Topeka St. Andrew Society

Before I forget, kudos and huzzahs to Mark Roupe for his terrific presentation, "The Border Reivers," at our last meeting. Good stuff, Mark!

Warm weather -- warmer, anyway -- is finally here, and that's a harbinger of springtime and the Kansas City Highland Games. This year's games will be held June 12, 13 and 14 at E.H. Young Park in Riverside, MO., just north of Kansas City.

This fun, family-oriented event features dozens of vendors, Celtic dancers, Scotch tasting, pipe and drum bands, herding dogs, falconry, even Heelan' coos!

A clan torchlight ceremony will take place Friday night at 8, and the traditional Parade of Tartans will beging at noon on Saturday.

It's also well worth mentioning that Celtic rockers The Elders take the Pavilion Stage Friday night at 8:30. The Young Dubliners will be Saturday night's headliners. The warm-up spots ahead of the Young Dubliners on the Pavilion Stage area on the Highland Games website are blank. I also notice that Celtic fest and Ren faire favorite Tartanic's bio is up on the "Entertainment" page. Coincidence? I think not.

I'd also like to pitch some home-grown entertainment that will be appearing in KC...

Harpist Jim Mosher will entertain Saturday at 1. Jim is a friend of mine and a wonderfully talented musician. Anyone who's heard him before, either solo or with the Castle & Cross Consort will tell you he's worth the trip all by himself. Be sure to take some extra cash and pick up one of his CDs.

Finally, the Kansas Territorial Pipes & Drums will take the field Sunday at 11:15 and 2:30. They will also join up with the KC St. Andrew Pipes & Drumson the athletic field at 1 o'clock Sunday. If you haven't heard them lately, you haven't heard them! The KTP&D are led by P/M and TSAS member Bill Read. TSAS members Jack and Jim Williamson are also pipers with the band. Come on out and support the local boys!

Two terrific area events are coming up that give us unique opportunities to celebrate our Celtic heritage.
 
Hogmanay
First, the St. Andrew Society's annual Hogmanay celebration on Auld Year's Night will send off 2008 in fine style.
The beginnings of Hogmanay may go all the way back to the ancient Norse celebration of the winter solstice and the old Celtic New Year's celebration of Samhain. The Vikings celebrated Yule, which led to the 12 Days of Christmas, or the "Daft Days" as they were sometimes called in Scotland. This wintertime festival was forced underground with the Protestant Reformation, but it re-emerged near the end of the 17th century.

This year, the St. Andrew Society will celebrate with lots of good food, good company and good music. If you're interested in attending, click the "To join" button and send us an e-mail.

Winter Storm 2009

Believe it or not, the piping and drumming world turns its attention to Kansas City for a weekend each January, and this year, the Midwest Highland Arts Fund's Winter Storm will be held January 16-18 at the Mariott on the Country Club Plaza, 45th and Main, Kansas City.


Friday features sanctioned piping and drumming competition with pipers from across the US, UK, Canada and even New Zealand. If you're interested in sitting in and listening to the competitors, tickets can be purchased by visiting MHAF's website (www.mhaf.org).

Saturday will include all-day workshops for pipers and drummers of all levels, from novices on the chanter to Grade 1 players, for a very reasonable enrollment fee. Workshops will continue Sunday morning.


The highlight of Winter Storm, however, is the concert and ceilidh Saturday night at Kansas City's Community Christian Church, 46th and Main. This Frank Lloyd Wright-designed church is an acoustic marvel and the perfect venue to hear many of the world's best Highland musicians who have gathered to compete and adjudicate the competition. Tickets can be purchased online at www.mhaf.org.

The concert is followed by Winter Steam, a ceilidh of monumental proportion, sponsored by Newcastle Brown Ale. There are plenty of prizes that will be given away, and once a few pints have been downed, the pipes and drums come out for some of the most amazing jam sessions you'll ever hear.


This is a rare opportunity to hear the pipes and drums played live by musicians like Fred Morrison, Stuart Liddel, Chris Armstrong, Haggis MacLeod, Emily MacLeod, Big Johnny Rowe and the Simon Fraser University Pipe Band. I went last year and was already looking forward to the 2009 edition as soon as I checked out of the hotel.

