continued well into his eighties to contribute important papers to learned journals and was much in demand as a lecturer to scientific bodies.

In recent years, he organised a symposium for the British Pugwash Group at the Edinburgh Science Festival, and, in 2000, contributed to the International Pugwash conference in Cambridge on "Eliminating the Causes of War". A devout pacifist and member of the Religious Society of Friends (Quakers), he appeared as an expert witness at the trials of several peace protesters in Scottish courts.

Jack and Isabel owned a holiday cottage on the Isle of Skye for over 40 years where they entertained friends from all over the world most generously. In 1992, they had moved north from Sutton to Edinburgh. Isabel, his beloved wife of 68 years, died last July. Jack had devoted his last years to caring for her. It seems somehow appropriate that Jack Boag's own long life, dedicated to the medical use of radiation, should end, so very peacefully, in a hospice bearing the name of his distinguished predecessor, Marie Curie.

*******************************

William Graham
BY JIM CAIRNS

WILLIAM GRAHAM Drama teacher
Born: 31 January, 1936, in Laurieston. Died: 30 December, 2006, in Grangemouth, aged 70.

BILL Graham, who nurtured the talent of thousands of stage-struck youngsters in Central Scotland, was also admired throughout the British amateur drama world and beyond for his vision, creativity and innovative productions.

But it is for his work with Falkirk Children's Theatre that he will be chiefly remembered. For 30 years, Bill was the director of their annual Christmas show, bringing high-quality entertainment to the stage of the town hall. Featuring a huge cast of local children who filled the stage with colour, energy and enthusiasm, the shows were eagerly anticipated by Falkirk audiences and were always sold out. Standing ovations were not uncommon, and the show always ended with a rendition of Holly Jolly Christmas, with mums, dads and grandparents joining in the fun. Scottish Television recognised the outstanding quality of the shows and broadcast many early in the New Year.

It was fitting that, in 1998, Bill should receive a "Great Scot" award from the Sunday Mail for his services to Scottish theatre, with particular reference to his work with Falkirk Children's Theatre. The trophy proclaimed him as an "unsung hero".

His talents were seen in many other ways. Falkirk District particularly benefited from his enthusiastic participation as an actor, adjudicator, speech and drama teacher, producer of Larbert High School Former Pupils' Dramatic Society (LHSFDPS) and Tryst Theatre.

Born in 1936, Bill made many notable stage appearances from an early age. Receiving the Edinburgh Schools' Festival "AB Harley" Trophy in the mid 1950s alongside other illustrious actors including Alastair Sim and Betty Clark, clearly demonstrated his exceptional talent for performance.

From St Andrew's Day, 1959, when he joined the staff at Larbert High School as drama teacher, Bill was committed to promoting the dramatic arts. His first full-length production in Larbert High, at Christmas 1961, was Charley's Aunt, a resounding success.

Thereafter, year on year, the Larbert public was assured that their Christmas festivities had the best possible start by their attending the annual LHS December production. His role expanded to include involvement in Falkirk District Council's "Accent on Schools" and Forth Valley Music Festivals, culminating in his appointment as honorary vice-chairman, all of which contributed to the rich tapestry of theatre in Falkirk District and gave generations of local young people the self-confidence to perform in public.

In 1985, he reunited many Larbert former pupils for a very successful review to celebrate the school's centenary.

Shortly after he joined the staff at Larbert High School, Bill founded and directed the Former Pupils' Drama Society and within a short time the club was winning festival awards across Scotland. In 1979, the club was re-formed as Tryst Theatre, and it is still going strong today.

The following year, Bill's production of Equus won the British One-Act Festival and further success - at the Scottish Community Drama Association (SCDA) one-act Scottish Finals - was achieved with Childhood (1987), Teechers (1991) and September in the Rain (1995).

Bill encouraged the club to widen its horizons and participate in festivals across the UK; Welwyn, Dundalk and the Isle of Man were among the audiences who enjoyed Tryst's productions. In 1991, he travelled with Tryst to the IATA world festival in Halden, Norway, to perform A Night in the Ukraine and a few years later toured Israel with a full-length production of September in the Rain, to great critical acclaim.

Before he founded Larbert HSFPDS, he was an active actor member of Laurieston Players, Erskine Players and Falkirk Theatre Arts, and in 1976 he appeared on the Edinburgh Fringe with SCDA Edinburgh District alongside Marilyn Gray in The Warld's Wonder.

Bill's early talents as a producer were demonstrated in the 1960s, when, with Bob Tait as musical director, he ventured into musicals with Bo'ness Amateur Operatic Society in The Desert Song, Oklahoma and King's Rhapsody in which he also played the lead.

During his time as a long-serving member of SCDA, Bill was chairman of Falkirk District and, at the time of his death, was honorary president of Falkirk District.

No Burns' Supper was complete without Bill performing Tam O' Shanter. His performance of Burns' most famous poem was a memorable tour de force - not just for his astonishing ability to remember all the words, but because he acted out the narrative so vividly.

In his role as a gifted teacher and mentor, Bill has left not just a huge legacy, but a living legacy. Around the world today there are many people who, entirely as a result of his inspired guidance and encouragement, have made the stage and the performing arts a large part of their lives on both an amateur and professional basis.

Bill truly was an "unsung hero", Falkirk's irreplaceable "Mr Drama".

*********************************

Magnus Magnusson
BY ALASDAIR STEVEN

MAGNUS MAGNUSSON KBE (Hon) Broadcaster and historian
Born: 12 October, 1929, in Iceland. Died: 7 January, 2007, in Balmore, Dunbartonshire, aged 77.

WITH his ready smile, avuncular and kindly nature he was for 25 years an institution on television. From 1972-97 Magnus Magnusson presented Mastermind - the programme that sat a contestant in that forbidding black leather chair while Magnusson fired questions thick and fast. The questions varied from the contestant's chosen subject to general knowledge. It was always done with a wit and style that gave the programme its central energy. Magnusson himself was a learned and well-read man, so he knew when to accept an answer. But it was his warm and genial personality that enlivened the programme; he came across as a benevolent senior master who was willing his pupils to do well.

The catchphrases came to him by chance - he never sought such accolades - but the nation knows both "I've started so I'll finish" and "you may answer". They were delivered in a silken, suitably serious, tone. The nervous contestants, however, saw a more relaxed and openhearted side. His last words of reassurance to calm them down was invariably a jolly: "Remember, it's only a bloody game!"

Magnus Magnusson was the son of the Icelandic consul-general to Scotland and although he spent most of his life in Scotland, he retained his Icelandic nationality and was proud of it. He spoke fluent Icelandic and returned to the country often. He was, however, brought up in Edinburgh and attended the Edinburgh Academy where he enjoyed an outstanding few years: being dux of the school in 1948.

Contemporaries remember his appearance as Little Buttercup in HMS Pinafore in 1945. "Even his treble voice cracking on the day of the performance didn't deter Magnus" recalls a friend. "He got an encore for his solo arias and the audience gave him a great ovation." The school's Chronicle wrote approvingly of Magnusson's singing and ended with a contrast between Magnusson's subtle Buttercup and "JJ Clyde's Josephine. The Academy has never had better leading ladies." JJ Clyde is now Lord Clyde.

Magnusson won a scholarship to read English at Jesus College, Oxford, (and later studied Old Norse, for good measure) and joined the Scottish Daily Express as their Highlands and Islands correspondent in 1953. He moved to The Scotsman as an assistant editor in 1961 and was responsible mostly for leader writing but was one of a talented trio (with Gus Macdonald and David Kemp) who headed a team of bright young journalists which investigated political and social issues. Magnusson started doing television at this time and was often seen on STV before fronting documentaries for BBC TV Scotland.

His calm and relaxed manner on screen resulted in Magnusson being offered a post with the national early evening Tonight programme in London. Again, he joined a campaigning group of reporters who were fronted by the jolly Cliff Michelmore and had stars such as Chris Chataway, Alan Wicker, Fyfe Robertson and Kenneth Allsop. They conducted incisive and searching interviews in the studio and covered the often downright unusual around the country. The programme's editor, Alasdair Milne, ensured that a fine mix of light and serious items made up a cocktail of exacting television.

In 1968, Magnusson became the founder-presenter of Chronicle, a monthly programme devoted to discovering (and uncovering) archaeological facts. It inquired into some of the more controversial aspects of history and it allowed Magnusson to pursue two of his most favoured subjects: the Holy Land and the Viking Age.

In 1965, Tonight was axed by the BBC and although he was asked to stay on for its late night successor (Twenty Four Hours), Magnusson by then had a young family and wanted to bring them up in Scotland. He returned to The Scotsman to write leader columns but was still no stranger to television viewers. He was a reporter for Current Account from 1968, and then presented, also for BBC Scotland, Mainly Magnus from 1971-73.

In the ongoing Chronicle series, he presented a much-acclaimed episode entitled Vikings!, which expanded on several of his earlier programmes.

But it was the advent of Mastermind in 1972 that firmly seated Magnusson in the nation's living rooms. It was an ideal marriage. Magnusson brought a cultured ease to the programme and responded to the contestants' speed of answering with his questioning. When the answers came flying back to him Magnusson seemed to go into verbal overdrive. It made for exciting television and the viewers were able to pit their own knowledge throughout.

The programme visited many historic locations and Magnusson was always keen to return to Scotland. He greatly enjoyed presenting one edition from the McEwan Hall, in Edinburgh, in 1986, and the final programme (1997) was recorded in St Magnus's Cathedral, in Kirkwall. It was a tight fit and much of the set had to be cut up. "But since it was the last programme," Magnusson wrote "it didn't matter".

Before he went into the cathedral, Magnusson was given a letter from John Birt, the BBC's then director-general, who called the programme "a national institution ... it has been a marvellous combination of entertainment and erudition, expertly hosted by Magnus." At the end of that programme, Magnusson was presented with the black leather chair.

The prize never varied: a Caithness Glass rose bowl. Magnusson was always proud that "to my certain knowledge no winner has ever sold it, given it away or broken it."

Magnusson maintained his Scottish connections and became involved in many aspects of the arts and sciences. He was, among many other public appointments, Lord Rector of Edinburgh University 1975-78, on the boards of the Scottish Youth Theatre (1976-78), Age Concern Scotland, National Museums of Scotland (1985-89) and founder chairman of Scottish Churches Archaeological Heritage (1978-85). Heritage and ecological matters were important to him and he served on a working party on the Cairngorms in 1992 and was a most active chairman of Scottish Natural Heritage 1992-99.

It was in the latter capacity, he had an enjoyable reunion with his old colleague from The Scotsman Gus Macdonald (by then Lord Macdonald) in August 1998. The two went to Nethy Bridge to open the local visitor centre, Explore Nethy Bridge. The new footpath by the river up the Dell Road was walked by the two friends and they planted a tree together, by all accounts amid much hilarity.

Magnusson was a prolific writer, covering a wide range of subjects: these included Scotland: The Story of a Nation; Fakers, Forgers and Phoneys: Famous Scams and Scamps; Lindisfarne; Iceland Saga; The Vikings; Treasures of Scotland; The Nature of Scotland; Keeping Your Words: An Anthology of Quotations; I've Started So I'll Finish, the story of Mastermind; and The Family Quiz Book. One of his more quirky books was The Clacken of the Edinburgh Academy, a history of his old school on whose board of directors he also served. He also co-authored numerous biographies and books on Scottish and Icelandic history.

Because he maintained his Icelandic nationality, his knighthood (in 1989) had to remain honorary but it was presented to him in a ceremony at Edinburgh Castle. He received many honorary degrees (Edinburgh 1978, Strathclyde 1993, Paisley 1993, Napier 1994 etc) and was voted Scottish TV Personality of 1974. He was also chairman of the Mastermind Club.

The poet Roger Woddis wrote a poem to celebrate the 1980 series.

All roads lead to the seat of anguish,

The bitten lip and the nervous knee -

All for the sake of a smile from Magnus,

All the joy of the third degree.

He broke down the barriers of academia and entertainment with that smile. Magnusson contributed much to life in Scotland and was an enthusiastic Scot in all but name. His lifelong passion was the preservation of the Scottish countryside and maintaining its flora and fauna: his knowledge of the bird life, the plants in the Cairngorms and the west coast was legion. Magnusson had a charm and a wit that made an instant impression: he was a wonderful companion and devoted to his family. It was his unfailing modesty and courtesy, which is remembered with affection by friends and colleagues.

Magnusson married Mamie Baird in 1954. She and their son and three daughters survive him: all of whom work in the media. Another son died in 1973.

*************************************

Lord Lambton

Lord Lambton (formerly 6th Earl of Durham) Politician and author

Born: 10 July, 1922, in Northumberland. Died: 30 December, 2006, in Tuscany, aged 84.

FOR a few frantic months in 1973 Lord Lambton was the centre of political attention. He had been exposed in the News of the World after being caught in bed with two call girls and the newspapers were full of his every move. "Top People's Vice Ring" was a typical headline.

Ted Heath's government, terrified another Profumo scandal was about to unfold, sent in MI5 and searched Lambton's flat, where they found some minor drugs. Lambton resigned in ignominy from the government and as MP for Berwick-upon-Tweed and spent the rest of his life in some obscurity, writing in Tuscany.

Anthony Claud Frederick Lambton was a member of an old Borders family and was a first cousin of Lord Home of the Hirsel (Sir Alex Douglas Home). Lambton was educated at Harrow School and joined the Hampshire Regiment during the war. He was, however, invalided out within a year and for three years did war work in a factory.

In the 1945 and 1950 general elections he stood unsuccessfully in safe Labour seats (Chester-le-Street and Bishop Auckland), but in 1951 he won Berwick-upon-Tweed for the Tories.

By then he had gained valuable experience in local government as a councillor with Durham County Council.

Lambton was a colourful member of the Commons: he had an agile brain, good looks and a courteous manner. He slowly built up a reputation as a reliable and well-informed speaker.

Lambton served for two years as parliamentary private secretary to Selwyn Lloyd, the foreign secretary, but courageously resigned over the British invasion of Egypt during the Suez crisis.

In 1970 he was restored to government in a junior post at the Defence Ministry by the prime minister, Edward Heath.

It was in 1970 that Lambton was embroiled in a constitutional matter that haunted him for the rest of his life. Lambton's father died in 1970 and he automatically succeeded to the Earldom of Durham. Lambton, though, chose to disclaim the title, as his cousin, Lord Home, had done a decade earlier so he could succeed Harold Macmillan as prime minister.

Lambton wanted to retain his seat in the Commons and maintain the courtesy title of Viscount Lambton.

Lambton displayed a certain obduracy in his dealings with the constitutional authorities. The Speaker ruled against him and Lambton started a lengthy process to overturn the ruling. Lambton appealed to the new Speaker (Selwyn Lloyd) in 1972 and was allowed to be known as Lord Lambton.

Then in 1973 his career fell apart. He was photographed through a keyhole in bed with two prostitutes and clearly smoking cannabis. The News of the World, which had set up the sting (and, allegedly, placed a microphone in a teddy bear's nose) printed the story and named Lambton as the man.

In fact the vice squad had already been alerted to an official Daimler often parked outside a flat in Maida Vale. The police had established that the flat belonged to a prostitute named Norma Levy.

After the scandal broke, Levy was interviewed and willingly spilled the beans. She admitted Lambton was "one of my sugar-daddies". Worse, she admitted her husband dealt in drugs and had taken the photographs through the keyhole.

There was consternation in Whitehall and Heath demanded Lambton's immediate resignation. Heath had been a junior minister at the time of the Profumo crisis and presumed if he took resolute action the trouble might go away. As a result of the Lambton exposé, however, Lord Jellicoe, leader of the House of Lords, who had been involved with the other girl in the photograph, also resigned.

Lambton then submitted himself to a grilling on television by Robin Day. He was asked why he used prostitutes and in an assured and off-hand manner replied: "I think that people sometimes like variety. I think it is as simple as that and I think the impulse is probably understood by everybody. Don't you?"

He was then interviewed by MI5 at some length as the authorities were terrified that he might have been the subject of blackmail. To them, Lambton said his actions were a means of coping with the pressures he had endured during the three-year battle to resolve the situation of his title. He had, he told MI5, been thrown "into a frenzied round of vigorous gardening and debauchery".

He ruefully added that his work as a junior minister was undemanding. MI5 concluded he was on the verge of a mental collapse.

Lambton went to Italy with his wife and family and bought Villa Cetinale, a 400-year-old estate. There he wrote political novels, including The Abbey in the Woods, and family biographies - most notably The Mountbattens in 1989.

Lambton always had a rather raffish and mysterious image. He delighted in wearing heavy black glasses (long before they were fashionable) and insisted upon being addressed as "Viscount Lambton" despite, in the eyes of British law, being Mr Lambton.

Lambton married Belinda Blew Jones in 1942: she predeceased him three years ago. He is survived by their five children one of whom, Lucinda, is a television presenter. His son Ned will inherit the title.
****************************

Tommy Connor
BY BRIAN DONALD

Boxer

Born: 18 August, 1940, in Cambuslang.
Died: 7 December, 2006, in Blantyre, aged 66.

AT HIS peak, from 1958-68, Tommy Connor was one of Scotland's outstanding fly and bantamweight boxers who fought some of the biggest names in amateur and professional boxing circles at his weight during those years.

As a boy, Connor was enthralled by tales about local bantamweight fighter Jim O' Neill.

But it was after joining the Scottish National Club in Bridgeton, in Glasgow's east end, that the young Connor showed some of the prodigious ring talents of his boyhood hero.

The "National" in Bridgeton was the home gym owned by Jim Gilmour and his son Tommy - both major figures in Scottish boxing management and promotion.

Rubbing shoulders and sparring on a daily basis with such luminaries as Chic Calderwood, the only Scot to win a British light-heavyweight title, John McDermott, the 1962 Perth Commonwealth Games featherweight gold medallist, and Bobby Mallon, the 1962 Commonwealth flyweight gold winner, helped the young Connor to progress rapidly through the amateur ranks. Ironically though, it was Mallon who stood in the way of Connor's winning any Scottish amateur titles.

On turning professional, Connor, who possessed a formidable left jab, produced some outstanding performances, beating highly rated fellow Scots Tommy Burgoyne and Henry Hoey and giving the future British and Empire flyweight champion from Hamilton, John McLuskey, two hard fights.

However, it was the draw with the outstanding Londoner and British and European bantamweight champion, Johnny Clark, at London's Albert Hall in 1966 that saw Connor's finest hour.

With little time to prepare for the bout, Connor nevertheless fought superbly to force a draw verdict.

Thereafter, however, the defeats became more frequent, but as ring contemporaries and former Scottish National clubmates John McDermott, MBE, and current Glasgow boxing promoter Alex Morrison, both agree, Connor's apparent modest victory tally of 12 wins with two draws in 28 pro bouts paint a very misleading picture of the man's true outstanding ring abilities.

Meanwhile, Connor had met and married Kathleen Allen and they had three sons. The second son, James, followed in his father's footsteps into the ring in the 1990s.

Following the demise of his ring career, in 1968, Tommy Connor fell victim to the twin addictions of drinking and gambling, and parted from Kathleen - although he remained on friendly terms with his estranged wife and three sons right up until his death.

By way of an epitaph for his former Scottish National clubmate, Mr Morrison said: "Tommy Connor may have lost his way in life but he never lost his dignity, for when his body was discovered in the model lodging house that he called home, he had sufficient funds put by to pay for his own funeral.

"Tommy was both a nice man and a very good boxer - truly worthy of remembrance."
*****************************

Iverach McDonald
BY ALASDAIR STEVEN

Journalist

Born: 23 October, 1908, in Caithness.
Died: 14 December, 2006, in Oxford, aged 98.

IVERACH McDonald spent a lifetime in journalism and became one of the most respected foreign correspondents and editors of the post-war years. His earlier years were mostly spent in communist countries for the Times, where he built up an enviable reputation both behind the Iron Curtain and in the West. As associated editor of the Times, McDonald was involved with covering some epic events; not least John F Kennedy's assassination in 1963.

But McDonald remained a devoted and ardent Scot all his life. He often returned north to visit family and friends. He was proud of his Scottish roots, though he always preferred to call himself a Highlander.

Iverach McDonald was born in Strathcool and came from a family long connected with the area and the professions in Scotland. An uncle (Donald McDonald) had owned and edited the Highland News and the Northern Times. Iverach was, in fact, brought up in Yorkshire where he attended Leeds Grammar School. While at school, he had decided to be a journalist and worked for the Leeds Mercury before joining the Yorkshire Post.

It was with that paper that he made a trip to the Soviet Union in 1932: it began, for McDonald, a lifelong passion with Russia, its people and its literature. Three years later, he joined the Times as a sub-editor. He was to rise, over the years, to a senior position and become one of the doyens of Fleet Street.

In his calm but assured manner, McDonald was soon suggesting new angles for the leader writers and was an authority on Russian politics. He was posted to Prague during the hectic Munich crisis and wrote cogent articles against the policy of appeasement.

When war was declared, McDonald joined up, but his knowledge of Russia and its language ensured he was soon enlisted for intelligence duties. But he did not find this area stimulating and he returned to the Times in 1940. Throughout the war, he was present at many important meetings and briefings; most significant were the conferences with Churchill and Roosevelt. He also wrote a remarkably prescient article in May 1941, forecasting Hitler's imminent invasion of Russia.

In 1952, McDonald was appointed foreign editor of the Times, where his informed articles brought much renown both to the newspaper and himself. He became the confidant of many world leaders - and those from the communist bloc - personally.

When the editor was away, McDonald edited the paper. That was the case on 22 November, 1963, when Kennedy was assassinated. On first hearing the news, McDonald reset the first edition and rewrote the leader column. The obituary was expanded from three to five columns and McDonald rewrote new leaders by the hour. It was not just a question of reporting the death, but covering its political - national and international - repercussions. One American newspaper wrote of the Times' coverage as being "outstanding".

In 1965, McDonald was appointed managing editor. After Roy Thomson's purchase of the papers, it was thought that McDonald would be offered the editorship of the Times. In fact William Rees-Mogg got the appointment and McDonald was his associate editor. His detailed knowledge of communist countries once again proved invaluable when, in 1968, during the Czech uprising, the Times' correspondent fell ill. McDonald immediately flew to Prague and sent back incisive reports.

In 1973, this most active and erudite man retired. However, he translated Pushkin and Proust, then wrote about his career (A Man of The Times). In 1984, he wrote the official history of the Times from 1939-66 (Struggles in War and Peace).

McDonald remained a leading light in the Scottish community in London. He was a long-serving elder of Crown Court Church of Scotland in Covent Garden. There, he organised an annual service for the Scottish journalists working in London. He was also a keen member of the Scottish Piping Society of London and a regular attender at their meetings in Horseferry Road.

McDonald married Gwendoline in 1935. She predeceased him and he is survived by their son and daughter.
******************************

Eric Ridehalgh
ERIC RIDEHALGH
Secretary of the Scottish Licensed Trade Association
Born: 8 September, 1930, in Keighley, Yorkshire. Died: 6 November, 2006, in Edinburgh, aged 76.

ERIC Ridehalgh gave unstinted service to the licensed trade throughout Scotland when for 28 years he was the Scottish Licensed Trade Association's (SLTA) secretary. He was available with helpful and constructive advice - always offered in a friendly and courteous manner. He gave of his time and energy to colleagues and friends with a gracious smile. As one colleague recalls: "Eric was everyone's friend."

During Ridehalgh's time in office, the licensed trade in Scotland underwent major changes to the structure of its business and he was instrumental in soothing the understandable concerns of many members and in implementing the new laws.

He also represented, in a most pragmatic manner, the industry at the highest levels. Ridehalgh presented the association's case - legally often very complex - with unerring professionalism and patience.

Eric William Ridehalgh was brought up in the Yorkshire town of Keighley and attended the local school. He went to a technical college to get a solid grounding in accountancy and commerce before working in local businesses. While at Yorkshire Farmers, a local farming representative organisation, Ridehalgh had to make several visits to Leith and from connections established there he was offered, in 1968, a post with the Scottish Licensed Veto Office, an organisation that promoted the licensed trade.

In 1971, he was offered the job at the SLTA - which he was to fill with much tact and boundless enthusiasm until he retired in 1999. When he took over the SLTA, it was resident in tiny offices in Leith. Nevertheless, Ridehalgh built up the organisation so that it had the muscle to lobby with confidence at the level of both local and national government.

In 1972, Dr Christopher Clayson presented a far-reaching report on the modernisation of the licensing laws in Scotland. His proposals were fundamental and highly controversial. He recommended a relaxing of many of the long-established laws and the ending of the antiquated system of bone fide travellers on a Sunday. At this time, pubs were closed on Sundays, but members of the public were legally permitted to order alcohol in the bar of a hotel if they signed the visitors' book, stating they had travelled over five miles.

Clayson also controversially advocated the relaxing of pub opening hours.

Many considered Clayson's proposals too liberal and drastic. Indeed, even within the industry there was concern and Ridehalgh was confronted by his own members needing reassurance. Longer hours, publicans argued, would necessitate more staff with no guarantee of increased turnover.

