My First Glengarry Highland Games

By Andrew MacCulloch

My Grandfather and Grandmother hailed from Greenock, Scotland. I visited there as a child, a teen, young adult and most recently with my own family. I love Scottish people and culture so I was excited about attending my first Glengarry Highland Games in Maxville this summer. I bought my first kilt, and my daughters laughed, saying now you know what we had to wear for four years in high school Dad. And so the fun begins!

I was still a little kilt shy as I approached the Glengarry gates. The sound of bagpipes drifted in the air calling the clans to come together. I headed for the Scottish Society of Ottawa (SSO) booth in the Clans Building and immediately met Dave Masson, a 6’4” native Scot who has been with the SSO from the beginning. One of the few Gaelic speakers in the Society, Dave regaled us with stories and chatted with visitors, many of whom desperately wanted their picture taken with life-size cut outs of Jamie and Claire from Outlander. Later, John Devine from the Scottish Government Office in Canada dropped by, and he and Dave gave me the impression that they knew everybody in Scotland. I told John I was a MacCulloch from Greenock and he said he was taught by Father MacCulloch near there growing up. See what I mean!

I also met the partner of Lindsay MacCulloch, who was busy assisting with running the games. She said there were plenty of MacCullochs about, and steered me towards the arena. Highland dancers, many from the celebrated MacCulloch School of Dance, were dancing the Sword dance. A single piper performed the music and one by one lassies, and a few laddies, from 10 years old to young adults performed. Wow! They were graceful and athletic. My female hockey coaching experience told me these competitors were superbly conditioned, agile, strong and graceful. The pipe music seemed to lift them off their feet with their beautiful kilts and dresses swirling with panache. Magnificent!

Dazzled by this and hardly even remembering I was wearing a kilt anymore (except when I sat down), I headed over to the grandstand where the field activities were being held. I watched the clans march in the Clans Parade. Whether small or large, every clan was honoured. As with highland dance, I was a rookie spectator, but largely awed. Huge and powerful men competed in tests of strength, agility and power in the traditional Scottish Athletic heavy weight competitions. First, I watched the vaguely familiar Stone Put and Hammer throw. Then came the Weight for Height which entails throwing a heavy weight over a high bar with one hand. Next the iconic Caber Toss was which involves “tossing” a 20ft long, 150 lb pole after you have balanced and run with it for a while. The Highlanders Tug O’ War did not fail to entertain, where two massive teams try to pull each other over a line in the middle between them. Unique and fun to watch, I did not realize how large these lads were until I met a few later in the pub. Who knew that I would get the opportunity to interview the eventual Games winner Lorne Colthart after the competition.  (see Colthart interview)

All this excitement gets a man mighty thirsty. I managed to curtail my impulses enough to head back over to the arena to see the fiddling exhibition. I’ve spent lots of time in arenas but never anything like this! A wide variety of fiddlers from young to old, accompanied or solo paraded to the stage for one or two numbers each. Some were traditional Scottish ballads while others were toe tapping ceilidh tunes, but all were passionately portrayed and performed. (see Nancy Dupuis’ excellent article on Scottish Fiddlers.)

Alas! I could wait no longer and headed over to the Metcalfe Building for a pint. The Brigadoons, four older gentleman and a younger female fiddler, were playing energetic Celtic dancing music. I noticed at the Games that people of all ages and gender were enjoying the moments and playing together, like family. Later, I caught a set from Bang on the Ear in the huge beer tent; they were a big sound 8-piece band. I was captivated by them but also by the female vocalist smiling down at her wee toddler down on the dance floor. They start dancing early in Glengarry!

The Games iconic feature remains the pipes and drums. It was magical to see single pipers warming up almost everywhere. Ubiquitous. I visited the Turning Circles comprised of stands encircling a field large enough to hold a competing pipe band. Each band marches in and performs several pieces and marches out again, like King Edward’s Army.  It is intimate and captivating. Then all the bands took to the field in front of the grandstand for the ever popular massed bands, the Closing Ceremonies and North American Pipe Band Championship announcements. The bands march into the in-field separately, joined together to play in unison. Several hundred pipers! Men and women. Young and old from all over playing at once. The view of the marching bands and sound of bagpipes themselves is magical but the massed bands is truly wonderful to behold. It’s breathtaking.

My biggest takeaway from the weekend was fellowship and community. There was healthy competition but no bickering or complaining. Everybody was friendly. Buying a t-shirt was an experience! And talking to the big lads in the pub was easy and collegial. I forgot about my kilt entirely! A lasting memory was watching Celtic music from the grandstand at the Friday night Tattoo. Aside from the beautiful music and dance performances, I was impressed by the sense of connectivity. One by one kids of all ages came down to the infield to play. Before you knew it 50+ kids were running around, doing handstands, and a little highland dancing. Everybody on the field and in the stands were having a blast. It is this sense of community and Scottishness that helped make a huge contribution to the world (see Arthur Herman’s How the Scots Invented the Modern World). It’s also sadly why the English Government banned Highland Games and other forms of Scottish culture in the Act of Proscription after the battle of Culloden in 1746. 

Today, the Glengarry and other Highland Games keep Scottish culture alive, vibrant and thriving. The Scottish Society of Ottawa also seeks to preserve and foster our Scottish heritage with events like Hogman-eh!, the Burns Supper and the Great Canadian Kilt Skate. Come and join the fun. Wearing a kilt is an experience, but you don’t need one or to be Scottish to be part of the fun. You can experience Scottish fun and culture at the SSO OttScot Festival this winter.