My 11-year-old son Jack and I made the short road trip to Riverside, MO, a few weeks ago to enjoy the 2008 Kansas City Scottish Highland Games. It was our second trip to the Games, and as expected, we had a great time.

 

Early Saturday morning, I bumped into fellow TSAS member Laurie Hay who, along with her husband and TSAS member Bruce, is a convener for Clan Hay. She was busy helping apply last minute touches to the Clan Hay table in the ClanVillage.   We visited briefly about the Games and the festivities, and I mentioned that I am beginning to seriously consider what I want to do and where I want to go on my first-ever trip to Scotland. I said that I had really developed a deep connection to my Scottish and Celtic heritage. She said she felt the same way.

 

“There’s something about Scotland that other places just don’t have,” she said. “Scotland truly calls you home.”   Those words have resonated with me since that morning, and they also helped me understand a powerful experience I’d had nearly a year before at the 2007 Games.

 

The year before, on my first visit to the games, my wife, oldest son Alex (then 15), Jack (then 10) and I were standing in a line to get lunch on Saturday. The park was very crowded, and since it was noon, the lines for the food vendors were long.   Then, from a distance of about 100 yards, I heard pipes and drums. Lots of them. It was a massed band – players from Topeka, Omaha, Kansas City, all over the area – taking the field.

 

Now, understand that you can’t swing a dead cat at the KC Scottish Highland Games without hitting a piper. You can always hear a piper or even a pipe band of 8-10 players at any given time. But this was different. This was 75 players, maybe more. I’d never witnessed a massed band in person. I’d never heard anything like it before.

 

My wife tells me – I don’t remember this – that I just said, “I have to go.” I absently stepped out of the food line and walked toward the sound of the pipes. Jack tagged along.

 

When we got to the marching field, I was nearly overwhelmed. All of them were proudly donning the tartans of their pipe band or their clan. They had finished their first marching tune, and a lone piper began playing, “Amazing Grace.” When the rest of the pipers joined in, the tune touched a place deep inside me that had been touched just a few times before. Two of those times were the births of my sons. I was transfixed.   Jack looked up at me and asked, “Dad, what’s wrong?”

 

I didn’t know what he was talking about until I realized tears were streaming down my face. I wasn’t sad, though; I was overcome by a tremendous swell of pride. There was more to it, though, and it took me awhile to put my finger on it. Eventually, it came to me: on some level, I felt homesick. The pipes had managed to make a guy from Topeka, KS, who’s never been farther east than Baltimore homesick. I still haven’t figured that out!

 

The band played a few more familiar tunes and marched off the field to Scotland the Brave. The tears quickly dried, but the feeling of pride I experienced that day has stayed with me and within me since.

 

Maybe it’s that music, the distinctive sound of the pipes, that calls to us.Perhaps it’s the traditions of Alba. It may be Scotland’s diverse and proud history that, to me, can’t be rivaled by any other nation.

 

And for some of us, maybe it’s simply because, well, Scotland truly is home.

 

Regardless of the “how,” the important thing is that Scotland “does” – this great nation, her amazing people, her proud traditions truly do call us home. If you draw half as much pride and satisfaction from your celebration of your Scots heritage as I do mine, you may well be the proudest person your friends know. Beannachd Dia dhuit.

   TSAS member Nancy Buckingham (Cruikshank) Harms and the good folks at Midland Care Hospice Services want to thank those who placed bids on the beautiful Mackenzie tartan kilt. Bidding ended at 12 noon on Tuesday, July 1.

   We'll announce the lucky winner as soon as it's official, so stay tuned!

Don't miss the Kansas City Scottish Highland Games!

Be sure to load up the family truckster the weekend of June 13-15 and check out the Kansas City Scottish Highland Games at E.H. Young Riverfront Park in Riverside, MO, just north of KC.

The KC games include world-class pipes and drums, sanctioned Highland dancing and, this year, some of America's top Scottish heavy athletic professionals. They'll be in town for a special exhibition Friday night.

In fact, our own TSAS piper Bill Read will take the field with the Kansas Territorial Pipes and Drums Sunday at 11:15 and 2:30. As you may know, Bill serves as Pipe Major for the band.

The Games also include plenty of entertainment. Two stages of live Celtic music continue throughout the weekend, including local favorites Uncle Dirtytoes and The Elders. Check out the displays on Clan Row and enjoy the company of clansfolk from around the Midwest.