Ridehalgh balanced these worries against the demands from the public for longer hours and those from Whitehall who wanted to get a watertight bill through parliament. Clayson had mentioned the inadequacy of the existing laws - "clearly failing" - as he put it; so changes could not be avoided. Ridehalgh was convinced of the long-term benefit through tourism etc to the Scottish economy.

Ridehalgh grew to love Scotland and was particularly attached to Sutherland. He was a well-known figure in Dornoch and a regular attender at Dornoch Cathedral.

At the time of the cathedral's 750th anniversary, Ridehalgh sponsored concerts and worked with his usual gusto on behalf of many local charities.

This entrepreneurial zeal was again manifested at St George's West Church, in Edinburgh, where Ridehalgh was an elder for many years and ran the Friends of St George's West. He organised concerts to raise money for charity and every August brought the Ayrshire Fiddle Orchestra to give a concert in the church. He was immensely fond of all music and was keen to encourage, for example, a wider appreciation of the traditions of Scottish fiddle playing.

"Eric was a real gentleman," the Rev Peter MacDonald, minister of St George's, recalled. "His work for the church saw no bounds; nor did his ability to make and keep friends. When I came to St George's, Eric was welcoming and encouraging. I so well remember the concerts he organised. Everything went like clockwork and Eric bubbled with enthusiasm."

Ridehalgh's retirement was active and he remained with the SLTA as a part-time parliamentary consultant and was secretary of the United Kingdom and Ireland Licensed Trade Association. In 1996, he was awarded the MBE and in 1993 had became a Keeper of The Quaich - a post requiring "a love of Scotland and Scotch Whisky".

Ridehalgh, a much loved man of commerce, the church, painting and the Scottish countryside never married.

He is survived by his sister.

**********************************

Scottish Shepherd - The Life and Times of John Murray Murdoch, Utah Pioneer

2007-01-10T00:01:00.000-07:00

Scottish Shepherd
The Life and Times of John Murray Murdoch, Utah Pioneer

Kenneth W. Merrell

http://www.uofupress.com/store/product322.html

256 pp., 6 x 9, 30 black & white photos
Cloth $27.95
ISBN 978-0-87480-880-3
Biography

One of the unique migrations in the history of this nation was the large infusion of immigrants—primarily from northern and western Europe—who came to America to gather with the “Saints,” members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, during the nineteenth century. Thousands of Europeans—especially those from the British Isles—embraced the message of Mormonism and sought a spiritual refuge on the frontiers of the American west.

John Murray Murdoch was one such immigrant, and this volume tells the story of his life and the unique times in which he lived. He participated in the military preparations and maneuvers against the United States Army in the 1857 Utah War; he helped to settle the Wasatch County area, becoming one of its first elected officials; and he organized the first sheep cooperative in Wasatch County and helped establish the sheep-ranching industry in Utah. It is the “everyman” aspect of John Murdoch’s life that makes his story so compelling.

“In reading this account even a person unacquainted with Scottish and Mormon history will receive an excellent introduction to the larger context of John Murdoch’s ‘life and times,’ while at the same time gaining an ppreciation of his personal values as a committed member of the Mormon community.” —Frederick S. Buchanan, emeritus professor of educational studies, University of Utah

Kenneth W. Merrell lives in Eugene, Oregon. He has an avid interest in western social history with particular interests in Mormon history, Utah history, and the history of the Oregon Trail.

Burns Supper recalls Scottish traditions

2007-01-02T13:35:00.000-07:00

Burns Supper recalls Scottish traditions
By Rodger L. Hardy
Deseret Morning News
Published: Thursday, Feb. 1, 2007 12:17 a.m. MST
PROVO — The star of the traditional Robert Burns Supper held at Brigham Young University's Wilkinson Center was, of course, the infamous haggis.

The dish was brought in on a silver platter accompanied by a bagpiper and two members of the Scottish-American Military Society with their swords drawn. It was then paraded around the hall to a standing audience.

Burns' address, "To the Haggis" was given by Eric Gilzean preceding a toast.

Traditionally made from a sheep's heart, lungs and liver with oatmeal, spices and other ingredients, then broiled in the sheep's stomach, haggis is an acquired taste, said Bob Gallimore, spokesman for the Utah Scottish Association. (So it was with trepidation that I took my first bite. "Not bad," I thought. Being a fourth generation Scot I'd had it before, just didn't know it by that name.)

Haggis has many names, Gallimore said, most of them not printable in a family newspaper.

Some 20,000 Robert Burns Suppers were held around the globe last week, honoring the poet whom many scholars say gave birth to Scottish literature. It was his dying wish that friends gather and have supper to remember him. The suppers continue, more than two centuries later, emcee Dodd Greer said.

The BYU supper drew 350 diners, the largest attendance in Utah history, said chairman Trenda Barney.

Professors Gary Hatch and Karen Pierotti of BYU's English department presented the humorous Toast to the Lassies and Toast to the Laddies after a traditional Scottish roasted lamb chop dinner prepared by BYU Food Services.

The ideals Burns advanced weren't just Scottish ideals, Hatch said. They were also human values.

Three-time U.S. National Scottish champion dancer Kelsey Crane did a sword dance and highland fling and was presented with the annual "MacGregor of the Year Award."

BYU interns to the Scottish Parliament Study Abroad program; Kendra Keller, Jeanine Plamondon, Adam Wardel, Jessica Best and John Maher; recited Burns' works.

Other entertainment included Scottish bands Rusty Reel and Caol Ila. The evening concluded with an auction to raise money for upcoming Scottish association events, a desert of BYU's new oat praline and caramel ice cream with berries and Burns' "Auld Lang Syne."

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

E-mail: rodger@desnews.com
© 2009 Deseret News Publishing Company | All rights reserved

Hogmanay: A cracking good time

2006-12-27T17:38:00.000-07:00

Hogmanay: A cracking good time

DIANE MACLEAN - The Scotsman

UNTIL relatively recently Christmas was not celebrated in Scotland. During the Scottish Reformation it was regarded as popish and superstitious. The holiday was apparently too much like good fun for the rather dour brand of Calvinism adopted by John Knox and his followers. They took this so seriously that for 400 years Christmas was effectively banned.

Whilst the Reformers could ban Christmas, they had no say at all in the celebration of the New Year. Right up until the 1950s, New Year was the major event of the festive season - except Scots don't celebrate New Year, they celebrate Hogmanay.

After all this time, there is still no consensus on what Hogmanay means. Hogmanay as we know it is a cocktail of various different religious and social rituals. Initially it was a Druid or pagan celebration, probably to do with the winter solstice. Elements of the Roman festival of Saturnalia and the Viking celebrations of Yule can also be found in the celebrations in Scotland.

It has always been important to go into Hogmanay with a clean sweep, both literally and metaphorically. Before Hogmanay, a huge spring clean begins, although few houses continue with the older tradition of burning juniper to rid the house of evil spirits. Socks are darned, windows washed and, where possible, life resolutions are undertaken.

On the stroke of midnight it is still common for houses to be "first footed" by a tall, handsome stranger bearing gifts. Although the first-footer is seldom a stranger, it is preferable that he is dark. This harks back to days of Viking invaders when a fair-haired man knocking at your door was more likely to inspire terror than pleasure.

Until quite recently the first-footer was subject to a rather rigorous code of looks. Out-of-date now, there was a time when a first-footer should not be flat-footed, cross-eyed or have their eyebrows meeting (thought to denote the evil eye). All congenitally disabled people were feared as first-footers and actively discouraged from people's houses – again no longer the case.

The first-footer still brings gifts. Whisky, food and a lump of coal are the main trio of traditions that come with the first-footer – a sign of how little has really changed from times past. (The medieval clergy gave food to the parish poor, which in itself was reminiscent of pagan food offerings.)

Perhaps the thing that heralds Hogmanay and New Year around the world is the singing of Auld Lang Syne, the Robert Burns song that so epitomises the spirit of the season. It is at that time that Scots tend towards the sentimental, thinking of folks no longer there or far away.

Both Glasgow and Edinburgh have become renowned for their celebration of Hogmanay. The parties attract visitors from across the world, who gather together to celebrate with music, singing, fireworks, dancing and friendship.

In Scotland, Hogmanay is a time to gather together with friends and family and consider the past year. It is a time of hope, a looking forward to a better year and a time when people resolve to improve their lives and the lives of others.

Scots pipe and drums preserve traditional sound

2006-11-23T14:24:00.000-07:00

Walking down the halls of Highland High School on a recent evening, a mystifying sound reverberates through the air - the sound of Highland bagpipes.

Around the corner in the school's Little Theater is the source. Gathered in a large circle are nearly 30 members of the Salt Lake Scots, a Scottish pipe and drum band.

"I have always loved the sound of the pipes," said Jason Killpack of West Jordan, a band member for five years and the current pipe major. "They are inspiring."
Killpack is the leader of the band and gives direction in practices, performances, and competitions.

Dennis McMaster of West Valley, a bass drummer and band member for 33 years, said joining the band was something he had always wanted to do.

"I fell in love with the sound of the pipes," he said. "It's a way to keep traditions in addition to having a lot of fun."

Aaron Wilson of Murray has been with the band for eight years.

"It is a way to honor the culture through playing, performing, and having fun," he said.

Plus, said Grant Ensign of Sandy, band member for three years, "it's a lady killer."

Established in 1962, the Salt Lake Scots hold quite the reputation. They were the Official Pipe Band of the 2002 Winter Olympics and led the competitors of the curling events onto the ice.

They have entered many competitions along the Wasatch front, and have performed abroad - even Scotland.

For bagpipe lessons or more information about the Salt Lake Scots, contact the Celtic Center, 2350 S. Main St., Salt Lake City.

By Brittanie Morris
Close-Up Correspondent
Salt Lake Tribune
Article Last Updated:11/23/2006 10:43:28 AM MST

Dining out: The Flying Scotsman

2006-10-06T15:45:00.000-06:00

Dining out: The Flying Scotsman

I'll just say it straight off: I'm delighted by The Flying Scotsman, a new pub-style eatery that recently opened on 1300 East near the University of Utah.

I spent a year living in Great Britain in the 1990s, traveling through England, Scotland and Wales, and eating in not a few pubs and mom-and-pop restaurants. The Flying Scotsman forcefully reminded me of the good ones, with its comfortable, green-and-gold interior and snug back room with a fire warming a recent rainy weekday.

The place's amiability also is channeled from the best of Britain's own pubs, with smiling service and anxious inquiries about our meals. And the food -- well, let's say that in Britain, pub food can be one of two things, just like bar food in these parts: horrid, warmed-over pre-made nastiness; or simple, homemade, comforting goodness. Guess which one The Flying Scotsman delivers.

A word about that goodness: it's largely of a gravy-drizzled and deep-fried nature. There are salads on the menu at The Flying Scotsman, but it almost seems wrong to order something so garden- like in a place that, by and large, could have been plucked by that giant hand in "Monty Python's Flying Circus" from an Edinburgh street and plunked down in Salt Lake City. Trust me: If there's one thing the Brits know, it's gravy and frying.

We started with the Highlander Cheese Fling, one of the more British appetizers on a menu that also includes twists on American classics such as wings and onion rings. The cheese fling is a fat little Brie wheel baked in a pastry shell, drizzled with tart, seedy raspberry sauce and accompanied by thin wedges of Granny Smith apple and warm crusty bread. I probably don't even have to tell you it was delicious.

There are menu items for "wee folks," and our host welcomed the kids with coloring pages and crayons, little puzzles and a squeaky toy for our 10-month-old to bring home.

The kids had the child-size fish and chips, a delicious piece of white fish in crackly breading and a pile of those breaded "British- style" chips. In a year in Britain, traveling up and down the country, I rarely ate those. Real chips, fried quickly in very hot oil, are more like steak fries or potato wedges, only better. I wish The Flying Scotsman did 'em that way, but the chips they have taste fine.

My husband zeroed in on the shepherd's pie, and he was glad he did. It's the basic model -- simply seasoned ground beef in light gravy, a few veggies for flavor, red-skin herbed mashed potatoes piped on top -- but that's not a bad thing. In fact, it's great. If you're a fan of this classic comfort food, check it out.

I tried another traditional British dish, the bangers and mash. The Flying Scotsman serves a stellar example of this meat-and- potatoes favorite, with a deep dish of those red-skin mashers topped with a split, grilled bratwurst-sized sausage, thick-sliced grilled onions and strong, oniony gravy. Mmm, mmm, good.

For dessert, we had a tasty, biscuit-like blueberry scone and one of the Flying Scotsman's exuberant deep-fried desserts. There's practically nothing in Scotland that hasn't been battered and tossed in a deep fryer at one time or another, and that includes Twinkies, Snickers bars and, our choice, Oreos. They're served with raspberry sauce and whipped cream, and are sinfully good.

Appetizers $4.95-$8.95, salads $3.95-$9.95, sandwiches $6.95- $9.95, entrees $8.95-$13.95, desserts $4.95-$6.95.

Rating: ***

Where: 230 S. 1300 East

Hours: Monday-Thursday, 11 a.m.-10 p.m.

Friday, 11 a.m.-11 p.m.

Saturday, noon-11 p.m.

Closed Sunday

Payment: Major credit cards accepted

Phone: 583-8496

Wheelchair access: Easy

Stacey Kratz is a freelance writer who reviews restaurants for the Deseret Morning News.E-mail: skratz@desnews.com

Copyright C 2006 Deseret News Publishing Co.
Provided by ProQuest Information and Learning Company. All rights Reserved.

Grandfather Mountain Song and Language Week

2006-09-27T23:29:00.000-06:00

By Rachell Blessing.
Grandfather Mountain Song and Language Week

As I drag my suitcase from one terminal to another wondering why planes can never be on time and why I am always running from one flight to another, I tell myself “hey, just one more flight and a three hour drive and I will be there!”
My name is Rachell Blessing. I am from Salt Lake City, Utah. This year was my first visit to Grandfather Mountain. I was lucky enough to win the scholarship to the event.

I have to say that my experience at Grandfather Mountain was one of the most positive experiences I have ever had. Just being able to sit in a classroom and learn from such wonderful Gaelic teachers and be involved in Gaelic conversation with some of the most inspiring Gaelic learners gave me the incentive to keep learning, keep teaching and keep hoping that someday I can help others experience the joy of these events.

I find my room, unpack my bags and wonder how on earth am I going to survive this humid heat. I walk out into the hallway and take in the beauty of the area. So very beautiful and welcoming. I make my way to the common area and hear a voice I know. It is Mike MacKay. I attend conversation lessons taught by Mike and have been looking forward to meeting my Gaelic teacher/tutor. I feel so at home. All around me are fellow learners and people who share a love for the Gaelic language and culture.

The first class I attend is taught by Sorley MacDonald. I sit down, grab my Gaelic/English dictionary and wait excitedly. I just can’t WAIT to meet the other students and teachers. A handsome young man walks in and I realize that it is Sorley. Class begins and we all have a wonderful time learning how to talk to each other, ask each other questions, then relate what we learned about our fellow classmates all in Gaelic. As I walk out of the classroom I realize that I am not alone in my learning anymore. There is a feeling of community here, we are all a community learning and sharing. What a wonderful feeling.

As we make our way to lunch I remember Mike telling me about the [Gaelic Only] table. “You have to stay in Gaelic when you sit at this table” Mike tells me. I say quietly to myself, “Oh well, let’s give it a try”. I sit beside my fellow learner and best friend Brooke Montgomery. We try and listen as the conversations fly all around us. I hear more Gaelic at this table than I have in two years!! I see Mike talking to Nick and Sorley as Catriona Parsons helps us newer learners find the right words. We all try and tell each other about our first day at Grandfather Mountain.
That night at the cèilidh we all sit and listen to the wonderful stories being presented to us and even though I can’t catch all the words I can feel what is happening in the story. We all enjoy music being played on the harp and the bagpipes. Soon, we are all singing along as Jamie MacDonald teaches us a song. Mike encourages the audience to join in and share a song, a poem, a story. I am very tired and work my way back to my room. I fall asleep to the beautiful sound of a Gaelic song being sung by Fiona MacKenzie. I hear the voices and laughter of people who have come from all over to share a week of learning Gaelic.

Each day was a new experience. I was able to attend classes taught by Catriona Parsons, Sorley MacDonald and Jamie MacDonald.

I just didn’t want the week to end!
I sat at the Gaelic table each day and enjoyed the ongoing Gaelic conversation [as best I could]. I was only caught once speaking in English as Mike MacKay walked up to me and told me that he was going to charge me $5.00 for every word of English he heard me speak. I quickly changed my words back to Gaelic.

As the week comes to an end and we all say beannachd leibh, I feel a renewed hope. I no longer feel alone in my learning, alone in my passion for Gaelic. I have a family now, I am part of a community. I say “beannachd leibh” [good-bye] and in the same breath “chì mi sibh an ath bhliadhna” [I will see you next year]I go home with a new sense of belonging. I am recharged and ready to study!

I am lucky enough to have been able to start my own study groups here in Utah. I am able to have these fellow learners come together for conversation work and translation practice. We share our learning experience together. Yet I know many people do not have that opportunity. We often feel very alone in our efforts to learn Gaelic and speak Gaelic. Well, let me just say “we are not alone” we are all part of a community. We can come together from all over North America and we can share our learning and love for Gaelic. I am going to try and attend as many ACGA events as I can. I am going to encourage my fellow learners to attend too. It is so important that we keep learning and keep growing and keep sharing. What a better way to do it than at these events.

Girl's dancing is more than a fling

2006-09-01T15:10:00.000-06:00

Girl's dancing is more than a fling

West Jordan lass will compete in the world finals — again

Published: Friday, Sept. 1, 2006 12:00 a.m. MDT
WEST JORDAN — For Kelsey Crane, 16, dancing is more than a hobby — it's a way of life.

For the past 10 years the West Jordan High sophomore has been studying Scottish highland dance, and all her hard work has paid off as she captured her third consecutive championship title at this year's United States Inter-Regional Championships in Saratoga Springs, N.Y. on July 22.

Kelsey had to perform four different dances for the competition. To even get to nationals, she had first to be chosen as one of the top three dancers from her region, which includes six or seven states.

"It's very highly competitive, more competitive than you would think," Janine Crane, Kelsey's mother, said.

Kelsey's training routine is quite vigorous and involves practicing for at least an hour every day and building up her strength and endurance, especially in her arms and legs. Sometimes she plays the same music over and over again so she can catch the rhythm of the dance. She also must perfect her technique, she says.

The dancing is a combination of ballet and Irish dancing and involves jumping constantly, dancing on point and using technique. Complications arise in that Kelsey has asthma and must be careful not to overexert herself.

Kelsey's mother says dancing has improved her daughter's focus in all aspects of her life.

"As a parent, one of the things I like about it is that it's made her learn how to focus well," she said. "She's a very good student, keeping a 3.9 to 4.0 GPA, and I think it's because it's made her learn how to focus."

Kelsey agrees.

"I think dancing's made me a perfectionist so that if something's not good enough I always have to correct it, like in school, with being behind, I guess," she said.

Kelsey will be competing in the world finals for Scottish dancing in Cowal, Scotland, in a few months. The past few times she competed in the world championships, she captured one of the top six spots.

Every summer Kelsey goes to the Ohio School for the Arts and receives training from some of the top Scottish highland dancers in the world. This year her teacher was an 11-time world champion, and she felt grateful to have the chance to learn from her, she said. Her hard work has netted scholarships to help pay tuition so she can return to Ohio every year.

This year, Kelsey also passed her test, both written and practical, so she can teach Scottish dancing to younger dancers in her teacher's studio. Starting at only 10 years old, Kelsey would take a theory test every year, and this year she passed the final portions of the test.

Even with nine years of competition, three national championships and numerous other awards under her belt, Kelsey has no intention of quitting Scottish highland dancing.

"I want to keep doing it, I love going to the U.S. championships," she said. "I've made a lot of friendships through dancing. I really like it."

Great Scot! - The Flying Scotsman Restaurant

2006-08-07T15:42:00.000-06:00

Great Scot!
The Flying Scotsman has officially moved into the old Geppetto's place

Restauranteur Alan Merritt is opening a new restaurant near campus that sounds like it'll have something for everyone. The Flying Scotsman was named after a rail line in Scotland and, just like its namesake, will transport you to all things Scot.

Merritt has been in the business for his entire working life, having previously owned a restaurant in Falls Church, Va. After that, he started a software company and was planning to take a year off, but fate stepped in: He was driving past the site of his first job, a restaurant called Geppetto's, which was a local favorite for many years, and noticed that the property was condemned.

The idea was born, and from there, Merritt has worked hard to bring the building back to life, from the complete restoration and decoration of the interior to the beautiful artwork ensconced on the exterior. Neighbors have watched in delight as the condemned property just below campus on 1300 East has been transformed into a worthy segment of the neighborhood.

The Scotsman will feature Scottish cuisine, including traditional shepherd's pie and a puff pastry-topped chicken pot pie, as well as a monthly special of haggis. American law prohibits the production of authentic haggis, because of the ingredients involved, but Merritt and his chef have worked out a recipe that they feel is very close to a genuine version of this infamous, yet unfamiliar, dish. An insider's tip: They claim it is much more appetizing than the "real" way, especially to an American palate.

Utah law is a bit tricky when it comes to serving alcohol, but the Scotsman will do so as time permits. Beer and wine after the first month, and more to follow. Merritt plans to have eight imported beers on tap, including three Scottish and five British-and one nice (read: cheap) domestic beer.

The Flying Scotsman is hoping to foster an environment in which everyone feels welcome and can have a good time, from families to students to students with families. There'll be a treasure chest from which young diners may choose a treasure to take home, and Merritt hopes to have a bag piper as a regular feature, as well. The Flying Scotsman will also offer student specials and lively after-hours music-much like sets in the tradition of Geppetto's.

The colors and paintings on the wall lend a very Scottish tone, and if the tables closest to the Loch Ness Monster painting aren't the house favorites, then they should be.

Lisa Anderson
Posted: 8/7/06
© Copyright 2006 The Daily Utah Chronicle

Great Scot! Festival celebrates Scotland's impact on Utah

2006-08-06T14:32:00.000-06:00

Great Scot! Festival celebrates Scotland's impact on Utah
By Carma Wadley
Deseret Morning News
Published: Thursday, June 8, 2006 3:37 p.m. MDT
One morning Mary Wilson looked out of her Weber County log cabin window and, through the misty clouds, saw a mountain peak that reminded her of one back home. That's how Ben Lomond, one of Utah's most famous mountains and said to be the prototype of the Paramount Pictures logo, got its name.

Sometime around 1875, Ebeneezer Bryce put his cows out to pasture in what is now southern Utah. One cow got lost, and when Bryce went to look for it, he discovered the canyon of intricate red rock formations that bears his name.

"Anthropologists tell us that place names are one of the sure signs that a people or culture has been in a particular place," says Fred Buchanan. If you look at the map of Utah, he says, you will see many examples of places where the Scots have left their mark on Utah. Cities, towns, mountains, canyons and more. There are more than 100 streets with Scottish names in Salt Lake County alone.

And that's not all, he says. If you look at lists of prominent educators, businessmen, church leaders and politicians, you will see a fair representation of folks with Scottish ancestry. Pipe bands, tartans, Highland games, shortbread and scones are also a popular part of local culture. Utah even has its own official tartan, created at the time of the sesquicentennial, using a combination of tartans attributed to the Logan and Skene families, who were early trappers in Cache Valley.

Between 1840 and 1900, approximately 5,000 Scots immigrated to Utah, says Buchanan. "It was not a mass group; they came as individuals, mainly as converts to the LDS Church." Overall, that may not seem like a large group, "but they contributed more than you might expect. They made a difference here in Utah."

Buchanan will be talking about some of those contributions as part of this year's Scottish Festival, which starts tonight and runs through tomorrow at Thanksgiving Point.

Celebrating its 31st year, the festival will include traditional Scottish foods, dancing, athletics, music, clan gatherings and more. It's for anyone with any Scottish heritage or anyone who likes Scottish culture or wants to learn more about Scottish culture, says Robert Gallimore, director of publicity for the Utah Scottish Association.

"We hope people will come and get a sense of the warmth and hospitality that are trademarks of the Scots. They are warm and embrasive people who share camaraderie, tell wonderful stories. We'll also showcase athleticism. Utah has some of the top-ranked Highland Games athletes in the country.

"If you're not a Scot, you can come be a Scot for a day."

The festival, begun in 1975, grew out of an innate desire to preserve and celebrate Scottish identity, says Buchanan. His own quest to do that began when he arrived in this country as a 17-year-old.

A few years later, while a student at the University of Utah, he was assigned to do a paper on contributions of non-English settlers in the founding of America.

"When I said I would do one of the Scots, professor David Miller responded, 'Oh, did they really make a significant contribution?' With that challenge, I was off and running, and here I am, half a century later, still trying to assess the mark of the Scots on Utah — and not incidentally, trying to educate people of the difference between England and Scotland."

Nationwide, about 5.8 million people claim Scottish ancestry; about 99,000 are in Utah, Buchanan says. Famous Scottish Americans range from Andrew Carnegie to Alexander Graham Bell, Robert Frost, Deborah Kerr and the Pinkertons. Famous Scottish Utahns include the Eccles family, David O. McKay, the Mathesons, John MacFarlane, Sterling McMurrin and David Kennedy.

