Highlander

The Caber Toss:

A traditional caber is around 5–6 m (16–20 feet) long and weighs around 35–60 kg (80–130 pounds) with the largest caber throw on record, an amazing 127kg (280lbs). The size, and particularly the length, of the caber means that enormous strength is required simply to balance it vertically, and even more is required to toss it. It is not unusual for a caber to break in the course of a competition.

Tossing the caber consists of several steps:

• The 'pick' where the competitor lifts the caber off the group
• The 'approach' where the athlete gets momentum going by running forward
• The 'plant' when both feet take root to provide a good throwing platform
• The 'toss' where the caber is actually flipped end over end (or at least attempted)

It isn't the distance of the toss that matters. The judges observe the angle that the caber falls in relation to the thrower's shoulders. It usually takes three men to bring the caber to the thrower. The thrower then hoists the caber so that the bottom is almost on level with his or her elbows. The smaller end of the pole is cradled in the palms of the thrower's clapsed hands and the weight of it is balanced against their shoulder. When balanced just right, the thrower runs forward with it for a distance of 20 yards or so, increasing speed to gain momentum. Then it is tossed by pushing upward and letting it fall forward from the shoulder. A good toss flips the pole so that the larger end of the caber hits the ground and neatly flips the smaller end over so that the pole lands in a straight line perpendicular to the thrower's shoulders. The winner is also judged by style of throwing, which includes stance and steps, as well as strength, balance and agility.

The origins of the caber toss are unknown. Even the source of the word "caber" is disputed. Some say it is taken from the Gaelic word for rafter or pole and others say it is a shortened version of "casting the bar." Some say this test of strength, agility and balance came from the work of angling logs across creeks or rivers to make bridges. Another popular explanation involves tossing logs around during a medieval siege, either across a moat or against the walls of a castle. There are lots of other stories, each more outrageous than the last, that circulate during Highland Games. The only thing that is certain is that no one really knows

• Motto: Non oblitus (Not Forgotten) 
• Gaelic Name: MacThamhais 
• Septs: MacCamis, MacCash, MacCavish, MacCosh, MacCamish, MacHose, MacLaws, MacLehose, MacTammany, MacTause, MacTeague, MacThomas, Stevenson,Steven(s), Stephen(s), Stephenson, Stevenston, Stivan Taweson, Tawesson, Thomerson, Thom, Thomas, Thomes, Thomason, Thomasin, Thompson, Todd, Thomson, Thomassine, MacTammany. 

Thomas, a Gaelic speaking Highlander, known as Tomaidh Mor (Great Tommy), was descendant of the Clan Chattan Mackintoshes. He lived in the 15th century at a time when the Clan Chattan Federation had become large and unmanageable, so he took his kinsmen and followers across the Grampians from Badenoch to Glenshee. Ian Mor, 7th Chief, joined Montrose at Dundee in 1644. The clan scattered after his death.

Spelling variations of the name MacTavish caused much confusion. These changes occurred for a variety of reasons. The name MacTavish originated with Tause's son as MacTause, or MacThamhais. Other spellings found within the Charters of the Commons of Argyll appear as MacAwis, McKavis, McKnavis, MacAnish, and MacTavifh and from the end of the 17th century it appears as MacTavish. 

The surname of MacTavish emerged as a Scottish Clan in their territory of Argyll where they were recorded as a family of great antiquity seated with manor and estates in Knapdale. The Clan was seated at Dunardarie where they were known as "the children of Colla" or "the children of the mist". During the period known as the Jacobite uprisings, the MacTavish was, as were many Highland Clans, sympathetic to Bonnie Prince Charlie and the quest of seeing the Stewart's back on the throne. As a result the Duke of Argyll imprisoned the MacTavish chief, Dugald, in Dunbarton prison in 1745. The charge read:  "imprisoned for treasonable acts" The treasonable acts refereed to were some letters written by Dugald to Sir James Campbell of Auchanbreck who was also sympathetic to Bonnie Prince Charlie and anti-Campbell of Argyll. The Duke of Argyll hoped this would put a stop to the plotting in Argyll. The Chief was released with the General Pardon in 1747. 

Many Clansmen of the Highland families migrated from Scotland to Ireland, England, Australia and North America in what was called "The Clearances". The Chiefly line of MacTavish remained in Scotland. In 1833, William MacTavish, son of Dugald, 20th Chief sailed to Canada with the Hudson Bay Company as a clerk and took up his duties at Fort Garry. He succeeded as Chief on the death of his father Dugald in 1855. William rose within the company to be appointed as Governor of Assiniboia and Rupertsland and was instrumental in the formation of events leading up to the confederation of Canada in 1867. William's great grandson Dugald is the present Chief of the Clan, 26th Chief in an unbroken line. 

(Tattoo designed by Jim Sawyer, Thomson Tartan with Basket Hilt Broadsword.

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Other Scottish Sites
Highland Heritage, Ltd.
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ElectricScotland.com
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St. Andrew Society Jacksonville, Florida
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Herald, The Electronic (Scotland's premiere newspaper)

Kilts for the working man.

