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The Ellen Payne Odom Genealogy Library Family Tree
The Family Tree - April/May 2005
Rural Hill Farm


Rural Hill Farm
Center of Scottish Heritage
4431 Neck Road, Huntersville, NC, 28078
www.ruralhillfarm.org

FOR RELEASE March 10, 2005

Contact: Keets F. Taylor, Executive Director lochnorman@ruralhillfarm.org 704-875-3113

LOCH NORMAN HIGHLAND GAMES

HUNTERSVILLE, NC: The Catawba Valley Scottish Society has announced that the 12th Annual Loch Norman Highland Games, one of the region’s most popular family-oriented events, will be held April 16 and 17, 2005 at historic Rural Hill Farm, outside Huntersville, North Carolina.

Tickets are $15.00 for Saturday, and $10.00 for Sunday. A two day advance pass is only $20.00. Students 10-17 $5.00 each day... 9 and under FREE.

PLEASE DO NOT BRING PETS
 

This year... answer the Call to the Clans

Join us on Friday evening as we take you back in spirit to a time long out of mind and reawaken your Celtic soul. The Call to the Clans is the prelude to the weekend events. It is designed to evoke a powerful response from the deepest recesses of a person’s Scottish heritage. The spokesman for each Clan rallies his kinsmen by extolling their prowess in battles past and passionately declaring their willingness, if needed, to do battle once more. The smell of the burning torches and the sight of kinsmen illuminated in the light of the growing bonfire underline this emotional ceremony as an expression of the eternal unity of the Scottish Clan families.

The Adult ticket for the Call to the Clans is $20; Children 12 and under are $10. A buffet dinner of Fried fish, Chicken and Shrimp with coleslaw, fries, hush puppies, dessert and tea, prepared by Graham’s Fish Fry, is included in the cost. The Buffet Dinner begins at 7:00 pm. The Call of the Clans begins at Dusk. Reservations are required – deadline is April 13th.

Thrill to the skirl of the pipes (20 Pipe bands will participate in the band competition).

Applaud the perfection of the Highland dancers (competitors come from dance schools across the US and Canada for the Carolinas Open Highland Dancing Championship; one of only six championship competitions in the US).

In 2005, the Games will host the National Scottish Harp Competition in addition to competition in playing the fiddle Scottish Style (ever wonder where Old Time and Appalachian Music came from?).

Cheer for your favorite Scottish heavy athlete and enjoy watching the extraordinary challenge of the seven measures of strength that makes up the Scottish Heavy Athletics Heptathlon. You can see the former World Champion, Ryan Vierra, competing in the “Stone of Strength”; the 22 lb hammer throw; the 28 lb & 56 lb weight for distance; the 56 lb weight for height; the sheaf toss, and the turning of the Caber, a 20-ft long pole weighing between 120 & 140 lbs, which is thrown (turned) for accuracy.

Mike McIntyre, United States Congressman representing North Carolina’s 7th Congressional District, and his two sons, Stephen and Joshua, Ranald Alexander McDonald of Clanranald, the Captain of Clanranald and 24th Hereditary Chief of Clanranald, Dr. Iain Morrison, Chief of Clan Morrison, Dr. John Ruairidh Morrison and Ann Michelle Morrison and Romilly Squire, Deputy Secretary of the Standing Council of Scottish Chiefs will be honored guests at the games this year.

What’s in a name?

MacIntyre - In Gaelic MacIntyre is Mac an T’saior, meaning "Son of the Carpenter". The Clan progenitor was Macarill, a nephew of Somerled the Great, who helped his uncle gain the hand of Ragnhild, daughter of Olav the Red, King over the Norse kingdom of Man and the Isles in the early 1100s.

Clanrannald - The Clanranald branch of Clan Donald traces its lineage back to Ranald, eldest son of John, 1st Lord of the Isles. Ranald is thought to have resigned his right of succession to the Lordship in exchange for the greater part of the Lordship of Garmoran, which stretched from the Great Glen to the Outer Hebrides.