Even Joseph Smith's great-grandfather was from Inverness, Buchanan says. But, he cautions, you can get carried away with tracing heritage. "Some people claim Marconi, the inventor of radio, was a Scot because his mother was Scottish. But did he get more from her or from his Italian father? Who can say? I always say if you claim too much, you can get blamed too much."

Still, he says, the mark of the Scots on Utah is real and important. "The first book of poetry, the first millionaire, the first Sunday school, the first midwife, the first golf course all came from Scots."

The missionaries and teachers of the Presbyterian and Congregationalists churches made important contributions in education, says Buchanan. Duncan McMillan, for example, founded the Wasatch Academy in Mt. Pleasant.

In business, David Eccles rose from a firewood seller to become Utah's first millionaire. Charles Nibley was a sugar and lumber entrepreneur (he also introduced the game of golf to the state). In more recent times, there have been Morrison's Scottish Meat Pies and Cummings chocolates.

In the arts, David MacKenzie was a thespian at the Salt Lake Theater. John Lyon tutored Maude Adams in elocution. Mable Frazer and LeConte Stewart excelled at visual arts; Thomas MacIntyre, John M. MacFarlane and LeRoi Robertson at music.

In politics, "Calvin Rampton and Scott Matheson attributed much of their success to their Scottish roots," says Buchanan. And, he adds, "it was no accident that it was David O. McKay who gave the LDS Church and, consequently, Utah an international dimension."

Scots are sometimes stereotyped for their thriftiness, Buchanan says. "But they are also known for traits such as hard work, generosity, common sense, seriousness of purpose, inventiveness, democratic and communitarian feelings and, withal, a wry sense of humor."

Ultimately, he says, "The main cultural contribution of Scots was what was in their heads not in their pockets or in their wagons."

And that's why he, and others, work to keep the appreciation of Scottish contributions and Scottish culture alive in Utah.

For Buchanan, now retired as a professor of education history at the University of Utah and the unofficial local authority on Scottish history, he still identifies with the words of Robert Burns:

"No nation, no station

My envy ere could raise.

A Scot still, A Scot still,

I knew nae higher praise."

If you go

What: 31st Annual Scottish Festival and Highland Games

Where: Thanksgiving Point, Lehi

When: today, 5-10 p.m.;

Saturday, 9 a.m.-10 p.m.

How much: today, adults $7 and children (4-12) $4

Saturday, adults $10 and children $5

Web: www.utahscots.org

Also: Uilleann pipe concert, Sunday, 7:30 p.m., South Valley Unitarian Universalist Society, 6878 S. Highland Drive; $10 suggested donation

THE SCOTTISH FESTIVAL

Kilts will be swirling and pipes will be skirling at the annual Scottish Festival at Thanksgiving Point this weekend.

Events get underway today at 5 p.m. with the Strong Man Contest, a showcase of strength and athleticism. It will be followed by a broken caber auction, a tattoo, preview concerts, dancers and a torchlight Gathering of the Clans, followed by fireworks.

Saturday's activities include:

— Highland Games, which this year will feature the nation's top-ranked Highland athletes as the U.S. National Scottish Heavy Events Championships and the U.S. National Sheaf Toss Championships will be decided. Athletes compete in hammer throw, caber toss, weight for height, sheaf toss, weight for distance and stone putt competitions.

— Highland dancing.

— Pipe and drum competitions.

— A display of British cars.

— An exhibition of Highland cattle, several dog breeds from the British Isles and other animals.

— Lectures on such subjects as the Da Vinci Code, Knights Templar, the Mark of the Scots on Utah and other aspects of Celtic culture.

— Medieval armor and spearing and other activities for kids.

— Models of the battles of Bannnockburn and Culloden.

— Demonstrations of kilt-making, tracing Scottish ancestry, cricket and highland wrestling.

— Entertainment provided by the Wicked Tinkers, David Power & Seth Gallagher, Celtic Country Dancers, Dorian Mirth and others.

SCOTCH vs. SCOTS

Fred Buchanan tells this story:

"Our ship, the MV Eucadia, carrying a cargo of Buchanan's 'Black and White' Scotch Whiskey from Glasgow, entered New York harbor on July 13, 1949. The immigration officer asked me my nationality and I proudly said 'I'm Scottish.' 'Naw,' he responded in a New York twang, 'you're Scatch.' 'I'm Scottish.' 'You're Scatch.' 'I'm Scottish.' 'You're Scatch.' Finally in exasperation, I said, 'Look sir, the Scotch is down in the hold, I'm Scottish.' With a broad grin he welcomed me to the United States of America as a legal immigrant."

SCOTTISH HUMOR

You have to have a sense of humor to eat haggis, play bagpipes and wear a kilt, says Fred Buchanan. Here are a couple of his favorite jokes:

• Prime Minister Blair visits Scotland and tours a Scottish hospital. "What are you here for?" he asks the first patient. "My love is like a red, red rose," the man answers. Blair asks a second man, "And why are you here?" "Should auld acquaintance be forgot, for auld lang syne," says the man. The next man answers the question, "O wad some power the giftie gie us."

Blair turns to the hospital guide and says, "Strange. I didn't realize this was the psychiatric ward!" "It isn't," replies the guide. "It's the serious Burns unit!"

• A Scotsman was shipwrecked on a deserted island. So, the first thing he does is build a house. The next thing he does is build a church. And then, he builds another church. When the rescuers finally came, they said, "we understand the house. We understand the first church, but what's the second church for?" "Oh," said the man. "That's the one I chose not to go to."

UTAH PLACES WITH SCOTTISH NAMES

Murray

Morgan

Taylorsville

Wellsville

Ogden

Monroe

Highland

Perry

Ben Lomond

Alpine

Sutherland

Wilson

Torrey

Randolph

Porterville

Layton

Mona

Richmond

Richville

Elgin

Glendale

Logan

Hunter

Grantsville

Orem

Fillmore

Kearns

Millard

Provo

Willard

Woodruff

Thompson

Tinedale

Roy

Price

Newton

Milton

Bothwell

Bryce

Brigham

Sterling

Stoddard

Source: Research by Robert Gallimore based on Utah road map 2004 and "Tartan For Me!" by Phillip D. Smith.

PROMINENT UTAHNS OF SCOTTISH DESCENT

Calvin Rampton, governor

Scott Matheson, governor

Michael Leavitt, governor

Gunn McKay, congressman

Ted Wilson, Salt Lake City mayor

Frank Moss, U.S. senator

Wayne Owens, congressman

Pamela Atkinson, advocate for homeless

Robert Bennett, U.S. senator

Olene Walker, governor

Robert Redford, actor

The Eccles family, bankers and businessmen

Larry H. Miller, businessman

Source: Research by Robert Gallimore and "Tartan for Me!" by Phillip Smith

LDS CHURCH LEADERS OF SCOTTISH ANCESTRY

Joseph Smith Jr.

Joseph Fielding Smith

Parley P. Pratt

Orson Pratt

John Taylor

Wilford Woodruff

Heber Wells

William McLellan

David Patton

Martin Harris

Heber J. Grant

Willard Richards

Charles Nibley

Harold B. Lee

Matthew Cowley

B.H. Roberts

Ezra Taft Benson

Bruce R. McConkie

Boyd K. Packer

Richard G. Scott

Neal A. Maxwell

Monte J. Brough

Alexander B. Morrison

David O. McKay

Howard Hunter

Source: Research by Robert Gallimore in "Tartan For Me!" by Phillip Smith

USA LEADERSHIP OF SCOTTISH DESCENT

35 Supreme Court justices

Nearly half the secretaries of U.S. Treasury

1/3 of U.S. Secretaries of State

25 of 73 in Great Americans Hall of Fame

21 of 56 Signers of the Declaration of Independence

9 of 13 governors of 13 original states

32 presidents of the United States of America

Source: Robert Gallimore

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

E-mail: carma@desnews.com
© 2009 Deseret News Publishing Company | All rights reserved

Payson's annual Scottish festival draws crowds

2006-07-08T21:28:00.000-06:00

NATALIE EVANS - Daily Herald

A little jig, kilts and bagpipes tunes in the air. White tents in a circle.

This weekend Payson looks like an ancient traveling caravan parked in Memorial Park. For the 24th annual Payson Scottish Festival, 25 vendors parked their campers and rolled up their tent doors to show their wares.

Thirty clans -- family groups -- put up their tents and displayed their family tartans, no matter the distance that it took to travel. Many set up camping tents inside the display tents for Friday night.

"I have to represent the Stewarts in the state of Utah," said Ian Wilson of Nun, Colo. He sat surrounded by his clan tartan, wearing his clan kilt. He said the study of authentic Scottish clothing and wares has taken him 20 years.

Today he'll fight to win for his clan in the Highlander Games, which include tossing various weights and cabers for distance and height.

The games and swords are what bring Payson resident Jason McClain to the festival every year. He does have Scottish blood but doesn't participate.

Sydney Mac Leud Young, a vice president on the Payson Scottish Festival board, said Payson was originally settled by the Scottish.

On Friday, Chandler Billman, 6, surrounded by helmets, chain mail, swords and Celtic knots, found a different world.

"Find the treasure here and you'll be rich!" Billman read off of a business card from a vendor. The words weren't on the card, but minutes later while looking at silver rings lined up in a box, he found what he was looking for.

"Oh my gosh! We are rich! We got the treasure!"

Even if one isn't from Scotland, or Payson, organizers of the festival invite everyone to come and play like Billman.

"Wouldn't you celebrate, too, if you were from Scotland?" Wilson said.

A new part of the festival this year is the expanded children's area. At the picnic tables near the playground, children will be able get their face painted, decorate a crown, make a necklace, design a coat of arms and do several other Celtic activities.

Dancers and music performances will last until closing ceremonies at 4 p.m. The dancers of An Dragan Ceilteachin Riverton come to the Scottish festival every year.

Dancing inspired dancer Ashley Robbins, 14, of South Jordan, to realize that she did have an Irish line.

"It's the funnest exercise you can do," she said.

Natalie Evans is available at 344-2561 or nevans@heraldextra.com
This story appeared in The Daily Herald on page A10.

Lots of Highland high jinks ahead

2006-07-07T14:31:00.000-06:00

Lots of Highland high jinks ahead
2-day Scottish Festival to feature games, food, fun

Published: Wednesday, June 7, 2006 12:37 p.m. MDT
LEHI — Pipers will pipe. Highlanders will step-dance. And the kilts will be plentiful at the Utah Scottish Association's annual Scottish Festival and Highland Games.

The two-day event features the Celtic culture in foods, dance, merchandise, music and merriment, said organizer Robert Gallimore.

"There will be over 70 vendors of Scottish merchandise and food, 37-40 clan tents, Scottish history and lore, Knights Templar lectures and more tartan than one can imagine," Gallimore said.

Medieval band Dorian Mirth, Leaping Lulu and other local bands will perform, as well as the legendary Wicked Tinkers.

There is also a "Da Vinci Code" presentation.

There are displays and interactive demonstrations from the Family History Library of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

On Friday's agenda is a strong-man contest starting at 5:30 p.m. with a broken caber auction directly after, dancing exhibits, mini preview concerts and cannon fire.

The games chieftain will call the clans to gather with a tattoo for a torchlight march to be followed by fireworks.

On Saturday, professional and amateur athletes will compete in a full slate of events, including a pipe band competition, a Highland dance competition, heavy athletics and Highland wrestling matches.

At noon, massed bands of up to 100 pipers and massed clans march and salute.

Highland Games feature an illustrious field of athletes, Gallimore said. Ryan Vierra, current and four-time Pro-World Champion, competes with the top ranked pros, amateurs and women's Highland athletes in the nation. Several competitors in each class rank among the highest-rated athletes in the world.

At stake are the U.S. National Scottish Heavy Events Championships, U.S. National Sheaf Toss Championships and third annual strong man title. Highland games are a decathlon of throwing events demanding power, timing and technique.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

If you go . . .

What: ScotFest 2006, the 31st Annual Scottish Festival and Highland Games

Where: Electric Park, Thanksgiving Point in Lehi

When: Gates open at 5 p.m. Friday, June 9; at 9 a.m. June 10

Cost: Free

Phone: 768-2300

Web: www.utahscots.org

© 2009 Deseret News Publishing Company | All rights reserved

Great Scot! Festival celebrates Scotland's impact on Utah

2006-06-09T17:34:00.000-06:00

One morning Mary Wilson looked out of her Weber County log cabin window and, through the misty clouds, saw a mountain peak that reminded her of one back home. That's how Ben Lomond, one of Utah's most famous mountains and said to be the prototype of the Paramount Pictures logo, got its name.

Sometime around 1875, Ebeneezer Bryce put his cows out to pasture in what is now southern Utah. One cow got lost, and when Bryce went to look for it, he discovered the canyon of intricate red rock formations that bears his name.

"Anthropologists tell us that place names are one of the sure signs that a people or culture has been in a particular place," says Fred Buchanan. If you look at the map of Utah, he says, you will see many examples of places where the Scots have left their mark on Utah. Cities, towns, mountains, canyons and more. There are more than 100 streets with Scottish names in Salt Lake County alone.

And that's not all, he says. If you look at lists of prominent educators, businessmen, church leaders and politicians, you will see a fair representation of folks with Scottish ancestry. Pipe bands, tartans, Highland games, shortbread and scones are also a popular part of local culture. Utah even has its own official tartan, created at the time of the sesquicentennial, using a combination of tartans attributed to the Logan and Skene families, who were early trappers in Cache Valley.

Between 1840 and 1900, approximately 5,000 Scots immigrated to Utah, says Buchanan. "It was not a mass group; they came as individuals, mainly as converts to the LDS Church." Overall, that may not seem like a large group, "but they contributed more than you might expect. They made a difference here in Utah."

Buchanan will be talking about some of those contributions as part of this year's Scottish Festival, which starts tonight and runs through tomorrow at Thanksgiving Point.

Celebrating its 31st year, the festival will include traditional Scottish foods, dancing, athletics, music, clan gatherings and more. It's for anyone with any Scottish heritage or anyone who likes Scottish culture or wants to learn more about Scottish culture, says Robert Gallimore, director of publicity for the Utah Scottish Association.

"We hope people will come and get a sense of the warmth and hospitality that are trademarks of the Scots. They are warm and embrasive people who share camaraderie, tell wonderful stories. We'll also showcase athleticism. Utah has some of the top-ranked Highland Games athletes in the country.

"If you're not a Scot, you can come be a Scot for a day."

The festival, begun in 1975, grew out of an innate desire to preserve and celebrate Scottish identity, says Buchanan. His own quest to do that began when he arrived in this country as a 17-year-old.

A few years later, while a student at the University of Utah, he was assigned to do a paper on contributions of non-English settlers in the founding of America.

"When I said I would do one of the Scots, professor David Miller responded, 'Oh, did they really make a significant contribution?' With that challenge, I was off and running, and here I am, half a century later, still trying to assess the mark of the Scots on Utah — and not incidentally, trying to educate people of the difference between England and Scotland."

Nationwide, about 5.8 million people claim Scottish ancestry; about 99,000 are in Utah, Buchanan says. Famous Scottish Americans range from Andrew Carnegie to Alexander Graham Bell, Robert Frost, Deborah Kerr and the Pinkertons. Famous Scottish Utahns include the Eccles family, David O. McKay, the Mathesons, John MacFarlane, Sterling McMurrin and David Kennedy.

Even Joseph Smith's great-grandfather was from Inverness, Buchanan says. But, he cautions, you can get carried away with tracing heritage. "Some people claim Marconi, the inventor of radio, was a Scot because his mother was Scottish. But did he get more from her or from his Italian father? Who can say? I always say if you claim too much, you can get blamed too much."

Still, he says, the mark of the Scots on Utah is real and important. "The first book of poetry, the first millionaire, the first Sunday school, the first midwife, the first golf course all came from Scots."

The missionaries and teachers of the Presbyterian and Congregationalists churches made important contributions in education, says Buchanan. Duncan McMillan, for example, founded the Wasatch Academy in Mt. Pleasant.

In business, David Eccles rose from a firewood seller to become Utah's first millionaire. Charles Nibley was a sugar and lumber entrepreneur (he also introduced the game of golf to the state). In more recent times, there have been Morrison's Scottish Meat Pies and Cummings chocolates.

In the arts, David MacKenzie was a thespian at the Salt Lake Theater. John Lyon tutored Maude Adams in elocution. Mable Frazer and LeConte Stewart excelled at visual arts; Thomas MacIntyre, John M. MacFarlane and LeRoi Robertson at music.

In politics, "Calvin Rampton and Scott Matheson attributed much of their success to their Scottish roots," says Buchanan. And, he adds, "it was no accident that it was David O. McKay who gave the LDS Church and, consequently, Utah an international dimension."

Scots are sometimes stereotyped for their thriftiness, Buchanan says. "But they are also known for traits such as hard work, generosity, common sense, seriousness of purpose, inventiveness, democratic and communitarian feelings and, withal, a wry sense of humor."

Ultimately, he says, "The main cultural contribution of Scots was what was in their heads not in their pockets or in their wagons."

And that's why he, and others, work to keep the appreciation of Scottish contributions and Scottish culture alive in Utah.

For Buchanan, now retired as a professor of education history at the University of Utah and the unofficial local authority on Scottish history, he still identifies with the words of Robert Burns:

"No nation, no station
My envy ere could raise.
A Scot still, A Scot still,
I knew nae higher praise."

If you go

What: 31st Annual Scottish Festival and Highland Games
Where: Thanksgiving Point, Lehi
When: today, 5-10 p.m.;
Saturday, 9 a.m.-10 p.m.
How much: today, adults $7 and children (4-12) $4
Saturday, adults $10 and children $5
Web: www.utahscots.org
Also: Uilleann pipe concert, Sunday, 7:30 p.m., South Valley Unitarian Universalist Society, 6878 S. Highland Drive; $10 suggested donation

THE SCOTTISH FESTIVAL

Kilts will be swirling and pipes will be skirling at the annual Scottish Festival at Thanksgiving Point this weekend.

Events get underway today at 5 p.m. with the Strong Man Contest, a showcase of strength and athleticism. It will be followed by a broken caber auction, a tattoo, preview concerts, dancers and a torchlight Gathering of the Clans, followed by fireworks.

Saturday's activities include:

— Highland Games, which this year will feature the nation's top-ranked Highland athletes as the U.S. National Scottish Heavy Events Championships and the U.S. National Sheaf Toss Championships will be decided. Athletes compete in hammer throw, caber toss, weight for height, sheaf toss, weight for distance and stone putt competitions.
— Highland dancing.
— Pipe and drum competitions.
— A display of British cars.
— An exhibition of Highland cattle, several dog breeds from the British Isles and other animals.
— Lectures on such subjects as the Da Vinci Code, Knights Templar, the Mark of the Scots on Utah and other aspects of Celtic culture.
— Medieval armor and spearing and other activities for kids.
— Models of the battles of Bannnockburn and Culloden.
— Demonstrations of kilt-making, tracing Scottish ancestry, cricket and highland wrestling.
— Entertainment provided by the Wicked Tinkers, David Power & Seth Gallagher, Celtic Country Dancers, Dorian Mirth and others.

SCOTCH vs. SCOTS

Fred Buchanan tells this story:

"Our ship, the MV Eucadia, carrying a cargo of Buchanan's 'Black and White' Scotch Whiskey from Glasgow, entered New York harbor on July 13, 1949. The immigration officer asked me my nationality and I proudly said 'I'm Scottish.' 'Naw,' he responded in a New York twang, 'you're Scatch.' 'I'm Scottish.' 'You're Scatch.' 'I'm Scottish.' 'You're Scatch.' Finally in exasperation, I said, 'Look sir, the Scotch is down in the hold, I'm Scottish.' With a broad grin he welcomed me to the United States of America as a legal immigrant."

SCOTTISH HUMOR

You have to have a sense of humor to eat haggis, play bagpipes and wear a kilt, says Fred Buchanan. Here are a couple of his favorite jokes:

• Prime Minister Blair visits Scotland and tours a Scottish hospital. "What are you here for?" he asks the first patient. "My love is like a red, red rose," the man answers. Blair asks a second man, "And why are you here?" "Should auld acquaintance be forgot, for auld lang syne," says the man. The next man answers the question, "O wad some power the giftie gie us."
Blair turns to the hospital guide and says, "Strange. I didn't realize this was the psychiatric ward!" "It isn't," replies the guide. "It's the serious Burns unit!"

• A Scotsman was shipwrecked on a deserted island. So, the first thing he does is build a house. The next thing he does is build a church. And then, he builds another church. When the rescuers finally came, they said, "we understand the house. We understand the first church, but what's the second church for?" "Oh," said the man. "That's the one I chose not to go to."

UTAH PLACES WITH SCOTTISH NAMES
Murray
Morgan
Taylorsville
Wellsville
Ogden
Monroe
Highland
Perry
Ben Lomond
Alpine
Sutherland
Wilson
Torrey
Randolph
Porterville
Layton
Mona
Richmond
Richville
Elgin
Glendale
Logan
Hunter
Grantsville
Orem
Fillmore
Kearns
Millard
Provo
Willard
Woodruff
Thompson
Tinedale
Roy
Price
Newton
Milton
Bothwell
Bryce
Brigham
Sterling
Stoddard

Source: Research by Robert Gallimore based on Utah road map 2004 and "Tartan For Me!" by Phillip D. Smith.

PROMINENT UTAHNS OF SCOTTISH DESCENT
Calvin Rampton, governor
Scott Matheson, governor
Michael Leavitt, governor
Gunn McKay, congressman
Ted Wilson, Salt Lake City mayor
Frank Moss, U.S. senator
Wayne Owens, congressman
Pamela Atkinson, advocate for homeless
Robert Bennett, U.S. senator
Olene Walker, governor
Robert Redford, actor
The Eccles family, bankers and businessmen
Larry H. Miller, businessman
Source: Research by Robert Gallimore and "Tartan for Me!" by Phillip Smith

LDS CHURCH LEADERS OF SCOTTISH ANCESTRY
Joseph Smith Jr.
Joseph Fielding Smith
Parley P. Pratt
Orson Pratt
John Taylor
Wilford Woodruff
Heber Wells
William McLellan
David Patton
Martin Harris
Heber J. Grant
Willard Richards
Charles Nibley
Harold B. Lee
Matthew Cowley
B.H. Roberts
Ezra Taft Benson
Bruce R. McConkie
Boyd K. Packer
Richard G. Scott
Neal A. Maxwell
Monte J. Brough
Alexander B. Morrison
David O. McKay
Howard Hunter
Source: Research by Robert Gallimore in "Tartan For Me!" by Phillip Smith

USA LEADERSHIP OF SCOTTISH DESCENT
35 Supreme Court justices
Nearly half the secretaries of U.S. Treasury
1/3 of U.S. Secretaries of State
25 of 73 in Great Americans Hall of Fame
21 of 56 Signers of the Declaration of Independence
9 of 13 governors of 13 original states
32 presidents of the United States of America
Source: Robert Gallimore

By Carma Wadley
Deseret Morning News

Lots of Highland high jinks ahead

2006-06-08T13:51:00.000-06:00

2-day Scottish Festival to feature games, food, fun

LEHI — Pipers will pipe. Highlanders will step-dance. And the kilts will be plentiful at the Utah Scottish Association's annual Scottish Festival and Highland Games.

The two-day event features the Celtic culture in foods, dance, merchandise, music and merriment, said organizer Robert Gallimore.

"There will be over 70 vendors of Scottish merchandise and food, 37-40 clan tents, Scottish history and lore, Knights Templar lectures and more tartan than one can imagine," Gallimore said.

Medieval band Dorian Mirth, Leaping Lulu and other local bands will perform, as well as the legendary Wicked Tinkers.

There is also a "Da Vinci Code" presentation.

There are displays and interactive demonstrations from the Family History Library of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

On Friday's agenda is a strong-man contest starting at 5:30 p.m. with a broken caber auction directly after, dancing exhibits, mini preview concerts and cannon fire.

The games chieftain will call the clans to gather with a tattoo for a torchlight march to be followed by fireworks.

On Saturday, professional and amateur athletes will compete in a full slate of events, including a pipe band competition, a Highland dance competition, heavy athletics and Highland wrestling matches.

At noon, massed bands of up to 100 pipers and massed clans march and salute.

Highland Games feature an illustrious field of athletes, Gallimore said. Ryan Vierra, current and four-time Pro-World Champion, competes with the top ranked pros, amateurs and women's Highland athletes in the nation. Several competitors in each class rank among the highest-rated athletes in the world.

At stake are the U.S. National Scottish Heavy Events Championships, U.S. National Sheaf Toss Championships and third annual strong man title. Highland games are a decathlon of throwing events demanding power, timing and technique.

Pipe dreams: Wasatch & District Pipe Band to perform 'A Heritage to Remember'

2006-05-10T21:30:00.000-06:00

Pipe dreams: Wasatch & District Pipe Band to perform 'A Heritage to Remember'
KATE MCNEIL - Daily Herald

If you enjoy the solo bagpiper who frequents the conference center, then get set for a plethora of plaid and pipes in Utah County on Friday.

