Sunday, 13. July 2008, 16:50:29
Every year, my spinners' group does a little demo down at the Skagit Valley Highland Games. The past couple years, I've volunteered to take the loom down to Mt. Vernon and help set up the tents. This year, gas prices being what they are, I thought I'd camp at the park overnight Friday and hang out on Saturday. My friend L accompanied me. We made a little stop at the grocery before turning in for the night so we could purchase a wee nightcap:
I don't camp much and so I didn't sleep very well, but we were up bright and early the next morning. Here's L spinning on a drop-spindle (and an unintentional shout-out to our LYS):
Here's what I was spinning on my folding Lendrum walnut wheel:
It's hand-dyed merino/tussah silk roving. I didn't dye it; Dicentra Fiber Arts did. Here's the loom, sleyed and threaded and ready to go:
Here's my friend D combing wool in preparation to spin:
The Highland Games bring in bagpipe bands from all over the Pacific Northwest and Lower Mainland Canada. I'm not sure if they were there this year, but the Delta Police Pipe Band and Simon Fraser University usually show up, along with some from Seattle and my hometown of Bellingham. At this point in my experience, bagpipes are no novelty, so I didn't pay a whole lot of attention to them, except for a mild hearing loss in my left ear. This is the official presentation of the colors, which nevertheless brought a tear to my sentimental eye. Glad to see they had the Irish flag in there this year--not that I'm all that Irish, either. Do they have "Mutt of the World" flags out there? Well, I mean, besides the Stars-n'-Stripes, that is.
Exhibiting proper etiquette, the vocalist sang "O Canada" first, and then the "Star Spangled Banner". I was impressed; nearly everyone in attendance stood and removed their hats for both anthems, and almost everybody knew the words to both, too. I imagine there were plenty of Canadians, but still. "We stand on guard for thee" brings a lump to my throat, too. Overheard: "What did they say? We stand on
God for thee?" Heh.
In addition to piping and demonstrations, there are the eponymous Games, of course, and chiefly appear to consist of throwing things. Scotsmen appear to love throwing things: stones, steel shot, telephone poles, hammers. I hung around to watch a few and snapped a shot of this fella's erstwhile kilt:
Sadly, I noticed no 'regimental' Scotsmen, anywhere. The modest choice of undergarments appeared to be bike shorts.
The Society for Creative Anachronism is usually present, as well. What's a Highland Games without someone in anachronistic and usually inauthentic armor? Still, I can't bash them too much; they've been making efforts over the past few years to look the part, instead of the usual 'hippie-that-just-rolled-out-of-bed" style usually seen at Ren Faires in the provinces. And they had actual chain mail, which must've been damned uncomfortable in our July heat (it's finally HOT here!).
I thought this fella was rather adorable:
And of course, there was an obligatory fencing display:
You'd think that a Highland Games would bring out the Jacobite shirts and Braveheart blue paint, but no. These guys were all over the board with their costumery. Anything vaguely medieval and/or Elizabethan seemed to do. The chick in the fencing ring had a smashing embroidered doublet, which I couldn't get a good shot of, unfortunately.
I thought the Scots threw the Vikings out of town?
Then, to cap it off, I had a highly traditional Scottish gyro for lunch:
I pretended it was haggis and enjoyed it immensely more than the real thing.
to Big Red. He wuvs cats...and so does Batman, but for different reasons. See if you can figure it out! A prize* to the first commenter I deem is right!