Morrison - Traditionally, Clan Morrison traces its ancestry to Gilmoire, son of Olav the Black, another King of Man and the Isles in the early 1200s. "Gilmoire" is said to be the Gaelic equivalent of "Maurice", so "Maurice’s sons" became the Morrisons.

Learn a little about your relatives... those doggedly-determined cantankerous Scots and Scots-Irish with Beth Gay. Beth represents the Ellen Payne Odom Library in Moultrie, GA and is editor of The Family Tree; the most widely read genealogical interest newspaper in the US.

Learn about the complex art of Scottish heraldry with Romilly Squire, Baron Bailey of Plean and Rathdown. Romilly is a Herald Painter in the Court of the Lord Lyon in Edinburgh, Scotland. The Court of the Lord Lyon is the governing body for recording and granting arms. Scottish Heraldry has been in continuous use for more than 800 years, but in 1672, to deal with flagrant abuse of the use of arms, the Scottish Parliament passed an act requiring all arms to be recorded. Today The Court of the Lord Lyon can levy fines and compel compliance with the law.

Learn about the fine points of Single Malt Whisky in seminars on Saturday and Sunday. The word whisky comes from the Gaelic phrase, uisge beatha, meaning the "water of life". All Whisky is distilled in Scotland. Whiskey, with an “e”, is something else altogether. Thought to have been introduced by Christian missionaries more than 500 years ago, the business of making whisky has been refined by the Scots to an art form. Scotland has more than 100 malt and grain whisky distilleries. Single Malt Scotch whisky is of major importance to the economy of Scotland. It is exported to nearly 200 countries around the world.

The gate opens at 8:00 am Saturday and Sunday. While music abounds throughout the weekend, one of the most memorable events, the Worship Service and Kirking of the Tartans, takes place on Sunday morning at 9:00 am at the picturesque Rural Hill Burying Ground. This celebration of Scottish heritage would not be complete without a visit to the Scottish Clan and Family tents to meet kith and kin.

The Loch Norman Highland Games attracts competitors and visitors from all over the United States and Canada. It’s an event you can’t afford to miss. Join us on this glorious spring weekend for the fellowship, the fun and the Games.

The Loch Norman Highland Games are presented by The Catawba Valley Scottish Society. Facilitated in cooperation with Mecklenburg County Park & Recreation.

Community partners of the Games include:

Coca-Cola, The McIntosh Law Firm, The Galway Hooker Irish Pub, Town of Huntersville, Lake Norman Convention & Visitors Bureau, EnergyUnited, Bojangles, Graham's Fish Fry & Catering, The Scottish Bank, Hauser Rentals, Gaelic Themes & St. Kilda Bagpipes, Caithness Glass, Scottish Woods Resorts, BB&T, Windswept Hills Carriages, Gaelic Themes, Allied Waste, McCall Brothers Water Well Drilling, The Printer Ink, Lake Norman Tractor, Swordplay Alliance, Strikers Soccer Center, Conder Flags, McMahan Audio Visuals, Family Cleaners, Guardway Signs and Artisan Signs & Graphics, The Printer Ink , Artisans Signs and Graphics and Brasfield & Gorrie.

Photos available on request featuring: Scottish Heavy Athletics, Highland Dancing, Piping & Drumming, Pipe Bands.

Tuesday March 8, 2005

For more information contact: Keets F. Taylor
Historic Rural Hill Farm
P. O. Box 1009
Huntersville, NC 28070-1009
704-875-3113
lochnorman@ruralhillfarm.org
www.ruralhillfarm.org
 

Celtic Music Line-Up – April 16 & 17th, 2005

Saturday Day (Celildh Tent) (10:30 am until 4:30 pm.)

  1. BRUCE DAVIES (Saturday only)

Bruce lives in Glenrothes in Fife, on the east coast of Scotland, about 20 miles from St. Andrews, the "Home of Golf." He is a singer whose style is very accessible, yet unique, blending the words and melodies of Scotland and beyond with harmonic influences that betray his Welsh ancestry.   His love of the great folk songwriters of the 60's to the present day is also apparent in his presentation and choice of music and his warm, rich voice and sympathetic 6 & 12 string acoustic guitar technique have received much critical acclaim.