Wasatch & District Pipe Band, a 35-member bagpipe and drum ensemble, will perform "A Heritage to Remember" at UVSC's Ragan Theatre on Friday night at 7:30.

"If you like bagpipes, you're going to love it," said Andrew Morrill, pipe major.

The pipe band just returned from the Woodland games in Sacramento where it placed third in the quick march medley. It also captured first in the timed medley, beating the previously undefeated Misty Isles band from Southern California.

"The morale is very high right now," said Mike Postma, drum sergeant. "We're very excited for the concert."

Decked in the traditional Scottish garb -- kilts, knee-highs with ghillie brouge shoes, a military white shirt and black tie, and topped off with Glengarry hats -- the Wasatch & District Pipe Band will play traditional marches, reels, jigs and modern beats at the one-hour performance.

The band's plaid, the MacTavish tartan, is also a sight to be seen.

"None of us are of the MacTavish clan," drum sergeant Mike Postma admits. "We just thought it was the best-looking one."

Several Scottish dancers will accompany the pipes and drums to create a night of Celtic connection.

"It will be a good dose of different kinds of Scottish music," piper Megan McDonald said. "It's our goal to promote our heritage through music."

With that heritage, comes some stereotypes. To poke fun of those, Morrill revealed a secret plan for the performance.

"For the first time we're going to try to sing a Scottish drinking song," he said. "None of us drink, but we're still going to sing it. It should be fun."

A bagpipe teacher at Bountiful High School, Morrill has been playing the pipes for 30 years. Like many members of the group, Morrill is of Scottish descent and wishes to continue the traditions of his ancestors.

"It's our heritage remembered," he said, "we're playing to remember the people who came before us."

In contrast, Postma does not have Scottish blood -- at least not that he knows of.

"If you trace your family tree long enough, you'll find a link somewhere," Postma said.

Drums in a pipe band work to complement and accentuate bagpipe rhythms. After intermission, Postma says the drum line will perform a drum salute, something it rarely gets to do in competitions.

"Concerts are fun because we can throw in more flavor and variety with the smaller, melodic pipes and drum salutes," Postma said.

In its two years of playing, Wasatch & District Pipe Band has competed extensively. This past October, it joined the Mormon Tabernacle Choir and Utah Symphony in "A Celtic Celebration," an O.C. Tanner Gift of Music Concert. It has competed in several summer Highland games all over the West from San Diego to Payson to Jackson Hole, Wyo.

The group was formed almost two years ago and members range in age from 15 to 50. Group members live along the Wasatch Front -- from Bountiful to Payson. They practice once a week at Bountiful High School.

If You Go

Watach & District Pipe Band

Where: Ragan Theatre, on the campus of Utah Valley State College

When: Friday, 7:30 p.m.

Cost: $5 students/seniors; $7 adults; $15 family in advance; $1 extra at the door

Info: 856-2332, www.wdpb.org

Freemasons Universal Tartan

2006-03-27T14:31:00.000-07:00

3/27/2006

In 2004, The Grand Lodge of Utah sponsored the design and production of a Tartan fabric that would represent Freemasonry in Utah as well as elsewhere. Scottish Tartan plaids have been used for centuries by Scottish clans as a means of identifying and unifying families across the country. This tartan was designed with the family of Freemasonry in mind.

Anne Carroll Gilmour, an internationally known weaver specializing in traditional Scottish Tartan weaving, designed the pattern and submitted it to the Scottish Tartans Authority in Perthshire, Scotland for registration. The pattern was deemed unique and the Registration Certificate issued. A mill near Edinburgh was then commissioned to weave the cloth in bulk.

The colors in the cloth were carefully chosen to represent the various Masonic family organizations including but not limited to the Blue Lodge, Scottish Rite, York Rite, Shrine of North America, Job’s Daughters International, DeMolay International, Order of the Eastern Star, Daughters of the Nile and et cetera.

The main field of blue in a prominent pivotal position represents the dome of the universe as in Blue Lodge Masonry. The dominance of royal purple in the opposite pivotal field represents Scottish Rite Masonry, York Rite Masonry, Job’s Daughters International and many other Masonic organizations. The prominent red cross carries with it much symbolism used throughout Masonry. You will also see represented the colors of the five points of the Eastern Star, red, white, blue, green and gold/yellow as well as related colors connected with the Social Order of the Beauceants, the White Shrine of Jerusalem, the Daughter’s of the Nile and many others.

As a Scottish family’s unique tartan represents that family throughout the world, so too does the Freemason’s Universal Tartan represent the family of Freemasonry and its goals to make this world a better place to live in.

Obituary: Joseph Prior

2006-02-16T21:31:00.000-07:00

Joseph Prior, 87 years of age, beloved husband, father, grandfather, and great grandfather peacefully returned home on Tuesday morning, February 14, 2006, at his home in Provo, Utah. Born in Dundee, Scotland on October 19, 1918, Joseph was the sixth of eight children born to John Prior and Elizabeth Cahill Prior. He was so proud of his Scottish heritage. He served his country in the British Armed forces in World War II, fighting for our freedom. He was one of 350,000 British troops rescued from the beaches of Dunkirk, France. During the war, he met his beloved Elsie Isobel Beattie in Bangor, County Down, Northern Ireland, and "it was love at first sight." They were married on April 14, 1941, Conlig, Northern Ireland. Three daughters were born to them.

On October 24, 1950, in Bangor, Elders Dallas Burnett and Glade Calder introduced themselves to Joseph and were invited into his home where he and his wife accepted the restored gospel of Jesus Christ, for which their family will be eternally grateful. Joseph and Elsie were baptized on April 21, 1951. They emigrated to Canada and settled in Montreal where Joseph worked as an aerospace engineer. He and his wife and daughters were sealed in the Salt Lake Temple on August 18, 1960. Joseph had two great loves in his life: his family and missionary work. He taught the gospel at home, at church, at street meetings, at work, and to whomever would listen. He and his beloved Elsie served as full time missionaries, assigned to the Utah Salt Lake North Mission, Temple Square, from April 1985 to October 1986, remaining thereafter to do volunteer work. They later moved to Provo, Utah to be near their daughters and their grandchildren.

Joseph has spent the final years of his life in loving service to his wife, Elsie. He will be remembered for this great example of eternal love and service. His family has followed his legacy and preached the gospel to the four corners of the earth. By the example of his missionary zeal and legacy, his children and grandchildren have served 16 missions, including Elder Jed Sybrowsky, currently serving in the California Fresno Mission. He will be missed dearly by his beloved wife, family, friends, and all who knew him. We have no doubt that his missionary skills will continue to be greatly utilized.

He was preceded in death by his parents, his daughter Anne, and six siblings. He is survived by his wife of almost 65 years, Elsie Isobel Beattie Prior; by daughters, Elsie (Bill) Bancroft and Lynne (Paul) Sybrowsky; by 21 grandchildren; by 35 great-grandchildren; by his brother Albert (Margaret); and by many nieces and nephews.

Funeral services will be held on Monday, February 20, 2006, at 11 a.m. at the Edgemont 4th Ward Chapel, 4000 North Timpview Drive, Provo. A viewing will be held at the Walker Sanderson Funeral Home, 646 East 800 North, Orem, Sunday evening, February 19, 2006, from 7-9 p.m. and at the Edgemont 4th Ward Chapel on Monday, February 20, 2006 from 10-10:45 a.m. Interment will be in the East Lawn Cemetery following the funeral services.

In lieu of flowers, please make donations to the LDS Missionary Fund.

Condolences may be sent to the family at: www.walkerfamilymortuaries.com.
This story appeared in The Daily Herald on page D4.

A Scottish celebration

2006-01-18T14:30:00.000-07:00

A Scottish celebration
Published: Wednesday, Jan. 18, 2006 12:38 p.m. MST
The Utah Scottish Association will "take a cup o' kindness yet, for auld lang syne" at this year's Burns Night Celebration. The event, which will be held Saturday, Jan. 28, beginning at 6 p.m., will feature live music, Scottish dancing, a silent auction and a Scottish feast. It will be held at First Presbyterian Church, 12 N. C Street in Salt Lake City.

Tickets are $25 per person and must be purchased by Jan. 21 by calling 278-6798 or online at www.utahscots.org. No tickets will be sold at the door. Wear kilts if you've got them, or best dress. For more details and a complete menu and entertainment schedule, visit the Web site.
© 2009 Deseret News Publishing Company | All rights reserved

Obituary: David Darrel Barclay

2005-12-09T14:28:00.000-07:00

Obituary: David Darrel Barclay
Published: Friday, Dec. 9, 2005 4:14 p.m. MST
David Darrel Barclay 1929 ~ 2005 David Darrel Barclay, 76, passed away December 5, 2005, in Salt Lake City, Utah, due to heart failure. He was born October 30, 1929 in Salt Lake City, Utah to Robert and Jane Dougan Barclay. David graduated from West High School. He served an honorable mission for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in Great Britain from 1950 -1952. After returning from the mission field, he was drafted into the United States Army. David married Marie Haws, January 19, 1953, and later divorced. They had three sons, David, John and Jim. He followed the upholstery trade for 15 years and then began a long career with the Postal Service as a clerk at the Bountiful City Post Office. He married Virginia Kay Seiter January 12, 1971 and added another son, Bruce. At the age of seven, David learned to play the bagpipes at this grandfather's knee demonstrating a natural ability. He loved playing the bagpipes, it was the light of his life, and passed this heritage on to all of his children, grandchildren and many others. He was a life long member of the Utah Pipe Band. He was instrumental in forming the Utah Scottish Association and served as President and in numerous other leadership positions in this organization. David was an active member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and held many positions in the Church. He was a loving husband, father, grandfather, and great-grandfather. He is survived by his wife, Virginia; his children, David, John (Shelly), Jim, and Bruce (Angela); 18 grandchildren, five great-grandchildren. He is also survived by his sisters, Mary Afton Morrill (Duane), and Juanita Martin Wainwright (Bruce). Preceded in death by his parents and brother, Robert Andrew Barclay. Funeral services will be held Saturday, December 10, 2005 at 11 a.m. at the Orchard 6th Ward Chapel, 3599 South Orchard Drive, Bountiful, Utah. Friends and family may call Friday evening from 6 - 8 p.m. at the Russon Brothers Bountiful Mortuary, 295 North Main and Saturday morning from 9:45 - 10:45 a.m. at the church prior to services. Interment-Lakeview Cemetery. Online guest book at www.russonmortuary.com. © 2009 Deseret News Publishing Company | All rights reserved

Obituary: David Darrel Barclay

2005-12-08T21:24:00.000-07:00

David Darrel Barclay 1929 ~ 2005 David Darrel Barclay, 76, passed away December 5, 2005, in Salt Lake City, Utah, due to heart failure. He was born October 30, 1929 in Salt Lake City, Utah to Robert and Jane Dougan Barclay. David graduated from West High School. He served an honorable mission for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in Great Britain from 1950 -1952. After returning from the mission field, he was drafted into the United States Army. David married Marie Haws, January 19, 1953, and later divorced. They had three sons, David, John and Jim. He followed the upholstery trade for 15 years and then began a long career with the Postal Service as a clerk at the Bountiful City Post Office. He married Virginia Kay Seiter January 12, 1971 and added another son, Bruce. At the age of seven, David learned to play the bagpipes at this grandfather's knee demonstrating a natural ability. He loved playing the bagpipes, it was the light of his life, and passed this heritage on to all of his children, grandchildren and many others. He was a life long member of the Utah Pipe Band. He was instrumental in forming the Utah Scottish Association and served as President and in numerous other leadership positions in this organization. David was an active member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and held many positions in the Church. He was a loving husband, father, grandfather, and great-grandfather. He is survived by his wife, Virginia; his children, David, John (Shelly), Jim, and Bruce (Angela); 18 grandchildren, five great-grandchildren. He is also survived by his sisters, Mary Afton Morrill (Duane), and Juanita Martin Wainwright (Bruce). Preceded in death by his parents and brother, Robert Andrew Barclay. Funeral services will be held Saturday, December 10, 2005 at 11 a.m. at the Orchard 6th Ward Chapel, 3599 South Orchard Drive, Bountiful, Utah. Friends and family may call Friday evening from 6 - 8 p.m. at the Russon Brothers Bountiful Mortuary, 295 North Main and Saturday morning from 9:45 - 10:45 a.m. at the church prior to services. Interment-Lakeview Cemetery. Online guest book at www.russonmortuary.com.
Published in the Salt Lake Tribune on 12/8/2005.

Payson fest lures fans of all things Scottish

2005-09-07T14:27:00.000-06:00

Payson fest lures fans of all things Scottish
By Rodger L. Hardy
Deseret Morning News
Published: Saturday, July 9, 2005 9:46 p.m. MDT
PAYSON — Folks with Scottish heritage or with a love of the tartan converged on the 22nd annual Scottish Festival on Saturday.

About 10,000 people came to the one-day event last year, and early signs indicated that this year the event may be even more popular, festival vice president Syndey Young said.

"It gets bigger and bigger all the time," she said.

The tartan — that plaid design that anciently identified the various clans — was everywhere as folks proudly paraded their heritage in Payson's Memorial Park. The Highland Games dominated the attention of many festivalgoers as events that date back centuries took place.

Irish and Scottish dance and eight pipe bands kept attendees entertained throughout the day.

It was the first visit to the festival for brothers Dave and Mark Daymont of Pleasant Grove. Their surname is French, Dave Daymont said, but they also hail from the McGregors and the McKnights.

"Of course Scottish things are cool, anyway," he said.

They came to drink in the atmosphere, the music, the dance and the displays.

"It's almost like a fraternity," Mark Daymont said.

Among the booths was the Utah Scottish Association.

"We always support (the festival)," association president Dodd Greer said. "We help people identify their clans. It's all about clan and family."

It was also about peddling Scottish — and Irish — wares. The festival had 24 vendors, the most ever, Young said. The festival committee puts on the event for less than $10,000, she said, and raises money with food booths and from renting out booth space. Volunteers make it possible, she added. The city doesn't sponsor the event but supports it with assistance from the parks and recreation, power and police departments, she said.

Although the festival spun off from the Payson High School pipe band years ago, Payson has a Scottish heritage, Jay McClellan said. Born in Payson, but now living in Sandy, he manned the McClellan booth, one of 35 clan booths at the festival. He was dressed in full Scottish regalia.

His grandfather, William Carroll McClellan, and great-grandfather, Jay McClellan were among the early settlers of the town, he said. William Carroll McClellan was also a member of the Mormon Battalion.

Nearby, Robin Bemis took charge of the Young Clan booth. Born a Young but then adopted by his stepfather, Bemis said he was encouraged to search out his ancestors. He didn't find early Utah leader Brigham Young in his family tree, but he did learn about his heritage.

A Vernal teacher, he passes that information on to his students when they are learning about their heritage. On Scottish holidays or back-to-school nights he'll wear his kilt.

"By the end of the year the kids know what a kilt is," he said.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

E-mail: rodger@desnews.com
© 2009 Deseret News Publishing Company | All rights reserved

Sheep Dog Trials

2005-09-02T21:33:00.000-06:00

On the field, below a crowd of hundreds, stands a woman and her border collie.

The dog is poised and ready, the owner frozen. Suddenly, the owner's hand drops and the dog darts away, sprinting the length of four football fields in less than a minute, to where a group of five ewes are waiting.

Then the fun begins.

Sixty championship sheepdogs and their owners gathered at Soldier Hollow in Midway on Friday for the first of four days of trials to determine which dog, obeying shouts and whistles from their owner, can best herd a group of five sheep through a complex course of challenges.

Dogs and owners came from around the world for the invitation-only Soldier Hollow Classic International Sheepdog Championship: South Africa, New Zealand, England, Scotland, Wales, Ireland, Canada. Three Utahns competed, including Karen Stanley of Eagle Mountain, who is also the president of the Utah Stockdog Association.

"I thought Meg did a good job for me this morning," she said of her 3-year-old border collie, one of three Stanley owns and the first she has trained for sheep herding.

"She went out and found the sheep and brought them to me with not a whole lot of trouble," she said. "She started to experience some stubbornness from the sheep on the drive away, but she took every command I gave her. She was trying so hard to keep them moving, and they are really hard to move. The dog has to get behind them and push them with their presence and their eye."

Dogs are judged on their form as they run up the hillside to find the sheep, how well they bring the sheep down in a straight line, passing them between two panels, around a pole where the owner stands, going back up the hill to pass between two more panels, turning the sheep to take them through a third set of panels, bringing them back to the owner, separating one sheep from the herd, then herding all the sheep inside an 8-foot by 8-foot pen.

All in under 13 minutes.

Of about 37 dogs that competed on Friday, less than half even completed the course. Some were disqualified -- one never found the sheep to begin with, another ran the sheep far off the course, losing them in a field of deep rye. Many owners simply "retired," withdrawing their dog from the competition when the dog overheated.

Some dogs completed the course but received scores only in the 30s or 40s out of 100 because they ran out of time moments before they could get the sheep into the tiny pen. Many of the groups of five Rambouillet ewes -- part of 300 trucked in especially from Fountain Green -- ran around the panels instead of between them, costing the dog and owner points. Each time a dog was successful at getting the sheep through the panels, the crowd applauded, setting aside their ice cream and slush drinks.

Each time the dog failed, there were congenial sighs.

The more they watched, the more nail-biting and addicting the competition became.

At about 4:30 p.m., after the last dog finished, the daily purse was handed out to the owners whose dogs brought in top scores: $1,000 for first place, $400 for second, $300 for third. Those amounts will be awarded to daily winners again today and Sunday.

On Labor Day the competition will culminate with a grand championship, the winner coming away with $7,000. Second place will take $3,000 and $1,500 for third.

But for the competitors, it isn't money at stake. It's honor.

"The dog is your right hand," Stanley said. "The level of teamwork you have with the dog is just phenomenal -- it feels like poetry. It just feels so good when it's right."

"The competition is tough here, with so many good handlers, especially the ladies," said Calvin Jones, who flew in with his dog, Rob, from Ammanford, Wales. Jones was the 2004 Welsh National Champion.

"I've always had border collies," he said. "I've hunted them in fox hunts for years. My father still competes in sheepdog competitions in Wales and he's 83."

He pauses, a glint in his eye. "I used to play rugby but got too old," he says in his thick accent. "This is the next best thing."

Michael Longton, the 2004 English National Champion from Lancastershire, England, is a fourth generation sheepdog owner. His family tends 500 sheep at their farm, Rootenbrook. At age 24, Longton is one of the youngest sheepdog champions in English history.

"It just feels like when you start doing something, you want to be the best you can be," he said quietly, eyes downcast. "You try to be better and better. Probably it takes a long time to get to the top, but I was lucky enough to do it quite reasonably quickly."

He pauses. "It would be quite a big thing to win this."

The Soldier Hollow Classic International Sheepdog Championship begins at 8 a.m. Saturday and Sunday and 8:30 a.m. on Labor Day, ending in the late afternoon each day. In addition to timed sheepdog trials, there are strongman demonstrations; bagpipe performances; Scottish Highland games; a petting zoo for children; and the Natural Fiber Festival, including a Navajo rug sale and spinning, weaving and knitting demonstrations.

Admission today and Sunday is $10 for adults, $9 for seniors, $6 for children ages 6-16, and free for children under five. Admission to the grand championships on Labor Day is $12 for adults, $10 for seniors, $6 children 6-16 and free for children five and under.

Coupons for $2 off can be found at Smith's, Intermountain Farmers Association stores, Diamond Rental and Bank of the West. Hats and umbrellas are recommended. Bleachers are available, though lawn chairs are welcome. Dogs and other pets are not allowed.

Soldier Hollow is located at 2002 Olympic Drive, Midway. From Provo, take U.S. 189 through Provo Canyon. Immediately at the end of Deer Creek Reservoir, turn left on Route 113 and follow signs to Soldier Hollow.

Payson fest lures fans of all things Scottish

2005-07-10T21:07:00.000-06:00

Deseret News (Salt Lake City), Jul 10, 2005 by Rodger L. Hardy Deseret Morning News

PAYSON -- Folks with Scottish heritage or with a love of the tartan converged on the 22nd annual Scottish Festival on Saturday.

About 10,000 people came to the one-day event last year, and early signs indicated that this year the event may be even more popular, festival vice president Syndey Young said.

"It gets bigger and bigger all the time," she said.

The tartan -- that plaid design that anciently identified the various clans -- was everywhere as folks proudly paraded their heritage in Payson's Memorial Park. The Highland Games dominated the attention of many festivalgoers as events that date back centuries took place.

Irish and Scottish dance and eight pipe bands kept attendees entertained throughout the day.

It was the first visit to the festival for brothers Dave and Mark Daymont of Pleasant Grove. Their surname is French, Dave Daymont said, but they also hail from the McGregors and the McKnights.

"Of course Scottish things are cool, anyway," he said.

They came to drink in the atmosphere, the music, the dance and the displays.

"It's almost like a fraternity," Mark Daymont said.

Among the booths was the Utah Scottish Association.

"We always support (the festival)," association president Dodd Greer said. "We help people identify their clans. It's all about clan and family."

It was also about peddling Scottish -- and Irish -- wares. The festival had 24 vendors, the most ever, Young said. The festival committee puts on the event for less than $10,000, she said, and raises money with food booths and from renting out booth space. Volunteers make it possible, she added. The city doesn't sponsor the event but supports it with assistance from the parks and recreation, power and police departments, she said.

Although the festival spun off from the Payson High School pipe band years ago, Payson has a Scottish heritage, Jay McClellan said. Born in Payson, but now living in Sandy, he manned the McClellan booth, one of 35 clan booths at the festival. He was dressed in full Scottish regalia.

His grandfather, William Carroll McClellan, and great- grandfather, Jay McClellan were among the early settlers of the town, he said. William Carroll McClellan was also a member of the Mormon Battalion.

Nearby, Robin Bemis took charge of the Young Clan booth. Born a Young but then adopted by his stepfather, Bemis said he was encouraged to search out his ancestors. He didn't find early Utah leader Brigham Young in his family tree, but he did learn about his heritage.

A Vernal teacher, he passes that information on to his students when they are learning about their heritage. On Scottish holidays or back-to-school nights he'll wear his kilt.

"By the end of the year the kids know what a kilt is," he said.

E-mail: rodger@desnews.com

Copyright C 2005 Deseret News Publishing Co.
Provided by ProQuest Information and Learning Company. All rights Reserved.

You'll have a plaid time

2005-07-04T14:23:00.000-06:00

You'll have a plaid time
Published: Thursday, April 7, 2005 2:19 p.m. MDT
The Utah Scots will hold their annual Tartan Ball and Banquet on Saturday, 7 p.m., at Thanksgiving Point, Lehi.

Highland attire or Tartan accessories are suggested but not required, for what the group considers their "formal dress event" of the year.

Tickets are $35 for Utah Scottish Association members, $25 for children of members or $40 each for nonmembers. Purchase tickets online at www.utahscots.org/utah.html.
© 2009 Deseret News Publishing Company | All rights reserved

Great Scots: Highland Games test skill, strength of competitors

2005-06-03T21:45:00.000-06:00

Great Scots: Highland Games test skill, strength of competitors
Carma Wadley Deseret Morning News

Back in the far reaches of Scottish history, qualities such as strength, determination and fierce competitiveness were not only desirable, they were essential -- if one were to fight off invaders, overcome warring clans and survive daily life in general.

Those traditions have come down through the ages, manifest today in Highland Games competitions, which are held not only in Scotland but also in other parts of the world.

Kilted competitors get together to test their strength and skill in contests that involve throwing various weights for distance, height and accuracy. Most familiar is probably the caber toss, in which athletes heft a "telephone pole" around the field. Other events include shot-put-like tosses of stones and weights, and the tossing of various weights over a bar.

Most of the games involve a skill that would have been useful in battle, said Jeff Loosle, a Utah Highland gamer, who holds the world record in the master's class (over age 40) weight-over-bar event. "These are among the oldest games in the world."

Some legends trace the origins back to the period of Roman invasion in the second and third centuries, when Scottish warriors were said to have displayed their bravery and strength by performing feats of skill in front of the opposing army. Others say they were informal athletic tests that enabled clan chiefs and kings to examine the skills of their clansmen.

"Some say the first official Highland Games were held after Robert the Bruce returned from fighting the English. The games were a victory celebration," said Loosle, who enjoys the historic aspect of the games and sees how these skills would have been useful. Take the sheath toss, for example, which involves using a pitchfork to toss a bag of hay over a pole. Light that bag on fire and toss it over a castle wall, and you could do some serious damage, notes Loosle.

And there's the caber (caber is Gaelic for pole) toss. "They say foresters used to throw cabers across creeks they had to cross," he explained. "If they threw it accurately, one side would land on the other side of the creek, and they could walk over with dry feet. If you were a lousy thrower, you got wet feet."

As fun as the history is, however, the competition and the camaraderie among the athletes is equally exciting, said Loosle, and it's very easy to get hooked on it. "It starts as fun. Then it becomes a passion," he joked. "And then you become obsessed. That's like me."

On a recent Saturday, Loosle and several of his fellow gamers held a minigames practice session for the upcoming Highland Games that will be part of the Scottish Festival, which will be held at Thanksgiving Point Thursday through June 11.

