Texas Scottish Festival

On Sunday, we went to the Texas Scottish Festival in Arlington, TX. It's been going on for 23 years now, and we go every year----with a husband named Duncan McPhail, how could you not? Anyway, this event is one of the largest Scottish gatherings in the U.S, and is hailed as the preeminent Scottish entertainment festival in North America. Maddy dressed for the occasion in her kilt and Scottish Deerhound t-shirt and earrings. I had my Scottish Deerhound shirt and earrings too. Duncan wore his formula one shirt, though it was not for McClaren or David Coulthard (sorry guys, but Ferrari all the way!).

It promised to be a warm day, so we decided to leave the Deerhounds at home in the A/C. We often bring the dogs, and it's surprising to see how many people at the Scottish Festival don't know what a Scottish Deerhound is. Our poor "Royal dogs of Scotland" often get called Irish Wolfhounds, Greyhounds, Borzoi, Afghans, and even Airedale Terriers! They do have an all Scottish Breed dog show, which we have entered before and won Best in Show, but it is always held on Saturday, and this year we were only able to make it on Sunday. We did see a number of Scotties, Westies, Border Collies, and Goldens (plus a handful of Scottish wannabes), but were glad we decided to leave the dogs at home, as it did get hot and muggy!

We started the day browsing through the numerous arts and crafts booths. Madolyn enjoyed looking for all the McPhail items, and even got to see the numerous versions of the McPhail tartan. Apparently, the McPhails, apart from having their own clan, were also part of the Donald, Cameron, McKay, and Mackintosh clans (depending on where they originated), so you could wear whichever tartan was your favorite from those choices-----and there were many!

For lunch, we had a nice sampling of fish and chips, shepherd's pie, and mince, tatties, and gravy (meatballs, mashed potatoes, and gravy). The meatballs were made from Highland cows, which are supposed to have leaner beef, and everything was delicious! Maddy couldn't believe how much she loved the shepherd's pie.

Next, we watched the Highland games for a while, which is always a favorite of Madolyn's. They have a professional and amateur division, so you get to see events all day long. We saw the professionals do the caber toss, and boy, can those guys hurl those huge logs! We also watched the hammer throw, and something we hadn't seen before---the beer keg toss. This was lots of fun, especially when one of the kegs would get a hole and start spewing beer!

At the children's tent, they always hold the children's games, and Maddy never misses them. She gets so excited about competing, and always makes sure that she wears her lucky rabbit's foot for good luck :) They have a foot race, sack race, three legged race, and tug of war. This year, she was in the oldest age group, so competition was stiff. Maddy came in 2nd in the foot race, 4th in the sack race, and you should have seen the three legged race! Maddy's partner, early on, had problems figuring out the timing of the legs and started complaining and wanting to stop. Maddy, though, would have no part in quitting, so she started hopping on her free leg and saying "we have to finish!" The other girl started hopping too, and they ended up still finishing second depite their rather unique technique :) Madolyn had lots of fun, and was happy to get her goody bag filled with cracker sandwiches, candy, gum, and a bottle of water, and of course all of her ribbons. She also got to try a childrens version of the caber toss, and after a few tries, managed to toss it just like the pros!
Next, we decided to listen to some of our favorite Celtic rock bands----The Rogues and The Killdares. I love the way they use the bagpipes and fiddle along with their electric guitars and drums. This kind of music has so much energy, and really gets you going. There were even some people in the audience doing Scottish dancing along to the music. We wanted to stay for a new group that we hadn't heard before----Brother--- but it started getting too late, so we took a chance and bought the CD to listen to on the way home. The program described the group as celtic tribal, and having a unique, edgy sound, so it sounded just like something I'd like anyway!

On the way out, we didn't forget to stop by my favorite bakery tent for their super delicious shortbread cookies. I never leave the festival without them! The last tent we went by had the best stuff in the fair. The owner hand makes all of her items, and she had all kinds of unique jewelry, dresses, skirts, camis, flower brooches, scarves, and hats. They were hand dyed and embellished. I got an adorable tartan cap adorned with a tartan flower and silver dagger pin ( the dagger looked just like the kind the men keep in their socks under their kilts). It was so cool, I couldn't pass it up!

Then we were on our way home after a great day at the Scottish Festival. Oh yes, and the Brother CD was great!