A former winner of the prestigious Edinburgh Folk Club Song-writing competition, Bruce was known for many years as an interpreter of great songs by great writers.   However, his own songs now sit happily alongside those of "the greats" in his performances.
His enthusiasm for the works of Robert Burns, his knowledge and ability to express the history and music of Scotland as it relates to the rest of the world (particularly North America), combined with his witty introductions and friendly manner, make him a complete performer.

He has made many TV appearances at home and abroad (including half hour "specials" in California and Washington DC).   Prior to engaging in such a busy schedule as a performer, he was the presenter of 2 weekly shows on local radio. He has six albums currently available, including the recently released Songs We Used To Sing which is a celebration of his musical roots. He also has two other CDs that showcase songs of Scotland, one compilation featuring his versions of great lyric songs from the folk field and beyond, which he recorded in the 1990s, one compilation of his original songs, also recorded in the 1990s and "Somewhere Down The Road", which features 7 of his original songs and seven written by his friends and heroes.   For more about Bruce's albums/CD's and songs, please click on the Catalogue button, above left.

Bruce Davies

  1. ED MILLER

Ed, a native of Edinburgh, Scotland, now living in Austin, Texas, is a product of the 1960s folk revival in Scotland. He moved to the United States in 1968 to complete his graduate work in Geography, and later Folklore, at the University of Texas at Austin. In addition to his singing career, Ed is the host of a folk music program on Austin's NPR station, KUT-FM. Ed Miller is a performer who has learned his craft in musical venues on both sides of the Atlantic....and a folklorist who brings his love of Scotland to every performance. "Ed Miller is one of the best singers to emerge from the Scottish folk revival, a guitar-wielding folkie who wins his audiences over with a sweet but powerful voice, a great ear for material, and equal doses of populist politics and wry humor. He learned his craft in the sessions, clubs, and festivals of the folk revival, both in Scotland and the United States. Miller is also a scholar with an academic degree in folklore and a deep curiosity about history and culture, and his multiple roles and approaches to music and song make his performances and recordings that much more rewarding."     Steve Winick, contributor to The Music Hound --The Essential Albums Guide.

ed miller

  1. HENRI’S NOTIONS

From soft fingerpicked ballads to hard-driving jigs and reels, Henri's Notions creates a musical mix of traditional Celtic and American music as well as their own compositions that have a rhythm and voice reflective of their Southern heritage, which lends a pleasing familiarity to the music.  The Notions draw from a broad palette of melodious sounds: the ardent sounds of fiddle, lilting flute, keen tin whistles, ringing mandolin, tenor banjo and bouzouki, and the bounce of the button accordian, all played over the resonant tones and drive of the rhythm section, consisting of acoustic guitars, percussion, bass and now and again - bones. 

Lead voices dance through the intricate embellishments that bring to life the old ballads and songs and all members lend voices frequently creating close, rich, well-balanced harmonies. The group makes a point to provide backgrounds on the songs and instruments used during their performance and this has allowed Henri's Notions to connect with, educate and inspire audiences for over twenty years!

Henri's Notions has toured extensively in the Southern and Eastern United Stated from West Palm Beach, Florida and Dallas, Texas to New York City.  The group has worked countless festivals and concerts and has appeared as the opening act for such folk icons as Bob Dylan, Richie Havens, The Kingston Trio, David Grisman Quintet and top celtic acts such as The Tannahill Weavers, Patrick Street, Paddy O'Brian and others. 

Henris Notions performs year-round in concerts, festivals, special events, and school programs. As a touring member of the Alabama State Council on the Arts and Southern Arts Federation, grants are often available to eligible presenters. 

Henri’s Notions


Sunday Day (Celildh Tent) (schedule for the day not yet set):

1) Ed Miller
2) Henri’s Notions


Return to April/May 2005 Index page


 


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