At the festival, a Strong Man demonstration will be held on June 10, beginning at 5 p.m. The games will be held on June 11, beginning at 9 a.m. "We'll have about 75 participants in 10 different classes, which will make them the largest games ever held in Utah," said Loosle.

Those games will attract athletes from all over the country, including both amateur and professional competitors ("yes, there are a few people who actually make a living doing this," said Loosle).

In Scotland, "they say the games are so popular that you could leave one competition and drive to another and never run out," but surprising numbers of games are held in this country. "A lot of people consider Utah one of the best places in the country for the games," said Loosle. The annual Scottish Festival is the biggest event of the year, but "we have about 18 competitions a year."

There are about 60 "hard-core" athletes in Utah, he said, and new ones that come out each time. And they also travel to games in other states.

Loosle's world record, for example, was set at a competition in Sacramento in April. "That was pretty exciting," he admitted. "The top seven pros in the world were there -- and those guys are my heroes. So, to do it with them there was almost as fun as breaking the record." His record stands at 18-feet, 3-inches. "I'd been trying to hit 17 feet, and finally made it on my third attempt. So I decided to go for it, and cleared it on my second attempt at 18-3."

Loosle has been competing for "nine or 10 years now." He was introduced to the games in Richfield. "My mom and dad are very Scottish (with connections to the Stewart, Campbell and McDonald clans), and Richfield was holding a Scottish Festival, and they wanted me to come. I went to see the bagpipers, and they were cool. I saw the dancers, and they were fun. And then I saw the guys throwing, and it was like I found my home. I've been doing it ever since."

That's how a lot of people get involved in the games. "I was an EMT on standby at last summer's games," said Brian MacNeil. "I watched the athletes and thought it looked fun." At the minigames, MacNeil was participating in his first competition, "and it is fun," he said. "This is not something you do every day. It's a complete step out of the ordinary."

Robert Stewart was also attending his first games. "I think of myself as a big guy, until I get out here. This is hard work. But it's a lot of fun."

Brian Dixon has been competing for a couple of years. "I was doing some family history. I knew we had Scottish blood and began checking into associations and found these guys. I got hooked." What he especially likes is that "it's one of the few sports where the guys you compete against will coach you and give you tips. It's competition, but you're really competing against yourself, trying for personal bests."

"The friendship is the best part," said John Springer, who has been competing for four years. "I've done lots of sports, but this is the best group I've been with. Everyone helps each other. It's a noncompetitive competition."

Springer, who is stationed at Hill Field, also got hooked by watching the games. "I saw these guys playing, and I kept bugging them until they let me sign up and play, too." In his first competition, he took second place in the novice division -- "and they moved me right up to the masters."

Springer has even started an annual competition at Hill Field. "I think it's the only Highland Games that are held on a military installation." (The third-annual Hill AFB Highland Games will be held June 25).

Daniel Hamilton got into the games while he was stationed at Hill. "I saw a flier, and thought I'd go hang out." He has since been transferred to Colorado but still comes back to Utah for the games. The games require strength, but "there's a lot of finesse involved. I like that."

Many of the athletes have a track-and-field background, notes Springer, so a lot of the events are not entirely new -- except the caber toss. "There's nothing from track-and-field that translates to that."

The athletes compete in each of the events, "so you have to learn to like them all," said Loosle. "If you have one bad event, it can bring you down."

And, while you don't have to have a Scottish background, you do have to wear a kilt. Many of the athletes do have Scottish connections, and choose lightweight sport kilts in their clan tartans. But some also wear what are called "Utili-kilts," which are lightweight, plain-colored garments. "You don't wear a dress kilt out here," said Loosle. And here, at least, there's no mystery about what goes under the kilt. "With all the spinning, you'd better have on a pair of shorts."

But kilts are an important part of the tradition, and at every games, there's a "kirkin' of the tartan," a ceremony that blesses the kilts.

It all adds up to a very appealing endeavor, said Loosle. The tradition is longstanding; the challenge is very real. And the camaraderie can't be beat. "You meet one day on the field, and it seems like you're friends for life."

If you go

What: Utah Scottish Festival

Where: Thanksgiving Point, Electric Park

When: Thursday, 7:30 p.m.; Friday, 5-10 p.m.; Saturday, 9 a.m.- 10 p.m.

Tickets: Festival pass -- $15 for adults, $8 for children (3- 12); Saturday only $10, adults, $5 for children; Friday or Saturday evening, $5 for adults, $3 for children.

Copyright C 2005 Deseret News Publishing Co.
Provided by ProQuest Information and Learning Company. All rights Reserved.

Festival includes musicians, dancers

2005-06-03T21:11:00.000-06:00

The Utah Scottish Association is celebrating the 30th anniversary of the Scottish Festival and Highland Games. In addition to the athletic competitions, the festival will offer food, entertainment, 40 clan booths and history information, a display of British cars, historic displays and demonstrations, a shortbread contest, vendors and more. Special features include:

Romilly Squire -- deputy secretary of the Standing Council of Scottish Chiefs and one of Scotland's finest heraldry artists, will discuss clans, arms and crests and other aspects of heraldry as well as his art and expertise at a free lecture Thursday, 7:30 p.m., in the Utah Room of the Watertower Center.

The Wicked Tinkers -- based in Los Angeles, this group offers "the kind of music you might have heard hundreds of years ago at a Scottish wedding, ceilidh or around the campfire of a Highland raiding party with pipes, drums, the Bronze-age Celtic horn and other authentic instruments. Other featured musicians include Scottish Wild Rockin, Men of Worth, Callenish, the Salt Lake Pipers Club and Dorian Mirth.

Highland Dance -- competitions include such dances as the:

Sword Dance, traditionally performed by the Highland warriors on the eve of battle and said to have originated in 1054 when King Malcolm Canmore clashed with one of Macbeth's chiefs.

Sean Triubhas (pronounced sheen trews), the Gaelic words for "old trousers," the dance celebrates the lifting of the laws that forbade the wearing of the kilt and symbolizes the kicking off of the hated trousers.

Highland Fling, probably the most famous of the dances and said to have been originally performed by Highland warriors after battle. The dance is performed on the same spot throughout because the warriors performed it on their leather-covered shields.

Bagpipes -- nothing evokes the spirit of the Highlands more than the sound of bagpipes, which actually trace their pedigree back 4,500 years to Asia Minor. Crusaders returning from the Holy Land brought them back to the British Isles, where they were adopted by Scottish clans and became a rallying point in battle. Competitions and performances will be held throughout the day on Saturday. A Tattoo, an extravaganza of music, dance and fireworks will be held Friday night.

The festival is sponsored by the Utah Scottish Association with the Hibernian Society, British Isles Association, St. Andrews Society, Payson Highland Festival, LDS Family History, Sorensen DNA, British Car Association, Scottish-American Military Society, and the Salt Lake Piping Club.

Copyright C 2005 Deseret News Publishing Co.
Provided by ProQuest Information and Learning Company. All rights Reserved.

A Guide to the Scottish Athletic Events

2005-06-03T20:58:00.000-06:00

A guide to the Scottish athletic events

Distance events (the winner is the one who goes the farthest)

Braemar Stone

Technique: Athletes must throw a round, 22-pound stone from a stationary position (no running or spinning allowed). The competitor is not allowed to touch the top of the trig (the toe bar) or the ground beyond it before or after the throw.

History: A common practice of early Highland chiefs was to keep a large stone outside their gatepost to challenge the throwing arms of every visiting clan's warriors.

Open stone toss

Technique: Similar to the Olympic shot put, the competitor runs up a 7-foot, 6-inch approach path and, using only one hand, throws a 16-pound stone from behind the trig.

History:When under siege, a stone putter would be posted on the battlements where he could hurl boulders down onto the attackers.

Weight-for-distance

Technique: Men use 28- and 56-pound weights that are attached to a ring handle by a chain. The athlete holds the weight in one hand and swings it from side to side to build up momentum, then he spins the weight around and lets it fly. Competitors are scored on their best of three tosses.

History: Another useful demonstration of strength that clan chieftains used to judge their warriors.

Hammer

Technique: A metal ball is attached to a wooden handle to make a hammer no more than 50 inches long. Categories are light (16 pounds) and heavy (22 pounds). The athlete spins around for two or three complete turns and releases. The best of three tosses is scored.

History: The original hammer used in Scotland was that used by the men working in the granite quarries.

Height events (The winner achieves the greatest height)

Sheaf Toss

Technique: A burlap bag weighing 16 to 20 pounds is hurled straight up in the air and over a crossbar with the aid of a two- pronged pitchfork. Each competitor gets three tosses at each height, and has to make the height to move on to the next one.

History: Said to have its roots on the farms of Scotland, where young men would pitch wheat into the storage loft on a barn's second floor. Legends also say it was used in times of siege, when torched bags of hay were tossed over castle walls.

Weight-over-bar

Technique: Using only one hand, the competitor tosses a 56-pound weight up and over a crossbar. Each competitor gets three tries at each height and must successfully toss in order to move on.

History: Believed to have been used as a training method for tossing grappling hooks and scaling tall, fortified walls.

Accuracy events (The winner comes closest to the desired mark.)

Caber toss

Technique: Probably the most famous event. A caber is a 90- to 120-pound log that averages 18 feet in length that is held upright against the shoulder while the athlete runs a short distance and then tosses the caber end-over-end, so that it falls directly away from the athlete in a "12 o'clock" position. Points are deducted according to the number of degrees it varies from that perfect position. Athletes are allowed three tosses.

History: Dates from about the 16th century when it may have begun as a military tactic used to breach barriers or bridge rivers.

Women also compete in separate competitions and use lighter weights.

SOURCES: Utah Scottish Association; The Celtic/Scottish Festival Primer (www.maclachlans.org).

Copyright C 2005 Deseret News Publishing Co.
Provided by ProQuest Information and Learning Company. All rights Reserved.

Obituary: Emma Fraser Galloway

2005-06-02T21:00:00.000-06:00

Obituary: Emma Fraser Galloway

Emma Fraser Galloway Scottie On May 29, 2005 our Wife, Mother, Grandmother, and Friend was released from the bonds of Alzheimer's, and now is free to enjoy life in a better place with those that have gone before her. Born in Edinburgh, Scotland, June 15, 1919 to John and Janet Whitelaw. Emma served proudly as a Teletype Operator in the Women's Royal Air force during World War II. It was there that she met a handsome young American Airman (our father) Paul E. Galloway. They had a beautiful courtship that culminated in Marriage on June 20, 1944. Three children came from this union, Pauline, Scot, and Bruce. Paul and Emma lived in Salt Lake City, Bountiful, Huntsville, Alabama, and West Jordan. In each location Mom turned a house into a loving home. She turned each home into a place that we all felt loved and safe from the outside world. Mom is now preparing another beautiful home for all of us to return to, and will be waiting with open with open arms to welcome us all to our Heavenly home. Emma is survived by her Husband of 60 years Paul, Children Pauline(Bill) Preston, Scot (Dusty Dawn) Galloway, Bruce Galloway, Five Grandchildren, Stephanie (Jeff) Hamilton, Randy Preston, John Preston, Michael (De De) Preston, Robert Galloway, and eight great- grandchildren, two nephews Alan Yates, Graham Yates of Canada. Preceded in death by two Sisters. Because of Emma's love for Scotland the family asks that in lieu of flowers that you donate to either the Utah Scottish Association P.O. Box 702345 WVC, Utah 84170 or St. Andrews Society 4648 S. Dartmouth Dr. WVC, Utah 84119. The family would like to thank the Garden Terrace and the Wellington for their tender love and care of Emma. Funeral Services are on Saturday June 4, 2005 at 12:00 Noon at Russon Brothers Funeral Home 255 South 200 East in Salt lake city. Friends may call at Russon Brothers on Friday from 6:00 to 8:00 p.m. And on Saturday from 10:30 to 11:30 a.m. Scottish attire welcome. Interment, Valley View Memorial Park. Online guestbook at www.russonmortuary.com

Copyright C 2005 Deseret News Publishing Co.
Provided by ProQuest Information and Learning Company. All rights Reserved.

Obituary: Emma Fraser Galloway

2005-03-06T14:23:00.000-07:00

Obituary: Emma Fraser Galloway
Published: Friday, June 3, 2005 4:03 p.m. MDT
Emma Fraser Galloway Scottie On May 29, 2005 our Wife, Mother, Grandmother, and Friend was released from the bonds of Alzheimer's, and now is free to enjoy life in a better place with those that have gone before her. Born in Edinburgh, Scotland, June 15, 1919 to John and Janet Whitelaw. Emma served proudly as a Teletype Operator in the Women's Royal Air force during World War II. It was there that she met a handsome young American Airman (our father) Paul E. Galloway. They had a beautiful courtship that culminated in Marriage on June 20, 1944. Three children came from this union, Pauline, Scot, and Bruce. Paul and Emma lived in Salt Lake City, Bountiful, Huntsville, Alabama, and West Jordan. In each location Mom turned a house into a loving home. She turned each home into a place that we all felt loved and safe from the outside world. Mom is now preparing another beautiful home for all of us to return to, and will be waiting with open with open arms to welcome us all to our Heavenly home. Emma is survived by her Husband of 60 years Paul, Children Pauline(Bill) Preston, Scot (Dusty Dawn) Galloway, Bruce Galloway, Five Grandchildren, Stephanie (Jeff) Hamilton, Randy Preston, John Preston, Michael (De De) Preston, Robert Galloway, and eight great-grandchildren, two nephews Alan Yates, Graham Yates of Canada. Preceded in death by two Sisters. Because of Emma's love for Scotland the family asks that in lieu of flowers that you donate to either the Utah Scottish Association P.O. Box 702345 WVC, Utah 84170 or St. Andrews Society 4648 S. Dartmouth Dr. WVC, Utah 84119. The family would like to thank the Garden Terrace and the Wellington for their tender love and care of Emma. Funeral Services are on Saturday June 4, 2005 at 12:00 Noon at Russon Brothers Funeral Home 255 South 200 East in Salt lake city. Friends may call at Russon Brothers on Friday from 6:00 to 8:00 p.m. And on Saturday from 10:30 to 11:30 a.m. Scottish attire welcome. Interment, Valley View Memorial Park. Online guestbook at www.russonmortuary.com © 2009 Deseret News Publishing Company | All rights reserved

MSP takes Scottish fund appeal into Mormons' heartland

2005-02-16T01:38:00.000-07:00

MSP takes Scottish fund appeal into Mormons' heartland

DOUGLAS FRASER, Scottish Political Editor

February 16 2005

THE Great Salt Lake is not normally noted as the heart of the Scottish exile community, but a project to raise a new multi-million pound fund to support Scottish life, culture and education at home and abroad gets under way this week, with its principal backer taking the pitch to the home of the Mormon church.

Jim Mather, the SNP MSP who is leading the cross-party drive with the business community to emulate a highly-successful Irish charity initiative, is taking the message to academics at Brigham Young University, Utah, which is run through the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints.

He left yesterday for a five-day visit to the western state, including the Salt Lake City base of the church, to build links to an intern programme which provides funds for students to spend time at the Scottish Parliament. The aim is to show that the hopes of raising many millions of pounds for Scottish-linked projects will not only flow into Scotland but will be "a two-way street".

The links into Utah have been eased by Brian Adam, Mr Mather's SNP colleague and Aberdeen North MSP, who is a Mormon with strong contacts in the state.
They were enhanced with a visit to Salt Lake City for the American celebration of Tartan Day in April last year.

The main purpose of Mr Mather's visit is to develop the Scotland Fund, a new idea to set up a major trust which would support a range of causes in Scotland and among Scots elsewhere.

"We're building the support group of international Scottish companies which can see commercial advantage for them in being seen to support the hub – being good corporate citizens in both the domestic and international context – and so that their hub in Scotland can see that everything you donate is to go to a worthy cause," said Mr Mather.

The plan has cross-party support, including Murdo Fraser, a Conservative MSP for Mid-Scotland and Fife, and Gordon Jackson, Labour MSP for Glasgow Govan, with talks to bring a Liberal Democrat on board.

A guide to the Scottish athletic events

2005-02-06T14:24:00.000-07:00

A guide to the Scottish athletic events
Published: Thursday, June 2, 2005 1:39 p.m. MDT
Distance events (the winner is the one who goes the farthest)
Braemar Stone

Technique: Athletes must throw a round, 22-pound stone from a stationary position (no running or spinning allowed). The competitor is not allowed to touch the top of the trig (the toe bar) or the ground beyond it before or after the throw.

History: A common practice of early Highland chiefs was to keep a large stone outside their gatepost to challenge the throwing arms of every visiting clan's warriors.

Open stone toss

Technique: Similar to the Olympic shot put, the competitor runs up a 7-foot, 6-inch approach path and, using only one hand, throws a 16-pound stone from behind the trig.

History:When under siege, a stone putter would be posted on the battlements where he could hurl boulders down onto the attackers.

Weight-for-distance

Technique: Men use 28- and 56-pound weights that are attached to a ring handle by a chain. The athlete holds the weight in one hand and swings it from side to side to build up momentum, then he spins the weight around and lets it fly. Competitors are scored on their best of three tosses.

History: Another useful demonstration of strength that clan chieftains used to judge their warriors.

Hammer

Technique: A metal ball is attached to a wooden handle to make a hammer no more than 50 inches long. Categories are light (16 pounds) and heavy (22 pounds). The athlete spins around for two or three complete turns and releases. The best of three tosses is scored.

History: The original hammer used in Scotland was that used by the men working in the granite quarries.

Height events (The winner achieves the greatest height)

Sheaf Toss

Technique: A burlap bag weighing 16 to 20 pounds is hurled straight up in the air and over a crossbar with the aid of a two-pronged pitchfork. Each competitor gets three tosses at each height, and has to make the height to move on to the next one.

History: Said to have its roots on the farms of Scotland, where young men would pitch wheat into the storage loft on a barn's second floor. Legends also say it was used in times of siege, when torched bags of hay were tossed over castle walls.

Weight-over-bar

Technique: Using only one hand, the competitor tosses a 56-pound weight up and over a crossbar. Each competitor gets three tries at each height and must successfully toss in order to move on.

History: Believed to have been used as a training method for tossing grappling hooks and scaling tall, fortified walls.

Accuracy events (The winner comes closest to the desired mark.)

Caber toss

Technique: Probably the most famous event. A caber is a 90- to 120-pound log that averages 18 feet in length that is held upright against the shoulder while the athlete runs a short distance and then tosses the caber end-over-end, so that it falls directly away from the athlete in a "12 o'clock" position. Points are deducted according to the number of degrees it varies from that perfect position. Athletes are allowed three tosses.

History: Dates from about the 16th century when it may have begun as a military tactic used to breach barriers or bridge rivers.

Women also compete in separate competitions and use lighter weights.

SOURCES: Utah Scottish Association; The Celtic/Scottish Festival Primer (www.maclachlans.org).
© 2009 Deseret News Publishing Company | All rights reserved

Festival includes musicians, dancers

2005-02-05T14:26:00.000-07:00

Festival includes musicians, dancers
Published: Thursday, June 2, 2005 3:02 p.m. MDT
The Utah Scottish Association is celebrating the 30th anniversary of the Scottish Festival and Highland Games. In addition to the athletic competitions, the festival will offer food, entertainment, 40 clan booths and history information, a display of British cars, historic displays and demonstrations, a shortbread contest, vendors and more. Special features include:
Romilly Squire — deputy secretary of the Standing Council of Scottish Chiefs and one of Scotland's finest heraldry artists, will discuss clans, arms and crests and other aspects of heraldry as well as his art and expertise at a free lecture Thursday, 7:30 p.m., in the Utah Room of the Watertower Center.

The Wicked Tinkers — based in Los Angeles, this group offers "the kind of music you might have heard hundreds of years ago at a Scottish wedding, ceilidh or around the campfire of a Highland raiding party with pipes, drums, the Bronze-age Celtic horn and other authentic instruments. Other featured musicians include Scottish Wild Rockin, Men of Worth, Callenish, the Salt Lake Pipers Club and Dorian Mirth.

Highland Dance — competitions include such dances as the:

•Sword Dance, traditionally performed by the Highland warriors on the eve of battle and said to have originated in 1054 when King Malcolm Canmore clashed with one of Macbeth's chiefs.

•Sean Triubhas (pronounced sheen trews), the Gaelic words for "old trousers," the dance celebrates the lifting of the laws that forbade the wearing of the kilt and symbolizes the kicking off of the hated trousers.

•Highland Fling, probably the most famous of the dances and said to have been originally performed by Highland warriors after battle. The dance is performed on the same spot throughout because the warriors performed it on their leather-covered shields.

Bagpipes — nothing evokes the spirit of the Highlands more than the sound of bagpipes, which actually trace their pedigree back 4,500 years to Asia Minor. Crusaders returning from the Holy Land brought them back to the British Isles, where they were adopted by Scottish clans and became a rallying point in battle. Competitions and performances will be held throughout the day on Saturday. A Tattoo, an extravaganza of music, dance and fireworks will be held Friday night.
The festival is sponsored by the Utah Scottish Association with the Hibernian Society, British Isles Association, St. Andrews Society, Payson Highland Festival, LDS Family History, Sorensen DNA, British Car Association, Scottish-American Military Society, and the Salt Lake Piping Club.
© 2009 Deseret News Publishing Company | All rights reserved

Burning bright: Lehi gathering celebrates the life of Scotland's poet

2005-01-28T14:15:00.000-07:00

Carma Wadley Deseret Morning News

If it's true that on St. Patrick's Day everyone's a bit Irish, it is also true that on certain days everyone feels a bit of Scottish kinship.

Robert Burns Day is one of those occasions -- it can turn anyone into a Scot-for-a-day. But for those with true Scottish connections, it is a day unlike any other.

Rabbie Burns (as he is affectionately called by true believers) is considered the poet laureate of Scotland and is one of Scotland's most famous sons. But he is more than that, said Dodd Greer, president of the Utah Scottish Association. Burns was the poet of the people, and he represents the heart, the soul, the spirit of Scotland, said Greer. For more than 250 years, his friends and compatriots have been celebrating his life.

"He was hugely popular in his own time. He wrote his first poem at age 15 and discovered he had an ability for rhyme," said Greer. Over the course of his career, Burns wrote hundreds of poems and songs in English and in Gaelic and Scots dialect. "He would take popular melodies and write new words, and everyone would sing them," he said. "To Scots, singing and language are one and the same. Music is very important, and his songs were hugely popular."

In time Burns left the farm where he grew up and took a job as a tax collector, which enabled him to go from town to town and increased his popularity. He was well-known as a ladies' man, said Greer.

His first volume of poetry was published in 1786, and Burns became "the darling of the people in Edinburgh," frequently called upon to write and recite. But he was never healthy, and he died in 1796 at age 37.

"Shortly after his death, his friends began gathering on his birthday, and that custom has continued all over the world," said Greer. In America, in Canada, in Australia -- everywhere large numbers of Scots have ended up -- celebrations of Burns have sprung up. "There are tens of thousands of gatherings held every year. People celebrate Burns and Scotland by singing, dancing, having treats."

Utah's own Burns celebration will be held Saturday at Thanksgiving Point. The evening will feature poetry, tributes, pipers, music and more, said Caol Ritchie, director of entertainment for the Utah Scottish Association. The dinner will feature cock-a-leekie soup, neeps and tatties, baked salmon, shortbread and trifle. And, of course, the haggis.

Burns wrote an "Ode to Haggis," which was tongue-in-cheek, said Greer, although some people take it seriously. "Haggis is a cross between meatloaf and sausage, made with sweetmeats and cooked in a sheep's stomach. Every Burns Night includes haggis pomp and ceremony."

There's a ritual called "piping in the haggis," said Ritchie, where the haggis is brought in and ceremoniously tasted and declared fit for eating.

The evening always ends with the singing of Auld Lang Syne, another of Burns' songs.

Burns Night is traditionally held near his birthday, which is Jan. 25. "It's Scotland's way of saying, even though his poetry is popular with everyone, he belongs to us," said Ritchie.

But it is only one of several activities throughout the year sponsored by the association. A Tartan Ball is held in April. And the Highland Games take place in June.

"That's where we get together and toss the telephone pole," laughed Greer. Actually, the caber toss is just one of the events. But Utah boasts of several world champions in the events, he said. "At last year's games, three world records were set. We have a great tradition of Scottish games here."

The association also sponsors cultural outreach programs in the schools, supply pipers for events such as weddings and funerals and sponsor ceilidhs -- musical gatherings.

The Utah Scottish Association was formed in 1976 -- 100 years after the first Scottish festival was held in Utah, said Ritchie. "A lot of Utah's early settlers has Scottish and Irish roots. There's a huge percentage of the population even now that can trace a Scottish connection. And it's nice to see so many people discovering their roots, taking pride in their ancestry."

Ritchie herself was born in Scotland and moved with her family to Canada when she was 2 and then later on to California, so she has a closer connection than most with the country. But she said, if you have any Scottish blood in you at all, you'll hear the bagpipes and feel something. "I love the pipes. I love the fact that men are not afraid to wear kilts. Scotland has had a lot of exciting history. I also love the fact that the clan is the most important thing. Clan means family in Scottish Gaelic."