There's plenty for the kids and grandkids to do, too. A scaled-down children's version of Highland athletic events takes place, along with sheepdogs in action, giant Clydesdales on display and the unique draw of Heelan' Coos (Highland cattle).  Swordfight exhibitions by the Sons of Alba, storytellers and Gaelic lessons are fun for both kids and adults alike.

There will be plenty of chances to stimulate the economy, thanks to a wide variety of wonderful food and merchandise vendors. And don't forget the Scotch tasting sessions!

With gas prices and the economy down, the Kansas City Scottish Highland Games are a great opportunity for a local getaway. Attend the games this year, and you'll surely become a regular.

    Join the Topeka St. Andrew Society on Sunday, April 6th, from 7 p.m. to 9 p.m. at Lucky Dog's Sports Bar and Grill in Topeka. We'll be downing a few pints in celebration of National Tartan Day in America!

    Why April 6th? April 6th marks the anniversary of the drafting of most famous document in Scottish history and one of the world's most eloquent statements of nationhood: the Declaration of Arbroath.

    Edward II and his English army were routed at Bannockburn by Robert the Bruce's ragtag Scottish forces in 1314. By 1319, with the recapture of the castle at Berwick, Scotland had effectively expelled England from their soil. All the while, Bruce constantly asserted his nation's sovreignty and his right to be king of Scotland. Nevertheless, England continued to launch attacks into Scotland.

    A major obstacle to Scotland's independence sat in Rome. Pope John XXII had not accepted the notion, partly because Robert had been excommunicated for killing rival John Comyn the Red in a church in Dumfries in 1306. Comyn had formed an alliance with Edward II and with his father, Edward the Longshanks, before him. Truth be told, Comyn may have had a better claim to the throne than Bruce.

    In 1320, the Scots decided to make their case to the Holy Father in writing. On April 6th, Abbot Bernard de Linton sat down at Arbroath Abbey and penned the Declaration of Arbroath, a formal declaration of independence.

    The document urged the Pope to see things from a Scottish perspective and not to take the English's claims of villainy and treason seriously. Using strong language, it even went so far as to say that unless the Pope accepted Scotland's claim of independence, violence and wars would continue and innocent lives would continue to be lost -- and the blood would be on Pope John XXII's hands.

    The document was signed and bore the seals of 38 Scottish Lords. It was delivered to Rome and the Pope accepted the Scottish case. The Holy Father sent a letter to Edward II, ordering him to cease his attacks on the Scots.

    War between the English and Scots continued, and the Pope's loyalties soon went back to England for purely political reasons (he needed to ally with someone against France, and the English were willing to help -- for a price).

    Nevertheless, the Declaration of Arbroath stands as one of the world's most memorable expressions of liberty, putting the wills and wishes of the people above those of the king and affirmed the nation's independence in a way that no battle ever could.
"...for, as long as but a hundred of us remain alive, never will we on any conditions be brought under English rule. It is in truth not for glory, nor riches, nor honours that we are fighting, but for freedom — for that alone, which no honest man gives up but with life itself..."

    Hope to see you on the 6th!!!

    The weather made it difficult to attend, but those who were able to attend the annual Robert Burns tea enjoyed an afternoon of good food, good company, great music and poetry by Rabbie himself.

    Bob Lawson read a brief self-authored biography of Scotland's most famous native son, and Caleb May shared some of Burns' most famous poems, offering some insight into each. Finally, Rev. Doug Phenix led us in some traditional Scottish tunes.

    March and April look to be active for TSAS. St. Patrick's Day (Monday, March 17) means it's time to march behind the Kansas Territorial Pipes and Drums in the annual downtown Topeka parade. Keep your eyes here for more details.

    In celebration of the signing of the Declaration of Arbroath, you're encouraged to don the tartan for National Tartan Day! TSAS will be celebrating with a Pub Night at Lucky Dog's Sports Bar, next to Frances O'Dooley's. There will be pint and appetizer specials for those wearing their tartan.

    We've also put in a request for Governor Sebelius to proclaim April 6th "National Tartan Day in Kansas." More news will be posted as we hear back from her office.

    Hope to see you at the parade!