Scotland
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Scottish Gaelic: Alba) is a nation in northwest Europe and one of the constituent countries of the United Kingdom.

It occupies the northern third of the island of Great Britain and shares a land border to the south with England. It is bounded by the North Sea to the east, the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, and the North Channel and Irish Sea to the southwest. Apart from the mainland, Scotland consists of over 790 islands.

Edinburgh, the nation's capital and second largest city, is one of Europe's largest financial centres.

Scotland's largest city is Glasgow, the centre of the Greater Glasgow conurbation which is home to approximately 40% of Scotland's population. Scottish waters consist of a large sector of the North Atlantic and the North Sea, containing the largest oil reserves in the European Union.

The Kingdom of Scotland was an independent state until 1 May 1707, when the Acts of Union resulted in a political union with the Kingdom of England to create the Kingdom of Great Britain.

Scotland's legal system continues to be separate from those of England, Wales and Northern Ireland, therefore Scotland still constitutes a discrete jurisdiction in public and in private international law.

The continued independence of Scots law, the Scottish education system and the Church of Scotland have been three cornerstones contributing to the continuation of Scottish culture and Scottish national identity since the Union.

However, Scotland is no longer a sovereign state and does not enjoy direct membership of either the United Nations or the European Union.

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Scottish Customs and Traditions

The visitor to Scotland should be aware of the customs of the country as otherwise they may be confused by the behavior of the Scots, which may seem odd at times if one is unaware of the traditions and beliefs which lie behind them.

There are a number of important things the visitor should know about including the Clan System (the clans page includes important information for your survival as a visitor!), the Highland games, Hogmanay (the most important festival in the Scottish calendar), Burns Night and above all, at least when visiting the highlands, Religion in Scotland. The religion section is particularly important when visiting Caithness and Sutherland where religious observance is taken very seriously and great offence can be caused by the careless visitor who does not observe the rules.

BURNS NIGHT
Burns night is an annual salute to the bard which involves eating haggis, reciting poems, playing the pipes and (needless to say) drinking whisky.The ritual of the Burns supper was started by close friends of the poet a few years after his death in 1796 as a tribute to his memory and the basic format for the evening has remained unchanged since then. The evening begins with the Selkirk Grace:

Some hae meat and cannot eat.
Some cannot eat that want it:
But we hae meat and we can eat,
Sae let the Lord be thankit.

The company are asked to stand to receive the haggis. A piper then leads a procession consising of the chef carrying the haggis on a platter followed by the reader to the top table, while the guests accompany them with a slow handclap.

Then the reader addresses the haggis:

To a haggis

Fair fa' your honest, sonsie face,
Great chieftain o the puddin'-race!
Aboon them a' ye tak your place,
Painch, tripe, or thairm:
Weel are ye wordy of a grace
As lang's my arm.

The groaning trencher there ye fill,
Your hurdies like a distant hill,
Your pin wad help to mend a mill
In time o need,
While thro your pores the dews distil
Like amber bead.

His knife see rustic Labour dight,
An cut you up wi ready slight,
Trenching your gushing entrails bright,
Like onie ditch;
And then, O what a glorious sight,
Warm-reekin, rich!

Then, horn for horn, they stretch an strive:
Deil tak the hindmost, on they drive,
Till a' their weel-swall'd kytes belyve
Are bent like drums;
The auld Guidman, maist like to rive,
'Bethankit' hums.

Is there that owre his French ragout,
Or olio that wad staw a sow,
Or fricassee wad mak her spew
Wi perfect sconner,
Looks down wi sneering, scornfu view
On sic a dinner?

Poor devil! see him owre his trash,
As feckless as a wither'd rash,
His spindle shank a guid whip-lash,
His nieve a nit:
Thro bloody flood or field to dash,
O how unfit!

But mark the Rustic, haggis-fed,
The trembling earth resounds his tread,
Clap in his walie nieve a blade,
He'll make it whissle;
An legs an arms, an heads will sned,
Like taps o thrissle.

Ye Pow'rs, wha mak mankind your care,
And dish them out their bill o fare,
Auld Scotland wants nae skinking ware
That jaups in luggies:
But, if ye wish her gratefu prayer,
Gie her a Haggis!

When he reaches the line 'an cut you up wi' ready slight', he cuts open the haggis with a sharp knife. It's customary for the company to applaud the speaker then stand and toast the haggis with a glass of whisky. Then the meal (traditionally cock-a- leekie soup, Haggis neeps and tatties and clootie dumpling for pudding) is started. This is followed by speeches and when the speeches are complete the evening continues with songs and poems. Favourites for recitations are Tam o' Shanter, Address to the Unco Guid, To A Mouse and Holy Willie's Prayer. The evening ends with the company standing, linking hands and singing Auld Lang Syne.

FEUDS
Feuding (particularly in the highlands) between the clans, and between different religious groups is a long-standing tradition in Scotland and is deeply ingrained in the character of the people. The animosity between the supporters of the two Glasgow football teams (Celtic and Rangers) is a modern manifestation of the Scots' deep psychological need for a fight.