Recent movies such as "Braveheart" have increased interest in Scottish history, she says. "Even though it was not historically accurate, there was a huge swell of people who got interested in their backgrounds because of it. It made Scotland cool again."

Greer also relates to Scottish history. "Greer comes from Gregor, a clan that was outlawed for 200 years. No church marriages, no funerals were allowed for anyone named MacGregor. Women were branded on their faces. Heads were turned in for bounty and lands confiscated."

Celtic races extend back 2,000 years into history, said Greer, and their oft-turbulent history has had an impact. "We have a fierce, deep, abiding sense of who we are that is as old as time. I went to a worldwide MacGregor gathering two years ago, and there were people living all over the world who shared the same feelings. They run deep. And when you hear the pipes, they pull on you; you feel a deep sense of belonging."

And that's as much reason as any, he says, to celebrate the life and poetry of Robert Burns: "We'll take a cup of kindness yet, for auld lang syne!"

If you go

What: Robert Burns Night

Where: Thanksgiving Point, Lehi

When: Saturday, 7 p.m.

Tickets: $15 per person or $28 per couple

Phone: 871-6796 or 278-6798

Web site: www.utahscots.org

E-mail: carma@desnews.com

Burning bright: Lehi gathering celebrates the life of Scotland's poet laureate

2005-01-27T14:21:00.000-07:00

Burning bright: Lehi gathering celebrates the life of Scotland's poet laureate
By Carma Wadley
Deseret Morning News
Published: Thursday, Jan. 27, 2005 2:16 p.m. MST
If it's true that on St. Patrick's Day everyone's a bit Irish, it is also true that on certain days everyone feels a bit of Scottish kinship.

Robert Burns Day is one of those occasions — it can turn anyone into a Scot-for-a-day. But for those with true Scottish connections, it is a day unlike any other.

Rabbie Burns (as he is affectionately called by true believers) is considered the poet laureate of Scotland and is one of Scotland's most famous sons. But he is more than that, said Dodd Greer, president of the Utah Scottish Association. Burns was the poet of the people, and he represents the heart, the soul, the spirit of Scotland, said Greer. For more than 250 years, his friends and compatriots have been celebrating his life.

"He was hugely popular in his own time. He wrote his first poem at age 15 and discovered he had an ability for rhyme," said Greer. Over the course of his career, Burns wrote hundreds of poems and songs in English and in Gaelic and Scots dialect. "He would take popular melodies and write new words, and everyone would sing them," he said. "To Scots, singing and language are one and the same. Music is very important, and his songs were hugely popular."

In time Burns left the farm where he grew up and took a job as a tax collector, which enabled him to go from town to town and increased his popularity. He was well-known as a ladies' man, said Greer.

His first volume of poetry was published in 1786, and Burns became "the darling of the people in Edinburgh," frequently called upon to write and recite. But he was never healthy, and he died in 1796 at age 37.

"Shortly after his death, his friends began gathering on his birthday, and that custom has continued all over the world," said Greer. In America, in Canada, in Australia — everywhere large numbers of Scots have ended up — celebrations of Burns have sprung up. "There are tens of thousands of gatherings held every year. People celebrate Burns and Scotland by singing, dancing, having treats."

Utah's own Burns celebration will be held Saturday at Thanksgiving Point. The evening will feature poetry, tributes, pipers, music and more, said Caol Ritchie, director of entertainment for the Utah Scottish Association. The dinner will feature cock-a-leekie soup, neeps and tatties, baked salmon, shortbread and trifle. And, of course, the haggis.

Burns wrote an "Ode to Haggis," which was tongue-in-cheek, said Greer, although some people take it seriously. "Haggis is a cross between meatloaf and sausage, made with sweetmeats and cooked in a sheep's stomach. Every Burns Night includes haggis pomp and ceremony."

There's a ritual called "piping in the haggis," said Ritchie, where the haggis is brought in and ceremoniously tasted and declared fit for eating.

The evening always ends with the singing of Auld Lang Syne, another of Burns' songs.

Burns Night is traditionally held near his birthday, which is Jan. 25. "It's Scotland's way of saying, even though his poetry is popular with everyone, he belongs to us," said Ritchie.

But it is only one of several activities throughout the year sponsored by the association. A Tartan Ball is held in April. And the Highland Games take place in June.

"That's where we get together and toss the telephone pole," laughed Greer. Actually, the caber toss is just one of the events. But Utah boasts of several world champions in the events, he said. "At last year's games, three world records were set. We have a great tradition of Scottish games here."

The association also sponsors cultural outreach programs in the schools, supply pipers for events such as weddings and funerals and sponsor ceilidhs — musical gatherings.

The Utah Scottish Association was formed in 1976 — 100 years after the first Scottish festival was held in Utah, said Ritchie. "A lot of Utah's early settlers has Scottish and Irish roots. There's a huge percentage of the population even now that can trace a Scottish connection. And it's nice to see so many people discovering their roots, taking pride in their ancestry."

Ritchie herself was born in Scotland and moved with her family to Canada when she was 2 and then later on to California, so she has a closer connection than most with the country. But she said, if you have any Scottish blood in you at all, you'll hear the bagpipes and feel something. "I love the pipes. I love the fact that men are not afraid to wear kilts. Scotland has had a lot of exciting history. I also love the fact that the clan is the most important thing. Clan means family in Scottish Gaelic."

Recent movies such as "Braveheart" have increased interest in Scottish history, she says. "Even though it was not historically accurate, there was a huge swell of people who got interested in their backgrounds because of it. It made Scotland cool again."

Greer also relates to Scottish history. "Greer comes from Gregor, a clan that was outlawed for 200 years. No church marriages, no funerals were allowed for anyone named MacGregor. Women were branded on their faces. Heads were turned in for bounty and lands confiscated."

Celtic races extend back 2,000 years into history, said Greer, and their oft-turbulent history has had an impact. "We have a fierce, deep, abiding sense of who we are that is as old as time. I went to a worldwide MacGregor gathering two years ago, and there were people living all over the world who shared the same feelings. They run deep. And when you hear the pipes, they pull on you; you feel a deep sense of belonging."

And that's as much reason as any, he says, to celebrate the life and poetry of Robert Burns: "We'll take a cup of kindness yet, for auld lang syne!"

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

If you go

What: Robert Burns Night

Where: Thanksgiving Point, Lehi

When: Saturday, 7 p.m.

Tickets: $15 per person or $28 per couple

Phone: 871-6796 or 278-6798

Web site: www.utahscots.org

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

E-mail: carma@desnews.com
© 2009 Deseret News Publishing Company | All rights reserved

News from Jeff Loosle and the Scottish Athletes

2004-09-18T23:32:00.000-06:00

News from Jeff Loosle and the Scottish Athletes

As our Scottish Highland Games throwing season draws to a close for
2004, we still find that we have 4 games left. Treasure Valley Games in
Boise, September 18th --- Our Annual Utah Scottish Strongman Games,
September 25th --- The ROGUE Games, October 2nd ---- and the Mitchell
Highland Games in West Haven , Utah - October 23rd.

We have had a very fun, successful year of throwing. Our Season Started
on March 27th with the Spring Fling Games and ends on October 23rd at
the Mitchell Games. In all, we have hosted 18 games in and around Utah.
Our athletes have also competed in games in Washington, California,
Colorado, Wyoming, Idaho, Arizona, Nevada, Hawaii, and Texas. We have
had athletes competing in our Utah games from 20 different states this year.

Athletes have set numerous New Field Records, many New Utah State
Records, Several National Records and 3 New WORLD RECORDS.

We have had 144 different athletes compete at games in Utah. This year
we picked up over 20 new athletes. Also, of interest, is the
participation of the United States Air Force in our games, both as a
host of 2 events annually, and most importantly by the wonderful Men and
Women of the Air Force that compete in the games. We have over 15
throwers from the Air Force that regularly compete in games.

We are looking forward to 2005 as another growing year of throwing,
having a wonderful time with friends and family, and Living Our Heritage.

Live Long and Throw Far — Jeff Loosle

Check the Scottish fare at this year's Festival and Highland Games

2004-08-06T14:17:00.000-06:00

Check the Scottish fare at this year's Festival and Highland Games
By Genelle Pugmire
Deseret Morning News
Published: Tuesday, June 8, 2004 1:36 p.m. MDT
LEHI — William Wallace may have been brave of heart, but he and other Scots historically are also known to be strong of stomach.

This weekend's 30th annual Scottish Festival, sponsored by the Utah Scottish Association, will celebrate the heart, strength and food of Scotland.

The Ferguson Clan is in charge of the food and will have several distinctly Scottish recipes to share with the public, including haggis. (For the uninitiated, authentic haggis is a sheep's stomach lining filled with minced organs, seasonings and oatmeal and simmered for hours. The dish gained acclaim from Scottish hero Robert Burns' poem, "To a Haggis.")

"I've been making it (haggis) for years," said Aileen Ferguson, who is known in local Scottish circles as "The Haggis Lady." "Some of the haggis you get are edible, and some are just tolerable. But I found a recipe that's basic and kept experimenting and rearranging the spices, and everyone calls it a very edible haggis. Now people will call and say, 'Are you "The Haggis Lady"? Can you make me a pan for our family reunion?'"

Scottish pastries are delicious, and no one makes a sausage roll or meat pie as good as a Scot. But some clans will likely shy away from sharing many of the more historical recipes from their genealogy. For an example of these ancient Scottish dishes, you can turn to the "Clans Cook Book: Favourite Family Recipes of Scotland's Clan Chiefs," compiled by Wendy Jones with a "foreword" by the Earl of Elgin and Kincardine.

Speaking of traditional cooking, the earl writes: "We in Scotland have become omnivorous, and we accept much that would have been rejected — as Robert Burns remarked — as trash. Yet in all that we think we have learned from other places and other lands, we still love our 'hamely fare.' "

As Ferguson points out, Scotland was a poor country, and its citizens had to be frugal. Nothing went to waste.

Hence dishes like Seal Hoosh from Clan Agnew: "Take one seal, skin and strip the blubber. Make a blubber stove and slowly smoke the seal meat in a tin. Add sea water to liquefy, wait three weeks until you are very, very hungry and reheat for eating."

Or a special brew — Cold Snail Water — served to the children of Clan Hay. The mixture includes new milk of a red cow, about 100 great shell snails and a pint of great earthworms slit and "clean washed." You "boyl" them together for half an hour and add "harts toung, alehooppe, cowslips of jerusalem and coltsfoot (about a handful of each erb)." Let the water from the mixture drop on white "shugar" candy, mix it all together and "give ye child a bout eight or nine spoonfulls."

Speaking of hearty brews for cast-iron stomachs, the Urquhart Clan has a concoction of spirits and tea called "Artillery Punch." One sip, and it's guaranteed your head will hear cannons for hours. The cooks recommend calling a taxi.

While diners may be put off by the old Scottish recipes, they may find other dishes — Stovies, Clapshot and Cock-A-Leekie, served with a scone and marmalade or Scottish eggs on the side — more appealing.

Scottish eggs (also known as Scotch eggs), which will be served at the festival, are hard-boiled and peeled, then wrapped in seasoned sausage and fried.

"They were made the night before and then put in a cloth and taken to the fields, or wherever they (the Scots) were working, as a lunch meal," said Ferguson. "Meat pies and sausage rolls were also eaten cold for lunch, although we'll be serving them hot at the festival."

At the festival, you can buy a dinner of haggis, with neeps and tatties (turnips and potatoes cooked together and mashed) with minted peas and a baking powder biscuit, for $5. You can also get a shepherd's pie dinner with minted peas and a biscuit, for $5.

Other dishes that will be served include shortbread, rum balls and "cream crowdie," layers of whipped cream, raspberries and toasted oats. All the cooking is done ahead of time in Valley Services' commercial kitchen in Midvale.

"Scots aren't known for flavorful spices, but we have a good following of people who come back year after year for our food," said Ferguson.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

If you go

What: 30th annual Utah Scottish Festival and Highland Games

Where: Thanksgiving Point, Electric Park, Lehi

When: Friday 5-7:30 p.m., Saturday 9 a.m.-6 p.m.

How much: $5 Friday, $10 Saturday; food items individually priced

Phone: 801-400-1277

Web: www.utahscots.org

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

BAGLESS HAGGIS

Authentic haggis is a sheep's stomach lining filled with minced organs, seasonings and oatmeal and simmered for hours. It's not permissible to use a sheep's stomach lining in the U.S., said Ferguson, so she makes hers more like a meatloaf. Ferguson said there's a Scottish saying: "It takes a man to eat haggis, but it takes a REAL man to keep it down."

1 beef heart

1 pound beef liver

2 pounds lamb shoulder

1 cup suet

2 cups quick oatmeal

2 medium onions, chopped

2 cups stock (from boiling the above meats)

1 teaspoon each salt and pepper

Nutmeg and thyme

Boil meats 2 hours. Save stock. Grind or mince meats. Add suet and onions, oatmeal and seasonings. Add enough stock to make a mixture look and feel like a meatloaf. Pour into a pan that has been well-greased. Cover with foil. Poke 2 holes in foil. Place pan in another pan filled halfway with water. Steam-bake for 2 hours at 325 degrees. — Aileen Ferguson

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

CREAM CROWDIE

2 tablespoons quick oats, toasted

1 cup heavy whipping cream

2 tablespoons honey

1 cup raspberries or strawberries

2 tablespoons quick oats, toasted

To toast oatmeal, place in a small pan. Stir over low heat 5 minutes or more until lightly toasted. Cool.

Using an electric beater, beat cream in small bowl until soft peaks form. Add honey, beat until combined. Fold the first two tablespoons of toasted oatmeal into the creamed mixture, using a metal spoon. Layer fruit evenly between 6 dessert glasses, and top with the cream. Refrigerate 2 hours. Garnish with fresh berries and the last 2 tablespoons of toasted oats. — Aileen Ferguson

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

SHORTBREAD

1 3/4 cups flour

1/4 cup rice flour

1/2 cup real butter (no substitutes)

1/4 cup sugar

Mix flour and sugar together. Add butter, cut into pieces, and using fingertips, mix it together until evenly distributed. Knead mixture together to form soft but not sticky dough. Divide dough in half and shape into two rounds, about 3/4-inch thick. Notch around the edge to signify the sun's rays. Bake at 325 degrees for 25-30 minutes, or until bottoms turn light brown. — Aileen Ferguson

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

E-MAIL: pugmire@desnews.com
© 2009 Deseret News Publishing Company | All rights reserved

ZAP tax is primed for extra innings

2004-08-03T14:18:00.000-06:00

ZAP tax is primed for extra innings
County is pushing to reauthorize the popular program

By Alan Edwards
Deseret Morning News
Published: Tuesday, Aug. 3, 2004 7:09 a.m. MDT
Salt Lake County expects taxpayers to agree that imposing a tax for entertainment and recreation is a good thing. But county officials aren't leaving anything to chance.

The push is on to reauthorize the one-tenth of 1 percent Zoo, Arts & Parks sales tax that is due to expire at the end of 2006.

Comparatively speaking, the tax has proved to be a popular one, primarily because, since its inception in 1997, it has helped support organizations like Hogle Zoo, Ballet West and more than 100 smaller arts and community organizations and funded construction of several public recreation centers and trails.

Earlier this month, the County Council voted to put a proposal on November's ballot asking residents if they want to reauthorize the tax.

"I would be shocked if 70 percent of the people didn't approve this," said county Community and Support Services Director Leslie Reberg.

The numbers bear her out. A Deseret News/KSL-TV poll taken on the issue found last year that about 75 percent of county residents favor continuing the tax.

In fact, the ZAP tax, as it is known, has been popular since its inception.

The idea was first proposed in Salt Lake County in 1993 as a pure arts tax, primarily helping fund large arts organizations such as the Utah Symphony. It was rejected by voters, who apparently didn't like the idea of people paying more for food simply so tuxedo-clad theatergoers paid a bit less for their tickets. (Matters didn't improve when it was revealed the Utah Symphony had put a dollar value on volunteer time and included it in its budget.)

The tax was recast in 1996 to include Hogle Zoo, parks and recreation facilities and — perhaps the thing residents have come to like the most — a provision for small arts organizations to get some of the money. Groups as varied as the Canyonlands New Music Ensemble ($7,000 in ZAP money in 2003) and the Utah Scottish Association ($7,000 in 2001) can apply for and usually receive at least a small amount of the millions generated by the tax.

Voters approved the tax in 1996 for a period of 10 years.

While the tax has been undeniably popular, it has not been invariably so. Some private fitness and recreation providers have complained about unfair competition against facilities using tax dollars, and the Utah Taxpayers Association is on record as opposing taxes like ZAP that are collected and distributed for specific purposes; it prefers that taxes go into a general fund to be distributed according to need.

Nevertheless, consultant Carter Livingston, who is doing much of the legwork for the reauthorization campaign, says he is confident that residents will ante up for another 10 years.

"The reason the polls have been good is (the ZAP tax) has fulfilled its promise thus far," Livingston said. "I think people see that it's a worthy investment."

The reauthorization committee has raised more than $200,000 for the campaign. Though much of that money came from arts organizations that are funded by ZAP, Livingston was careful to point out that all contributions came from private donations, not tax dollars.

It's a bit early for reauthorization as the tax doesn't expire for more than two years, but Livingston and other supporters say they want to get the highest level of participation possible, which occurs during presidential election years.

Another reason, downplayed by supporters, is that if voters reject reauthorization, they'll get another bite at the apple on the 2006 ballot, perhaps recasting the tax as happened during the first go-round in the 1990s.

A penny in sales tax for every $10 in goods and services may not seem like much, but it adds up: The tax generates about $15 million a year.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

E-mail: aedwards@desnews.com
© 2009 Deseret News Publishing Company | All rights reserved

Annual Scottish celebration moves to Utah County

2004-06-11T21:39:00.000-06:00

Kilts, bagpipes, caber tosses and Scottish clans will be plentiful in Utah County this summer.

For the first time, the annual Scottish Festival and Highland Games will be held in Utah County at Thanksgiving Point in Lehi. It is a new venue for the 30-year-old festival, which has traditionally been held in Salt Lake County.

The Utah Scottish Association is sponsoring the festival this weekend at Thanksgiving Point. Activities began Friday evening and continue through tonight. There will be more than 100 bagpipers and drummers, 40 Scottish clans with booths teaching about their clan's heritage, and many athletes participating in the caber toss and National Championship Sheaf Tosses today.

David Campbell, spokesman for the association, said its members are happy to finally have a home at Thanksgiving Point after changing locations from Murray to West Valley City in the past few years. He is hoping the new location will draw more people from Utah County to the festival, he said.

"We have a lot of people from the south end of the (Salt Lake) valley all ready and now we will be just over the hill -- it's quite a central location," he said. "We see ordinarily 5,000 people, but we are hoping for more. We are hoping to build it into something that is really big."

But Campbell said that does not mean the association is trying to compete with the other festivals. He thinks they will share patronage. Many of the same people are involved in both the Payson and the association's festivals, he said. And because it is not mandatory to be a Scot to attend, everyone in the county is welcome to come, he said.

"If you are not Scottish, we will make you Scottish when you get there," he said.

Donna Breckenridge, who teaches Scottish family history at Brigham Young University, said there were many people from Scotland who settled in Utah during the late 1800s. Though there were more settlers from Scandinavia and England, she said obviously the Scottish festivals have survived over the years compared to the other ethnic celebrations.

"There were not as many Scots, but those that were here made their presence known," she said. "Some ethnic groups just retain their traditions longer than others."

Mark Stotlar, president of the nonprofit Payson Scottish Festival Association, said he doesn't perceive any threat from the other festivals. The Payson festival is still looking for sponsors, and Stotlar said he has had trouble finding funding, but he does not attribute that to the other festivals.

Stotlar said the other celebrations draw from different crowds. The biggest difference is that the association's festival charges to attend and Payson's does not, except for food. Both of those festivals will have a booth at the others' to try and attract people to each other's events, Stotlar said.

But he did have concerns that Payson residents might think the festival had been moved to Lehi, so he has been e-mailing people and making calls to let people know the Payson festival is still on, he said.

"I have been worried that people might get confused," he said. "I want to make sure they know there is still one in Payson and we didn't move to the Point of the Mountain."

Besides the association and Payson, Highland is also starting to make the city's annual Highland Fling in August more geared toward Scottish heritage, Stotlar said. Last year, he helped coordinate Scottish games at the fling and will do the same this year. But even with the Highland festival, Stotlar does not believe there will be any competition for attendees.

"I think people will come out to all three," he said. "I don't believe we (the Payson festival) have people coming from the north end of the county. I am excited and the same people in our Scottish festival know people from the other festivals."
This story appeared in The Daily Herald on page D1.

Forever plaid: Check the Scottish fare at this year's Festival

2004-06-09T21:16:00.000-06:00

Genelle Pugmire Deseret Morning News

LEHI -- William Wallace may have been brave of heart, but he and other Scots historically are also known to be strong of stomach.

This weekend's 30th annual Scottish Festival, sponsored by the Utah Scottish Association, will celebrate the heart, strength and food of Scotland.

The Ferguson Clan is in charge of the food and will have several distinctly Scottish recipes to share with the public, including haggis. (For the uninitiated, authentic haggis is a sheep's stomach lining filled with minced organs, seasonings and oatmeal and simmered for hours. The dish gained acclaim from Scottish hero Robert Burns' poem, "To a Haggis.")

"I've been making it (haggis) for years," said Aileen Ferguson, who is known in local Scottish circles as "The Haggis Lady." "Some of the haggis you get are edible, and some are just tolerable. But I found a recipe that's basic and kept experimenting and rearranging the spices, and everyone calls it a very edible haggis. Now people will call and say, 'Are you "The Haggis Lady"? Can you make me a pan for our family reunion?'"

Scottish pastries are delicious, and no one makes a sausage roll or meat pie as good as a Scot. But some clans will likely shy away from sharing many of the more historical recipes from their genealogy. For an example of these ancient Scottish dishes, you can turn to the "Clans Cook Book: Favourite Family Recipes of Scotland's Clan Chiefs," compiled by Wendy Jones with a "foreword" by the Earl of Elgin and Kincardine.

Speaking of traditional cooking, the earl writes: "We in Scotland have become omnivorous, and we accept much that would have been rejected -- as Robert Burns remarked -- as trash. Yet in all that we think we have learned from other places and other lands, we still love our 'hamely fare.' "

As Ferguson points out, Scotland was a poor country, and its citizens had to be frugal. Nothing went to waste.

Hence dishes like Seal Hoosh from Clan Agnew: "Take one seal, skin and strip the blubber. Make a blubber stove and slowly smoke the seal meat in a tin. Add sea water to liquefy, wait three weeks until you are very, very hungry and reheat for eating."

Or a special brew -- Cold Snail Water -- served to the children of Clan Hay. The mixture includes new milk of a red cow, about 100 great shell snails and a pint of great earthworms slit and "clean washed." You "boyl" them together for half an hour and add "harts toung, alehooppe, cowslips of jerusalem and coltsfoot (about a handful of each erb)." Let the water from the mixture drop on white "shugar" candy, mix it all together and "give ye child a bout eight or nine spoonfulls."

Speaking of hearty brews for cast-iron stomachs, the Urquhart Clan has a concoction of spirits and tea called "Artillery Punch." One sip, and it's guaranteed your head will hear cannons for hours. The cooks recommend calling a taxi.

While diners may be put off by the old Scottish recipes, they may find other dishes -- Stovies, Clapshot and Cock-A-Leekie, served with a scone and marmalade or Scottish eggs on the side -- more appealing.

Scottish eggs (also known as Scotch eggs), which will be served at the festival, are hard-boiled and peeled, then wrapped in seasoned sausage and fried.

"They were made the night before and then put in a cloth and taken to the fields, or wherever they (the Scots) were working, as a lunch meal," said Ferguson. "Meat pies and sausage rolls were also eaten cold for lunch, although we'll be serving them hot at the festival."

At the festival, you can buy a dinner of haggis, with neeps and tatties (turnips and potatoes cooked together and mashed) with minted peas and a baking powder biscuit, for $5. You can also get a shepherd's pie dinner with minted peas and a biscuit, for $5.

Other dishes that will be served include shortbread, rum balls and "cream crowdie," layers of whipped cream, raspberries and toasted oats. All the cooking is done ahead of time in Valley Services' commercial kitchen in Midvale.

"Scots aren't known for flavorful spices, but we have a good following of people who come back year after year for our food," said Ferguson.

If you go

What: 30th annual Utah Scottish Festival and Highland Games

Where: Thanksgiving Point, Electric Park, Lehi

When: Friday 5-7:30 p.m., Saturday 9 a.m.-6 p.m.

How much: $5 Friday, $10 Saturday; food items individually priced

Phone: 801-400-1277

Web: www.utahscots.org

BAGLESS HAGGIS

Authentic haggis is a sheep's stomach lining filled with minced organs, seasonings and oatmeal and simmered for hours. It's not permissible to use a sheep's stomach lining in the U.S., said Ferguson, so she makes hers more like a meatloaf. Ferguson said there's a Scottish saying: "It takes a man to eat haggis, but it takes a REAL man to keep it down."

1 beef heart

1 pound beef liver

2 pounds lamb shoulder

1 cup suet

2 cups quick oatmeal

2 medium onions, chopped

2 cups stock (from boiling the above meats)

1 teaspoon each salt and pepper

Nutmeg and thyme

Boil meats 2 hours. Save stock. Grind or mince meats. Add suet and onions, oatmeal and seasonings. Add enough stock to make a mixture look and feel like a meatloaf. Pour into a pan that has been well- greased. Cover with foil. Poke 2 holes in foil. Place pan in another pan filled halfway with water. Steam-bake for 2 hours at 325 degrees. -- Aileen Ferguson

CREAM CROWDIE

2 tablespoons quick oats, toasted

1 cup heavy whipping cream

2 tablespoons honey

1 cup raspberries or strawberries

2 tablespoons quick oats, toasted

To toast oatmeal, place in a small pan. Stir over low heat 5 minutes or more until lightly toasted. Cool.

Using an electric beater, beat cream in small bowl until soft peaks form. Add honey, beat until combined. Fold the first two tablespoons of toasted oatmeal into the creamed mixture, using a metal spoon. Layer fruit evenly between 6 dessert glasses, and top with the cream. Refrigerate 2 hours. Garnish with fresh berries and the last 2 tablespoons of toasted oats. -- Aileen Ferguson

SHORTBREAD

1 3/4 cups flour

1/4 cup rice flour

1/2 cup real butter (no substitutes)

1/4 cup sugar

Mix flour and sugar together. Add butter, cut into pieces, and using fingertips, mix it together until evenly distributed. Knead mixture together to form soft but not sticky dough. Divide dough in half and shape into two rounds, about 3/4-inch thick. Notch around the edge to signify the sun's rays. Bake at 325 degrees for 25-30 minutes, or until bottoms turn light brown. -- Aileen Ferguson

E-MAIL: pugmire@desnews.com

Copyright C 2004 Deseret News Publishing Co.
Provided by ProQuest Information and Learning Company. All rights Reserved.

Food for thought: Smithsonian food history exhibit makes last stop in Utah

2004-01-27T14:15:00.000-07:00

Food for thought: Smithsonian food history exhibit makes last stop in Utah
By Valerie Phillips
Deseret Morning News
Published: Tuesday, Jan. 27, 2004 1:05 p.m. MST
If you haven't yet caught the Smithsonian's food history exhibit as it's traveled around the state, your last chance is in the next two months.

"Key Ingredients: America by Food" makes the last stop on its Utah tour starting Saturday at the Utah Cultural Celebration Center, 1355 W. 3100 South, in West Valley City. The exhibit ends March 20.

"Key Ingredients" is part of the Smithsonian's Museum on Main Street program, where exhibits travel to communities across the United States. So far, the tour has generated lots of hoopla with food seminars, classes and events in the host communities — Castle Dale, Huntsville, Springdale, Richfield and most recently, Tooele.

Each community has also supplemented the Smithsonian's exhibit with its own local flavors and food-related artifacts. West Valley City will follow suit, with events that highlight the area's cultural and culinary diversity.

Each week during the exhibit is themed to a different type of ethnic cuisine, and there will be classes on Vietnamese, Dutch oven, Native American and Latin American cooking. The Utah Scottish Association will present its annual Robert Burns Supper honoring Scotland's statesman and poet. Amateur writers can hone their own skills with a Food Lore Writing Workshop. At "A World of Tastes" on Feb. 7, diners can sample cuisine from local ethnic restaurants, such as Bangkok Thai, Boondocks. Pacific Grill, Cedars of Lebanon, Jinub Sudan and Star of India.

"The interesting thing about West Valley is that it's very diverse, and the restaurants are really great," said Sarah Parady, outreach coordinator at the Utah Cultural Celebration Center. "Part of the exhibit discusses the influence of immigration to the U.S., so we thought we would focus on that."

The Smithsonian's exhibit consists of five 13-foot-high panels, or kiosks, mounted with photos and a few artifacts, such as the Pillsbury Doughboy and an early veggie-chopping gadget (the forerunner to all those products advertised in infomercials today). There are windows that open to reveal a regional specialty, such as fry bread tacos (known here as Navajo tacos), Chicago deep-dish pizza, Philly cheesesteak sandwiches and the veggie mix called succotash.

At the exhibit, you can see how America's natural resources — fisheries, farmlands and grazing areas — contributed to what we eat. There's a kiosk on how the industrial revolution brought about freezing, canning and the many small kitchen appliances we take for granted today.

The kiosk on home cooking has an old recipe collection and a diagram of a proper table setting from the 1859 edition of Godey's Lady Book. (One difference from the way we set tables today — the knife was set above the plate, instead of next to the spoon.) The food festival panel talks about regional feasts, such as fish fries, clambakes, lobster boils, barbecue cook-offs and Dutch oven cookouts. There's a photo of Lamb Days in Fountain Green, where pit-roasted lamb is a tradition.

You can try on a Cheese Head hat popular with Green Bay Packers fans and view Olympic food pins, such as fry sauce, green Jell-O, and funeral potatoes.

To supplement the Smithsonian's pieces, some of West Valley's food institutions (including Winder Dairy, Fassio Egg Farms, Harmon's Grocery and Brock Brother's Produce) will have historical displays.

"They will be including a lot of interesting old artifacts and pictures," said Parady. "One of the things that's really interactive is the community writing center. We are hoping to get people to share their funny stories from Thanksgiving and those kinds of things."

Most recently, the exhibit was in Tooele's Pioneer Museum. "We've had a crowd of people every day, and we've been packed every night that we've done food demonstrations," said Barbara Barlow, a local exhibit committee member.

Tooele residents donated family heirlooms for its display — a baker's cabinet, a cream separator, a butter churn, a 1936 cookbook, as well as plates, cups and bowls from bygone eras. The Tooele committee hopes to make it an ongoing part of the museum, said Barlow. "Families would donate their historic items to display in the museum for a few months at a time."

Mike Christensen, the program scholar from the Utah Humanities Council, helped the communities develop their events and exhibits.

"There's been a wide variety of events, and they've all been excellent," he said. "The Museum on Main Street program is designed to help rural museums shine, to allow them to demonstrate their contributions to small-town life. A metropolitan area like West Valley City wouldn't normally get this kind of exhibit, but because the Utah Cultural Celebration Center is such a new entity and fits well with the exhibit's theme, that's why we've been allowed to get it."

Christensen said he's noticed that people are drawn in by the the Smithsonian's reputation, but they're also impressed with the local exhibits.

"People are really wowed that the Smithsonian is coming," he said. "These are great exhibits, with eye-catching pictures and great text. But then when people see an exhibit with something like Winder Dairy or Fassio Eggs, they get a sense that their community contributed to those themes articulated nationally. It instills a sense of pride in the local flavors."

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

E-mail: vphillips@desnews.com
© 2009 Deseret News Publishing Company | All rights reserved

Utah Scottish Festival set this week in West Valley

2003-10-06T14:13:00.000-06:00

Utah Scottish Festival set this week in West Valley
Published: Tuesday, June 10, 2003 8:02 a.m. MDT
WEST VALLEY CITY — The Utah Scottish Association will present the Utah Scottish Festival and Highland Games Friday-Sunday at the West Valley City Cultural Celebration Center at the Riverfront.

Tickets may be purchased at the gate or online at www.utahscots.org.

Festivities begin Friday at 7:30 p.m. with a clan gathering and torch lighting ceremony. The Highland Athletic Games, with traditional feats of strength, will take place Saturday. The festival will conclude Sunday with the Kirkin' of the Tartan.

© 2009 Deseret News Publishing Company | All rights reserved

Cultural center progressing in West Valley

2003-02-04T14:12:00.000-07:00

Cultural center progressing in West Valley
River advocates unhappy over growth, however

By Stephen Speckman
Deseret News staff writer
Published: Wednesday, April 2, 2003 7:36 a.m. MST
WEST VALLEY CITY — The cultures of northern Utah never had it so good. Advocates for the Jordan River, however, aren't singing the same tune.

Various festival organizers are lining up to lease space in the 60-acre Cultural Celebration Center at the Riverfront. In its 27-acre, $12 million first phase, a 74,000-square-foot Arts and Heritage Hall is nearing completion.

"I think it's very important that we have a center where the emphasis and the focus is culture," said Bill Afeaki, director of the Utah State Office of Pacific Islander Affairs. "Much of the problems with ethnic groups is an identity crisis and hopefully, through this center, ethnic groups will learn who they are and the underlying values they should embrace."

At a projected $600,000 in annual overhead costs, the center is meant to break even each year, though the potential is there for it to be a moneymaker.

"This is very, very much intended to be a regional facility," said Celebration Center project manager Susan Klinker.

The Celebration Center will allow for some groups to stop meeting in homes and church basements. It will give a more permanent place for organizations that have been searching for a home of their own.

The Utah Scottish Association, which used to call Murray home, is now planning for a June 13-15 festival at the Celebration Center, located along the Jordan River at about 3100 South, just east of Redwood Road.

August will feature a bluegrass festival and possibly events put on by the Utah Native American Association and the Polynesian Association of Utah.

A July 19 grand opening is set for the hall, the 12-acre festival grounds and a two-sided stage where acts can face a crowd of up to 1,500 in an amphitheater or 10,000 if they turn toward the festival grounds. Layton Construction officials say the work is about 85 percent complete.

But building so close to the Jordan River has presented a few challenges, such as trying to protect the river's meander corridor and nearby wetlands. Those areas, Buchanan said, will be handled with care.

"We see the Jordan River as an incredible asset to this project," he said.

Great Salt Lake Audubon executive director and Great Salt Lakekeeper Jeff Salt said if cities along the Jordan continue to develop in floodplains and wildlife habitat that there will be nothing left. To Salt, it becomes a case of "loving the river to death."

Salt said very little "substance" has come from city leaders on dealing with building in sensitive areas along the river. West Valley City is one of the few along the Jordan River that has not joined the Jordan River Natural Areas Forum, a collection of cities and various community and government agencies whose focus is to protect the Jordan River.

But the project forges ahead and what's on the inside and outside at the Celebration Center is, in fact, the product of a collaborative effort.

Utah Power gave the city an easement in its power corridor. The Granger-Hunter Improvement District and Brighton Canal Co. are providing water. And Salt Lake County is granting the city a "use permit" for about nine acres.

Bob Buchanan, West Valley City administrator of economic development, said the whole idea to build something like this came from the Salt Lake Valley's ethnic community.

"This is truly a unique situation," he said.

It's been the input from representatives of different peoples, Klinker said, that has helped build this beacon to Utah cultures.

Here are just a few of the features people can expect:

•Festival grounds that can be accessed only by traversing one of four bridges (there are five total), which should make crowd control a little easier for ticket takers.

•The 300-foot wide by 4-foot high Gearld Wright memorial walkway, named after West Valley City's late mayor. It will feature permanent and temporary displays that highlight Utah's cultural diversity.

•A pond and meandering stream surrounding the festival grounds and running beneath an outdoor stage. The water will come from the Brighton Canal.

•A special food vendor area with a data line for credit-card sales, running water, electricity and drains for grease and other food preparation wastes. The site also will be licensed for beer and wine sales.

•An irrigation system that utilizes a new well without relying on culinary water supplies. The approximately 20 acres of green space could be watered by the well, nearby canal or eventually from treated water from a sewage treatment plant.

•Classrooms, meeting rooms, office space, a commercial kitchen and banquet facilities for up to 1,000, all for rent inside the Heritage Hall.

Construction of the International Market Place, a permanent area for commerce that emphasizes serving different cultures, should begin within the next two years.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

E-mail: sspeckman@desnews.com
© 2009 Deseret News Publishing Company | All rights reserved

Celebrate the Year of Horse at square

2002-12-02T14:11:00.000-07:00

Celebrate the Year of Horse at square
By Scott Iwasaki and Dave Gagon
Deseret News staff writers
Published: Tuesday, Feb. 12, 2002 1:01 a.m. MST
It's Chinese New Year and the local Asian community will be celebrating today — and on into tomorrow — with dragon dances, the China Acrobats from Taianjin City and Asian crafts depicting the Year of the Horse.

The celebration will take place from 10:30 a.m.-1 a.m. at Washington Square, 500 S. State. Admission is free.

Also, "Year of the Horse," an exhibition of art by 25 Utah Asian artists, is on display at Zions Bank, 102 S. Main, from 10:30 a.m.-6 p.m. each day through Feb. 24.

Other ethnic festivals at Washington Square during the Olympics will include:

•Feb. 13 and 14 — NAPAH (Native Americans, Asian Americans, Pacific Islanders, African Americans and Hispanics)

•Feb. 15 and 16 — Polynesian Association of Utah

•Feb. 17 — Utah Scottish Association

•Feb. 18 — Uintah Soul on Snow

•Feb. 19 and 20 — Peruvian Club

•Feb. 21 — Native Tongan American Society

•Feb. 22 — Pacific Islander Student Association

•Feb. 23 and 24 — Greek Orthodox Church
Each of these events will also be open to the public from 10:30 a.m.-1 a.m.

OUT AND ABOUT: Over the weekend, a tourist from Europe was overhead asking an Olympic volunteer downtown where he could find the Wild West. The volunteer, understandably perplexed, paused a moment and said, "This is the Wild West!" But that didn't satisfy the persistent tourist: "No! Where are the cowboys and Indians?"

•As you might expect, the Osmonds have been the subject of much humor as national late-night shows comment on the Olympics. Jay Leno, David Letterman and Conan O'Brien all made Osmond jokes last week. But Donny Osmond himself may have gotten the biggest laugh when he was interviewed on the "Today" show and said that visitors' biggest surprise here might be to discover he has only one wife. (Donny and Marie are also hosting five-minute Olympic updates each hour throughout the day on KBYU/Ch. 11.)

•Looks like Fleming's Prime Steakhouse and Wine Bar is turning into one of the hot spots for celebrity sightings during the 2002 Winter Games. The International Olympic Committee delegation, including President Jacques Rogge and former president Juan Antonio Samaranch, dined at The Gateway restaurant this weekend. Also, astute diners may have seen all four members of the Foo Fighters at the restaurant Sunday night. The band played at the Olympic Medals Plaza Monday night.

DON'T MISS: Macy Gray, tonight at the Medals Plaza, around 9 p.m., immediately following the medals ceremonies. For those who weren't lucky enough to get tickets, a large projection screen will be set up near the Triad Center. This is comedian Bob Saget's last night as emcee.

•Cowboy poet Waddie Mitchell headlines "Why the Cowboy Sings: An Evening of Poetry and Music," tonight at 8 p.m. in the Capitol Theatre. Tickets are $20-$35.

•Violinist Itzhak Perlman will perform with the Utah Symphony tonight in Abravanel Hall. The concert is sold out.

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E-MAIL: scott@desnews.com ; gagl@desnews.com

© 2009 Deseret News Publishing Company | All rights reserved

City plans days of free fun and entertainment

2002-01-31T14:10:00.000-07:00

City plans days of free fun and entertainment

By Diane Urbani
Deseret News staff writer
Published: Thursday, Jan. 31, 2002 12:14 p.m. MST
The Beach Boys will bring some much-needed sunshine to Washington Square the first Saturday of the Olympics during Salt Lake City's free, all-day-and-most-of-the-night festival.

The Olympic torch will fire up the festivities next Thursday night. It's scheduled to arrive at the City-County Building at 10:06 p.m.

"People are urged to come early," mayor's spokesman Josh Ewing said. "If they come at 10, there won't be a spot for them." A throng of 35,000 is expected on torch night.

The Salt Lake Organizing Committee is planning the torch party, but after that the place will belong to Utah-based bands, dancers and singers again. The free entertainment "is our chance to showcase the openness, diversity, culture and talent of our community," said Mayor Rocky Anderson. "It's for the people who may not be able to afford tickets to sporting events or who didn't have time to wait in line at Smith'sTix" for Medals Plaza wristbands.

The city's epic party features dozens of performing groups, from Salsa Brava and Soul Patrol to GiGi Love, Voice Male and Samba Solstice. Tongan, Bosnian, Cajun, Motown, mariachi and Chicago blues musicians will mix on the square, from 10:30 a.m. until 1 a.m. nearly every day of the Olympics. The only shortened days will be Feb. 8 and 24 when the downtown festival will run from 4 p.m. to 1 a.m.

The Beach Boys are slated for 3 p.m. Feb. 9, and will be followed that evening by rocker GiGi Love at 6:30 p.m.; the Saltaires show choir at 7:45 p.m., and Salsa Brava from 10:15 p.m. until closing time. The next day, Sunday, dawns with pianist Fiona Adeline Smith, the New Orleans Spirituals gospel group, and in the evening, the Saliva Sisters and Insatiable.

A complete schedule of downtown festival performers is on www.slcgov.com/Olympics.

The 18 days of Olympic revelry culminate the mayor and City Council's yearlong debates over whether and how to serve alcohol in the city's front yard. Anderson joked about running a mayor's hot-toddy stand at the downtown festival — and while he'll probably be busy at other venues or stuck in traffic, other vendors will offer hot buttered rum, hot brandy and mulled wine, beer, soft drinks and cafeteria-style food inside two heated tents.

There also will be jumbo video screens on the square, so festivalgoers can watch Olympic competitions, medals ceremonies and probably a snippet of that night's Medals Plaza concert on NBC's "Tonight Show."

The mayor, however, hopes downtown partygoers won't be glued to the TV. The city festival is "giving us all a chance to mingle with visitors from around the world," Anderson said. And a lot of those "visitors" are now Utahns who'll give performances at the downtown festival: The 2002 Festival of India, Japanese Church of Christ, Polynesian Association of Utah, the Utah Scottish Association, the Peruvian Club and the Greek Orthodox Church are among the groups who will appear on Washington Square.

A multimedia center with an enormous photo mosaic of pictures taken by children, a small Internet cafe and a karaoke booth will also be set up, alongside the restored "Avenging Angel" movie set, which gives one side of the square an Old West look.

Free shuttle buses will transport people from all over Salt Lake City to the square. Liberty Park, Sugarhouse Park and the 1575 S. State campus of Salt Lake Community College are a few of the park-and-ride lots served by the buses, and more details are on www.utahcommuterlink.com.

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E-mail: durbani@desnews.com
© 2009 Deseret News Publishing Company | All rights reserved

Obituary: Emsley Wilkes Phillips Jr.

2001-12-07T14:08:00.000-07:00

Obituary: Emsley Wilkes Phillips Jr.
Published: Friday, Dec. 7, 2001 3:46 p.m. MST
Emsley returned to his Heavenly Father on Dec. 5, 2001.

He was born August 10, 1926 to Emsley Wilkes and Ettie Lea Smith Phillips in Wylie Texas. He married Myra Lea Faught on February 21, 1954 in Pleasant Mound, Texas. They were later sealed in the Mesa, Ariz. Temple.

"DUB", was happiest when serving others. He was a volunteer with the Boy Scouts of America; first in Circle Ten Council in Dallas, Texas, and later in the Greater Salt Lake Council. He was an advisor to the Order of the Arrow and a Vigil member. He earned the district Award of Merit and the coveted Silver Beaver. He was past President of the Utah Scottish Association, and 12 year Commissioner of Clan Donald. He served in many callings in the L.D.S. Church. He retired in 1986 as superintendent of the water treatment plant in Bluffdale, Utah. He was also a member of the disaster team for the American Red Cross and Commander of Scottish American Military Society.

Survived by his wife Myra Lea; two daughters, Cynthia Leann Phillips and Kari Elizabeth Green; two grandsons, Nicholas Fontecchio and L. Adam

Flores and many nieces and nephews.

"DUB" touched the lives of many people in his life. He will be remembered for his sense of humor and his love of service. Everyone who met "DUB" was his friend. He will be dearly missed.

Funeral services will be held 11 a.m. Saturday Dec. 8, 2001 at the Taylorsville North Stake 1265 W. Atherton (about 4200 So.). Friends may call Friday evening from 6-8 at Redwood Memorial Estates, 6500 So. Redwood Rd and one hour prior to services at the ward on Saturday. Interment Redwood Memorial Estates.
© 2009 Deseret News Publishing Company | All rights reserved

Obituary: James Blair Turner

2000-02-27T14:06:00.000-07:00

Obituary: James Blair Turner
Published: Sunday, Feb. 27, 2000 12:00 a.m. MST
James Blair Turner, died February 25, 2000 of natural causes. He was 82.

He was born to James Lowery Turner and Mary Ann Tilt Turner on January 4, 1918 in Salt Lake City, Utah. He married Margaret Bushman on March 29, 1940 in Salt Lake City. They were parents of two children, a son Van Blair and a daughter Leta Mae. They are grandparents of 10 wonderful grand-children whom they love very much.Blair and Margaret were founders of the Glendale AG Market, a business they operated for more than 20 years and served as president of the Salt Lake Grocers Association. He also served as Director and Treasurer of the Utah Retail Grocers Association and was a member of Associated Food Stores, Inc. Blair was a Charter Member of the Glendale Lions' Club.

He was active for many years in the Republican Party in Utah and served in various positions in County and State. He was member of the LDS Church.

During World War II he served in the old Utah Constabulary for several months and then 3 years in U.S. Army in Pacific Ocean Areas and was on Okinawa at War's end. Was staff sergeant of AA Artillery. Blair was a member of the Utah Scottish Association.

Blair was a lover of antique and classic cars. He was president and long time member of Salty A's Model A Ford Club. Blair was proud to be a graduate of South High's Class of
© 2009 Deseret News Publishing Company | All rights reserved

Fun & (Highland) games

2000-01-06T14:07:00.000-07:00

Fun & (Highland) games
A wee bit o' Scotland comes to Murray next weekend, June 9-11

By Scott Iwasaki
Deseret News staff writer
Published: Thursday, June 1, 2000 4:10 p.m. MDT
Garry Bryant is of Scottish descent, and the Highland Games are a way for him to get in tune with his roots.

"It was many years ago when I first went to the games," Bryant said. "I had done my genealogy and had hit a wall. There were no other leads I could follow. And I was pretty discouraged. Then I found out about the games and went.

"All of a sudden, I was surrounded by people who had the same culture and traditions that I had."

The games touched Bryant, and since that time, there hasn't been a year when he's missed the festivities.

The 26th annual Scottish Festival and Highland Games will take place next weekend at Murray City Park, 5109 S. Murray Park Ave. (100 East).

The whole shebang begins Friday, June 9, with a Grande Tattoo ceremony at 7:30 p.m. The evening of music and dance will be capped off with fireworks at 10 p.m. Admission is $5.

On Saturday, June 10, the Highland Games will continue from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Admission is $8 for adults, $4 for children ages 6-12, and children under 6 are free.

The Scottish weekend will end Sunday, June 11, with a Kirkn' O' the Tartan at 9 a.m.

"I take my family every year," Bryant said. "And it gives me a sense of belonging. As a parent, I feel the responsibility to teach the traditions of my ancestors to my children. And, hopefully, they will teach their children, and so on down the line."

Although the Highland Games have been a part of the diverse Salt Lake City scene for a quarter of a century, many people have misconceptions.

"The Grande Tattoo isn't a gathering where people get themselves painted up," said Bryant, now a board member of the Utah Scottish Association. "It stems from a tradition that started back in the 18th and 19th centuries, when the British troops stationed in the lowlands near Belgium would hit the taverns during the evening.

"When it was time for the regiments to head back to camp, a sergeant would walk down the street and poke his head inside the bars and tell the soldiers to pack it up. The soldiers would then fall in line with the sergeant as he went to the other pubs.

"Later, the tradition started incorporating drums and pipes. And that's how the tattoo began," said Bryant. "The word 'tattoo' was derived from the order the sergeant gave."

Many people are familiar with the caber tossing that takes place during the Highland Games, said Bryant. "The caber is that huge telephone pole."

But there are a lot of people who don't realize there are more competitions that run throughout the day. "Putting the stone is basically a shot put. And they toss hammers, weights and sheafs, which is a bale of hay."

While some might believe the games are only for muscle-bound athletes, Bryant thinks otherwise. "It's all in the technique. There are times when the little guys defeat the larger ones."

Dance competitions are also part of the competitions, said Bryant. "The traditional sword dance and Highland Fling will be going on in another part of the park while the athletic games are going on. So there's something that will be happening throughout the day."

Then there will be the band competitions. "Individual piping, drum major and drumming competitions are scheduled in the morning. And the band competitions will be held in the afternoon."

The playing field will be cleared at noon and at 5 p.m. so all the bands in attendance will be able to march together in unison. "That scene always gets the blood going," Bryant said. "It's just magnificent."

In addition, there will be various kiosks and booths set up that will give those attending a chance to see Scottish crafts. Woodworking, tartan sewing and chain-mail linking will all be part of the program.

"Clan representatives from all over Utah will be in attendance showing everyone what their clan's craft is," he explained. "Each will demonstrate their place in Scottish history."

On Sunday, the Kirkn' O' the Tartan, which literally means "blessing the tartan," will begin at 9 a.m. in the park.

"It's a very beautiful ceremony," Bryant said. "Contrary to some popular belief, the ceremony isn't an ancient Scottish ritual. It was invented in 1941 in Washington, D.C., by a reverend named Peter Marshall. He wanted to raise money for the English war funds. It is a ceremony that tells those in attendance that they and their ancestors will not be forgotten."