Some Clans have long standing feuds with other Clans, sometimes for good historical reasons, which have become almost a tradition. The most well known example of this is probably the long-standing hatred of the McDonalds for the Campbell's, which dates back to the Massacre of Glencoe. Although centuries have passed and some McDonalds are ostensibly best friends with some Campbell's, so deeply rooted is the subconscious mistrust that unaccountable rows will break out between these 'friends' for no apparent reason. (For more information go to the history page.)

Many Scottish Clans have internal feuds and individual family members sometimes have the worst feuds of all. Feuds are so customary and basic to life amongst some Scots (particularly some Highland families) that it is not unknown for a Scot to die from lack of someone to fight with. This is particularly true for certain women who will keep up an almost demented lifetime feud against another person for a perceived slight or wrong that any other human being would forget. The phrase 'hell hath no fury like a woman scorned' undoubtedly originated in Scotland!

HOGMANAY
New year's eve is called Hogmanay in Scotland. This is a grand excuse for the Scots to over - indulge in Whisky and nostalgia and often results in broken limbs and other injuries (due to altercations with flights of stairs, pavements and other revelers). Hogmanay does not really get underway until Midnight on the 31st December - though usually most people will be well lubricated by then! Some folk stay in and act as hosts to everyone else - host households will be well stocked with broth, cake and whisky for the visitors - who will add to the supplies when they "first fit". The true first fit (first foot) is the first person to set foot across the threshold after midnight. This should be a tall dark handsome man bearing a lump of coal, black bun (a kind of fruit cake) or other food item, and a bottle of whisky to ensure that the hosts will have warmth, food, drink and good luck in the coming year. The first fitters move round from house to house until they have visited everyone. Then those that have done the visiting are in turn visited by others - so for the determined reveller the whole thing can take three days of partying and result in a stay in hospital to recover!

RELIGION
Religion is one of the things which family feuds in Scotland may develop over (and plays a part in the violence at football matches between Celtic and Rangers). Although most religion in Scotland is Christianity, mostly of some protestant variety nowadays (in earlier times it was mainly catholic; at least in the south west). Scots Christianity is far more intense than the Christianity in England. Believers in God tend to the view that only their little sect are the chosen ones and everyone else faces eternal damnation. This causes a great deal of conflict in families where members of the family belong to different sects. It has been known for bibles to be burned in the heat of religious arguments.

The bible is taken very seriously by these religious zealots, who have had a fierce hold on the moral fibre of the highlands (although this is diminishing). The Lord's day is taken extremely seriously by these people and no work may be done - this does not just mean work in the sense of employment but also cooking, cleaning, washing clothes etc. etc. Be warned that as far as some highlanders are concerned; rinse out your smalls on a Sunday and straight to hell you go! Listening to the radio or watching TV on a Sunday is also frowned on - it is a day for reading the bible and contemplating your eternal soul!

THE HIGHLAND GAMES
The Highland games is a curious spectacle consisting mostly of big hairy men in skirts and vests chucking big logs and swinging iron balls on chains round their heads. These activities are known respectively as tossing the caber and hammer throwing and take place at events called "highland gatherings" - the last remnants of the "gathering of the clans" (a good excuse for fisticuffs, of which many Scots are fond, in the old days).

The other main attraction is the Pipe bands. These are groups of men (in modern times it can be both men and women); each group has matching skirts, fancy jackets and strange little hats. They march around squeezing the air out of big tartan bags (known as bagpipes) and blowing it in again through a pipe attached to the bag. This results in a horrible racket known as "the skirl o' the pipes" which is almost indistinguishable from the noise made by the haggis during the mating season (see the haggis pages). These pipe bands often turn out to be Australians, not Scots at all!

Seriously though, the pipe bands are not to be missed if you are visiting Scotland. There is, in my humble opinion, no sound in the world more moving than a good solo piper or a good pipe band, many's the time I've been moved to tears.

Golf

Nobody knows the origin of golf. There have been various claims ranging from the Romans, the Chinese the Dutch and the Scots.

Whatever the early origins, it is indisputable that it was Scotland that gave us the game that we play now. It was that nation which dug holes for targets, and hit the ball from point A into the target. It was the Scots that originated the 18 hole round, a strange number probably due to a restriction in the area of land available for the course.

There is no universally accepted derivation for the word 'golf.'  One of the most common misconceptions is that the word GOLF is an acronym for Gentlemen Only Ladies Forbidden. This at least is definitely not true.

The first documented mention of the word 'golf'  is in Edinburgh on 6th March 1457, when King James II banned ‘ye golf’, in an attempt to encourage archery practice, which was being neglected.

Before the creation of dictionaries, there was no standardized spelling of any given word.  People wrote words phonetically.  Goff, gowf, golf, goif, gof, gowfe, gouff and golve have all been found in documents in Scotland.

A minority of people hold the view that golf is a purely Scottish term, derived from Scots words 'golf', 'golfand' and 'golfing', which mean 'to strike' as in 'to cuff'.

I do not play Golf. Believe it or not many Scot's don't. I maintain that the Scots invented Golf to piss off the English. Judging by what I have seen it's doing a good job on the English and the Americans as well.

Please email any comments requests etc. to scotland@flyinghaggis.co.uk

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