"The Scottish Festival and Highland Games is an event everyone can enjoy," said Jeff Mann, president of the Utah Scottish Association.

"This event helps answer questions that people may have. People who attend for the first time ask a lot of questions, whether or not they are of Scottish descent. And we love to answer their questions. And I think the festival gives them a bit of 'Braveheart' to take home."

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E-mail: scott@desnews.com
© 2009 Deseret News Publishing Company | All rights reserved

Obituary: Mary Buchanan Dyson

1999-06-21T14:05:00.000-06:00

Obituary: Mary Buchanan Dyson
Published: Wednesday, July 21, 1999 12:00 a.m. MDT
Mary Buchanan Dyson, passed away Sunday morning, July 18, 1999 in a hospital in Las Vegas, Nevada, surrounded by her family.

Born to Frederick and Elizabeth Reid Buchanan on September 26, 1922. Mary left Scotland to marry William Harry Dyson, September 25, 1943 in Birmingham, England. The marriage was solemnized in the Salt Lake Temple, shortly after they immigrated to Utah in 1950. A faithful member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Worked in the Primary and Relief Society. Also an ordinance worker in the Salt Lake Temple. Served on the Board of Directors of the Utah Scottish Association 78-79.Mary is survived by her husband, William H. Dyson; two sons and four daughters, Heather Pitts (Oregon), Colleen Grande (Nevada), Harry N. Dyson, Kyle R. Dyson, Alanna Moore and Eileen Bounds, (Utah) and their spouses. 17 grandchildren and three great-grandchildren. Also two brothers and one sister, William Buchanan, Elizabeth Leslie, (Holladay) Frederick Buchanan, (Salt Lake City). Preceded in death by one great-granddaughter.

In lieu of flowers, please consider Primary Childrens Medical Center, P.O. Box 58249, 100 North Medical Drive, SLC, Utah.

The funeral will be held on Thursday morning July 22, 1999 at 11 am at the Holladay 1st Ward (4568 South Holladay Blvd) Holladay, Utah. The viewing will be one hour prior the funeral. Burial will be at the Salt Lake City Cemetery.
© 2009 Deseret News Publishing Company | All rights reserved

Thousands get taste o' St. Paddy's green S.L. parade offers a little something for everyone

1999-03-14T14:04:00.000-07:00

Thousands get taste o' St. Paddy's green S.L. parade offers a little something for everyone
By Lynn Arave Deseret News staff writer
Published: Sunday, March 14, 1999 12:00 a.m. MST
Saturday's St. Patrick's Day Parade boasted more than 130 entries and attracted several thousand spectators. And the spectacle had something for everyone.

This year's 21st annual parade, sponsored again by the Hibernian Society of Utah, lasted 100 minutes under sunny skies. It also incorporated several features unique to 1999 -- the Salt Lake Olympic scandal and the Y2K problem. The Disgusting Brothers band, playing rock music from the back of a flatbed truck, billed themselves as "The Unofficial SLOC Scandal Band."

Another group, Mac's Pre-Millennium band, a marching company, promoted itself as having the Y2 "Keg" solution.

Children seemed the most entertained by "Zany the Clown," who juggled a half-dozen hoops, and by the numerous parade participants who passed out an ample supply of balloons, coupons, candy, foam disks, newspapers, green necklaces, garden plants and even silk roses.

The George family of Salt Lake City watched the parade from the south side of South Temple at State Street.

"I liked the oriental Shriners band the best," Kelley George said. "They were a hoot."

It was her first St. Patrick's Day parade, though the event was a natural since she was born on March 17.

Her 5-year-old son, Saxon, said his favorite part of the parade was "the dragon" -- part of the Utah Scottish Association float.

Another youngster, Christian 6, of Sugar House, said the Salt Lake po- lice motorcycles were the best part for him. His mother said the bagpipe bands were her favorite.

Paradegoers got an early preview of the Salt Lake mayoral race, with all the candidates appearing near the start of the event. A few other politicians were there, too, such as Rep. Merrill Cook riding in a hot rod.

Floats included "Paddy's Express Train, No. 99" by Kearns St. Ann's School; "Paddy's Pot of Gold" and two versions of the snakes being driven out of Ireland.

Some of the world's largest dogs were also featured by the Irish Wolfhounds of Utah Society.

Frank Dunn, Hibernian Society parade committee member, said the event strives to encourage a lot of families -- Irish or not -- to enter. Indeed, there were several dozen families entered, with surnames such as O'Keefe, O'Leary, Flynn, Liston, Stack and Fergusson.

There were also a few unlikely parade entrants -- belly dancers; a Civil War cavalry band, accompanied by costumed women and children; a skimpily clad Spanish band, a 100-person Christian motorcycle club; and even Mickey and Minnie Mouse wearing green hats.

Grand marshal of the parade was James J. McNamara, and Harold Heath was recognized as the Hibernian Society member of the year. Both rode in horse-drawn buggies.

After the parade, the Hibernian Society sponsored an Irish "Siamsa" party at the Gallivan Center.
© 2009 Deseret News Publishing Company | All rights reserved

Caption Only: Sounds a lot like bagpipes in Murray

1998-02-05T14:03:00.000-07:00

Caption Only: Sounds a lot like bagpipes in Murray
Published: Saturday, May 2, 1998 12:00 a.m. MDT
Murray Mayor Dan Snarr uses the back of Dale Sandusky to sign a proclamation declaring Saturday, June 13, as Scottish Day in Murray. The proclamation notes the move of the Scottish Highland Games from Fort Douglas to Murray City Park. Murray is one of the clans of Scotland. A bagpiper played, and several board members of Utah Scots attended the ceremony. Sandusky is second vice president of the Utah Scottish Association and national president of the Clan Forsyth Society.
© 2009 Deseret News Publishing Company | All rights reserved

Pipes, parade and parties at Scottish fest in Payson

1997-07-10T14:02:00.000-06:00

Pipes, parade and parties at Scottish fest in Payson
Published: Thursday, July 10, 1997 12:00 a.m. MDT
Tartans, tams, twirling batons, toe-dancing highland flings and treasures of Scottish ancestry will be featured in the Payson 14th annual Scottish Festival Saturday.

The processional parade will be held at 9 a.m. down Main Street to Payson Memorial Park. Leading this year's parade as honorary chieftain is Payson police officer Bob Carter. Clans and Scottish organizations will follow with banners and pipes and drums. Breakfast will be served between 7:30 and 11 a.m. Competitions, highland dancers, pipe bands, children's activities, Scottish import vendors, and food concessions booths with Scottish and American menus continue throughout the day.Twenty-nine clans will gather this year, including Baird, Campbell, Cunningham, Donald, Douglass, Ferguson, Forsyth, Gillian-McClain, Gunn, Kennedy, MacLaren, McLeod, MacFarlane, Maxwell, Utah Scottish Association, Young, Morrison, McClellan, MacLaghlan, O'Brien, Graham, Frazier, Montgomery, St. Andrews, MacIntosh, McKay, Hamilton, Stewart, Sinclair and Keith.

Scottish athletic events are putting the stone, 28-pound weight for distance, 56-pound weight for distance, 22-pound hammer for distance, caber toss, 56-pound weight for height, and 20-pound sheaf for height. Entry fee is $2 per event with an all-around trophy being awarded.

Closing ceremonies, which includes the clans and mass bands, will be at 4 p.m. For more information call 465-2933 or 465-3714.
© 2009 Deseret News Publishing Company | All rights reserved

PIPES TO WAIL WORLDWIDE FOR WEE WAINS

1996-02-23T14:01:00.000-07:00

PIPES TO WAIL WORLDWIDE FOR WEE WAINS
By Brooke Adams, Staff Writer
Published: Saturday, March 23, 1996 12:00 a.m. MST
Bagpipes around the world will wail April 13 in a musical homage to victims of the Dunblane massacre.

Birgit Gonzalez, a student at Binghamton University in New York, suggested on the Internet newsgroup (rec.music.makers.bagpipe) that pipers play a lament for the victims of the tragic massacre. Gonzalez lived for a year in Scotland and attended Dunblane Primary School, where 16 children and a teacher died March 14.Perhaps, she said in her post, they should all pick up their pipes and play the same tune all over the world. The idea spread through cyberspace as pipers quickly embraced the idea.

From the Delaware Valley in Philadelphia to the Southern Oregon Scottish Pipe Band to Canada, pipers signed on to participate in what is being called "Pipers Around the World."

On that Saturday at noon in each time zone, the pipers have agreed to play "Amazing Grace" in memory of the kindergarten students and their teacher. They'll read the victims' names and then contribute other musical laments to express sorrow and solidarity with the people of Dunblane.

On Friday, Utah pipers began making plans to participate in the memorial. As many as 100 pipers and drummers are expected to participate in the memorial, according to Jeff Mann, secretary of the Western United States Pipe Band Association and manager of the Utah Pipe Band.

"We have contacted the five pipe bands that play in Utah, and everybody is really ready and willing to play in a massed band," Mann said. Utah pipers may read Scottish poems during their hour-long program and also plan to close by asking the audience to sing as "Amazing Grace" closes the service.

A location has not yet been selected, though the group plans to ask the Salt Lake County Commission if Abravanel Hall is available, Mann said.

"All over the world, for 24 hours, there will be bagpipes playing in honor of the teacher and the children," said Garry Bryant, a trustee for the Utah Scottish Association and historian for the St. Andrew's Society of Utah.

The town of Dunblane has been in mourning since Thomas Watt Hamilton stormed through the school April 14 and opened fire on children gathered in a school gym. Hamilton, whom police described as a disgruntled youth worker, then killed himself.

People around the world have sent flowers, cards, stuffed animals and toys to Dunblane to express sorrow over the small town's loss. Donations can be sent to the Dunblane Primary PTA School Board Fund at the Bank of Scotland, 63 High Street, Dunblane, Central, FK15 OEJ.
© 2009 Deseret News Publishing Company | All rights reserved

SCOTTISH `CEILIDH' WILL BE SATURDAY

1995-10-03T13:58:00.000-06:00

SCOTTISH `CEILIDH' WILL BE SATURDAY
By Jeff Vice, Staff Writer
Published: Friday, March 10, 1995 12:00 a.m. MST
Scottish clans will again gather to feast and enjoy their heritage as part of the 10th annual Spring Ceilidh on Saturday, March 11.

The Ceilidh, which was formerly known as the Robert Burns Dinner, has fallen under the auspices of the Payson Scottish Days Festival Committee and is quickly becoming one of the biggest little ethnic celebrations in the state."People really like the little things we have done that make it authentic," said festival and Ceilidh president Helen Scott, who noted that the event helps pay for the summer Scottish Days Festival.

The Spring Ceilidh (pronounced kay-LEE) will begin at 6 p.m., with the Payson Pipe Band welcoming visitors to the city and leading a procession to the Payson Civic Center, 439 W. Utah Ave.

The dinner/-program will begin at 7 p.m. with the presentation of dignitaries, including Rep. Bill Orton, D-Utah; Payson Mayor Russell Hillman and members of the Payson City Council; Jeffrey McCloud, president of the St. Andrew Society; and Larry McDonald, president of the Utah Scottish Association.

The dinner served at the Ceilidh includes a less traditional haggis than the Scottish variety, which was heart, liver and lungs mixed with suet and seasonings and boiled in a lamb's stomach. The haggis served at the Ceilidh is more American, featuring ground beef and heart and liver. The meal will also feature shepherd's pie, a vegetable, salad, rolls and trifle.

An entertainment program, featuring the Payson Pipe Band, the Salt Lake Highland Dancers and the Peteetneet Academy Highland Dancers, will begin after the dinner is served. Also, the dancing groups will demonstrate dancing styles and lead patrons in dancing after the program.

Patrons, who are encouraged to wear traditional Scottish attire, can still make reservations for the Ceilidh and dinner, which costs $7.50 per person, by calling 465-3714.

*****

Additional Information

Schedule of Saturday's events

All events will be held Saturday at the Payson Civic Center, 439 W. Utah Ave., unless specified:

- Welcoming of guests: McDonald's parking lot, 789 N. Main, between 6 and 6:45 p.m. The Payson Pipe Band will greet guests and lead a procession to the Ceilidh.

- Presentation of the chieftain staff: 7 p.m. Rep. Bill Orton will pass the staff to David Barclay, who will take over as chieftain of the Ceilidh and the Scottish Festival in the summer. Barclay will also sample the haggis and pronounce it fit to eat.

- Dinner: Approximately 7:30 p.m. Includes haggis, shepherd's pie, vegetable, salad, rolls and trifle. Cost: $7.50. Advance reservations required, 465-3714.

- Scottish program: Approximately 8 p.m. Includes the Payson Pipe Band, Salt Lake Highland Dancers and the Peteetneet Academy Highland Dancers.

- Group social dancing: Approximately 9 p.m.
© 2009 Deseret News Publishing Company | All rights reserved

SCOTS, SLAVS ALSO HOLDING CELEBRATIONS THIS MONTH

1995-06-09T13:59:00.000-06:00

SCOTS, SLAVS ALSO HOLDING CELEBRATIONS THIS MONTH
By Scott Iwasaki, Staff Writer
Published: Friday, June 9, 1995 12:00 a.m. MDT
The month of June should be renamed Festival Month. In addition the Salt Lake Arts Festival, Scottish and Slavic communities are holding their annual celebrations as well.

The 21st annual Scottish Festival and Highland Games will be held at historic Fort Douglas on Saturday, June 10. The gates open at 8 a.m., and the Color Guard opening ceremony will commence at 9 a.m. The festival winds down at 5 p.m. Admission is $6. Children 12 and younger are admitted without charge.Almost a week later, the music and food of the 13th annual Slavic Festival will fill the Utah Gallivan Center on Friday and Saturday, June 16 and 17. Friday's events begin at 7 p.m., while Saturday's schedule gets under way at 5 p.m. Both nights' celebrations end at midnight. Admission is $4 for adults, $2 for children and senior citizens.

During the festivals, foods, music and programs will emphasize and represent the nationalities of each community.

For John Holmes, president of the Utah Scottish Association, the Scottish Festival touches his heart with a feeling he wants to share with everyone. To do this, the festival serves two main purposes.

"First of all, it gives members of our community an arena of competition for Highland dancing, bagpipes and athletic events," Holmes said. "Second, the festival gives all people who attend a sense of how much fun it is being a Scot. We can reach out to people and give them a better view of who we are. We're more than bagpipes, kilts and telephone-pole throwers."

Virginia Barclay, who has been involved with the festival since it started in 1974, said the other objective is to give young people in the area a chance to develop their skills in competition.

"They can dance, drum and bagpipe the best they can without traveling around," she said. "And that's not mentioning the athletic events."

Throughout the day, athletes will participate in hammer and weight throws for height and distance, and sheaf and caber tosses. The caber, Holmes said, is that "telephone pole" everyone talks about. Children will also be able to participate in pony rides and lawn bowling.

In addition to the music and athletic competitions, Donnie MacDonald will be on hand for a free music concert, and clan (the Gaelic word for family), food and vending booths will be set up throughout the scene.

"There are about 25 to 30 clans represented here," said Holmes. "Our goal is to get all the clans in the area represented."

Clan crests, histories and claims to fame will be available to anyone interested, said Barclay, as will jewelry, stained-glass windows, tartan ties, books, videos, tapes and packaged foods.

A program called "Flowers of the Forest" begins at noon.

"This is the time we bid farewell to those who have passed on," said Holmes. "A lone piper will send the spirits on their way."

The theme for this year's Slavic Festival is "Polka Under the Stars." And the festival's general director Karen Zinner promises the event will live up to that concept.

"Once the music gets going, the stars are out and the air is fresh, people just get in the mood to dance," Zinner said. "You really feel free."

The festival - which celebrates the diversity of countries such as Belarus, Bosnia, Bulgaria, Croatia, Czechoslovakia, Macedonia, Poland, Russia, Ukraine and Yugoslavia, among others - was originally created 13 years ago to get people together for an informal Slavic celebration, unlike weddings and funerals, said Zinner.

"It all started based on a conversation a few of us had with a couple from Yugoslavia who owned a tavern," Zinner recalled. "We put an ad in the paper and planned on having a Slavic dinner at the Memorial House in Memory Grove."

The response to the ad, Zinner said, was overwhelming. So the next year the dinner was moved to the Old Mill, where it remained until 1992, when the Old Mill stopped renting.

For the past three years the Slavic Festival has been held in the Gallivan Center downtown and has attracted an increasing number of people each year.

"Not only are locals coming, but people as far away as Idaho, Oregon and Colorado are planning to show," said Zinner.

As for the evening's events, polka bands from Utah, Washington and Wyoming will perform and the Zivio and Narodna International Dancers will display their cultural movements. Also on tap will be public Slavic line dances.

Jan Root, band and choir director for Zivio Ethnic Arts Ensemble of Salt Lake, said that in the past people who had never tried Slavic line dances had trouble getting the rhythm down.

"At first the counting would throw them off, but with the resurging popularity of country-western line dances, people are getting their courage up and trying these basic steps," Root said. "The rhythms are a little odd, but once they feel it, they find the music's pauses are worked in comfortably and naturally."

In addition to the music and dance, Slavic food and handmade crafts will be available.

"Clothes and musical instruments from Eastern European countries are just a few of the things people can see and purchase," said Root. Among the food offerings "there will be knedliky - fruit-filled dumplings - and perogi, which are meat or potato filled dumplings that are very delicious and fattening, and kielbasa (sausage)."

Last year more than 3,000 people attended the festival, said Zinner. This time around, the event, she promised, will be bigger and better.

"It's so wonderful seeing people getting together and having a good time," she said. "The festival is for people of all races who are interested in the Slavic culture. But remember, this is a cultural festival. Though we are very sensitive of the turmoil that's occurring in the Slavic countries today, we ask everyone to please leave their politics at the door."
© 2009 Deseret News Publishing Company | All rights reserved

CAPTION ONLY: PLAIDS, LADS AND MORE THAN A TAD OF SCOT PRIDE

1994-12-06T13:58:00.000-07:00

CAPTION ONLY: PLAIDS, LADS AND MORE THAN A TAD OF SCOT PRIDE
Published: Sunday, June 12, 1994 12:00 a.m. MDT
A Parade of Clans celebrates Scottish heritage Saturday during the annual Highland Games at Fort Douglas. The games, sponsored by the Utah Scottish Association, also offered bagpipe competitions, athletic events such as the caber toss, and Highland dancing. Organizers said the celebration, now in its 20th year, is designed to foster appreciation for the Scottish culture.
© 2009 Deseret News Publishing Company | All rights reserved

FOOD VARIETY IS SPICE OF LIVING TRADITIONS FESTIVAL

1994-05-20T13:57:00.000-06:00

FOOD VARIETY IS SPICE OF LIVING TRADITIONS FESTIVAL
By Al Church, Dining Out Writer
Published: Friday, May 20, 1994 12:00 a.m. MDT
Salt Lake City is no different from many other cities across the country when it comes to its diverse cultural heritage. From its first American Indian inhabitants to the latest arrivals who have been subjected to either the fates or fortunes of our changing world, they each add to our community. A rich chorus of different harmonies appeals to more of us all the time as we lay aside the antiquated notion of the melting pot.

On Friday, Saturday and Sunday, May 20-22, the Salt Lake City Arts Council sponsors the ninth annual Living Traditions Festival. A major part of the celebration is the collection of 20 food vendors representing the many cultures that contribute to and enrich our lives in Salt Lake. There is no better way to meet a new country or culture than through its cuisine. Each booth is staffed by volunteers who will use the proceeds to support their own organizations' cultural activities for the year. Here is a list to whet your appetite:African-American cuisine by the New Generation of Gospel will be barbecued chicken, ribs, greens, yams and sweet potato, to name a few of the items from this soulful booth. The Utah Basque Club will be offering chorizos, spicy sausage and churros, a sweet fried pastry. The Bolivian Association of Utah has prepared salpenais, similar to empanadas with chicken and sajita, a chicken, chili and onion stew served over rice. Beef empanadas, arepas (cheese-filled corn turnovers), and fried plantains are just some of the dishes available from Colonia Colombiana of Utah. The Alliance Francaise offers crepes and salad nicoise; the Greek Dance Troupes is counting on gyros and other Greek delicacies to please the festival palates.

The Hawaiian Civic Club will be serving shredded roast pork sandwiches (kalua), char su chicken, sushi and shaved ice. The Hibernian Society of Utah has plans to add to your pleasure with Irish stew, soda bread and Irish cream cheese cake. The Japanese Church of Christ has assembled its skillful congregation to present sushi and teriyaki meats. Lebanese cuisine made by St. Jude's Maronite Church centers on kibbe, a healthful mixture of pine nuts, ground meat and cracked wheat in pita bread. Honey sweetened desserts and stuffed grape leaves are also on the bill of fare.

Mexican food from the Centro Civico Mexicano includes chile verde; the Indian Walk-In Center will benefit from its fry-bread tacos. The Club Union Peru is preparing tamales, anticuchos, or meat kabobs, Peruvian scones, and paparellenos, mashed potatoes with meat. (Of course you all knew that the potato originated in Peru and not Pocatello!)

Lumpia, or Philipino egg rolls are just one of the treats in store from the Philipino American Association of Utah. The Samoan Lokahi Club will feature its own unique teriyaki barbecue chicken. Shortbread and trifle are main courses from the Utah Scottish Association. The Swiss Chorus Edelweiss resonates with bratwurst and tortes for Alpine appetites.

Tibetian dumplings and sho-go kha-tsa, or spicy potatoes, add another terrain for festival goers, aiding the Utah Tibetian Association. The Thai Buddhist Temple lends both a hot and sweet flavor with its rice curry, egg rolls and stir fried noodles. And the Vietamese Volunteer Youth Association will be serving spring rolls, pork barbecue and noodle dishes.

It's a good thing that the festival will last three days! Admission is free and, not to slight the other aspects of the festival, there will be plenty of other sensory pleasures, including music, dance and craft demonstrations.

The festival will be on the Salt Lake City Hall grounds, State Street and 400 South. Hours are 6:15 to 10 p.m. on Friday; Saturday from noon to 10 p.m.; Sunday from noon to 7 p.m.

- ANOTHER WORTHWHILE CAUSE will benefit from one of its most important fund-raisers of the year. The St. Vincent de Paul Center's soup kitchen is hosting its annual luncheon and fashion show on Saturday, May 21, at the center, 437 W. 200 South. The festivities will begin with a social and bake sale at 11:30 a.m. followed by a luncheon prepared by celebrity chefs Bob Pembroke, Sy Craft, Rose Conners and former chef Matt Minkevitch. Tickets are $10. For more information, call the center at 534-1500 or Betty Holbrook, 467-6768.
© 2009 Deseret News Publishing Company | All rights reserved

CEILIDH OFFERS SCOTTISH FUN IN PAYSON

1994-03-15T13:56:00.000-07:00

CEILIDH OFFERS SCOTTISH FUN IN PAYSON
By Jeff Vice, Staff Writer
Published: Tuesday, March 15, 1994 12:00 a.m. MST
Scottish clans will gather March 26 to feast as part of the 1994 Spring Ceilidh - or as organizers term it, "an authentic Scottish party."

The Ceilidh (pronounced kay-LEE) is the eighth held under the auspices of the Payson Scottish Days Festival Committee, and it continues to grow by leaps and bounds - turning it into one of the biggest little ethnic celebrations in the state."(The Scots) didn't need a reason to party," said Helen Scott, the festival and Ceilidh president. "They were a very close-knit people who knew how to have a good time."

However, Scott stressed that the "good time" Ceilidh organizers have put together is good, clean fun and involves no alcohol.

"We just want people to share their kinship and have fun."

The program will begin at 6 p.m., with the Payson Pipe Band welcoming visitors to the city and leading a procession to the Payson Civic Center, 439 W. Utah Ave. (100 South).

Dinner commences at 7 p.m. with the presentation of dignitaries, including state Sen. LeRay McAllister, R-Orem; Rep. Bill Orton, D-Utah; Payson Mayor Russell Hillman and members of the Payson City Council; Jeffrey McCloud, president of the St. Andrew Society; and Larry McDonald, president of the Utah Scottish Association.

Orton, who has served as honorary chieftain for both the Ceilidh and the Scottish Days Festival, gets his Scottish blood from his mother. Orton will sample the haggis and pronounce the meal fit to eat, as well as lead a procession before and after dinner.

The haggis served at the Ceilidh is not the traditional Scottish variety - heart, liver and lungs mixed with suet and seasonings and boiled in a calf's stomach. The Ceilidh haggis features ground beef and heart and liver, making it more like "a Scottish meatloaf," Scott said.

Entertainment, including performances by the St. Andrew Society singing group, the Salt Lake Highland Dancers and the Payson Civic Chorale, will begin after the dinner is served. Also, the Salt Lake Country Dancers will demonstrate dancing styles and lead celebrants in dancing.

All events, except for the welcoming of guests, will be held at the Payson Civic Center.

Reservations for the program/dinner, $10 per person, are due Saturday, March 19, to: 1994 Spring Ceilidh, 45 E. 300 South, Payson, UT 84651. For more information on the event, contact Scott at 465-3714 or 465-2933.
© 2009 Deseret News Publishing Company | All rights reserved

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