'It's cold and wet — just like home!'

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Bermudians with Scottish ancestry, Scots and onlookers attend the Island's First Highland Games

By Jonathan Bell

There was a respectable showing of tartan, plenty of highland dance, and bagpipes galore for Bermuda's first ever Highland Games at the West End.

“It's cold and wet — just like home,” remarked Perth native Iann Duncan of the Atholl Highlanders as the clouds rolled over the field of Sandys 360.

The group, which hails from Blair Atholl in Scotland, is famed as the UK's only legal private army.

They have come to Bermuda from Atholl, Massachusetts, which just celebrated 250 years since it was founded.

“It was cold and wet there, too,” Mr Duncan added.

The Highlanders brought their own bagpipe players, which, along with the Bermuda Chamber Choir, the Bermuda Islands Pipe Band, Bermuda Regiment Band, the Somerset Brigade Band and the Sandys Drumline, caused last night's event to be heard all across Somerset.

Hosted by the Caledonian Society of Bermuda, the occasion saw next year's event already planned — for June 15, 2013.

Accordion to organiser Ian Hind, a Glaswegian appropriately kilted for the night, the hoped-for guest pipers will be the Royal Canadian Mounted Police Pipe Band.

Governor George Fergusson gave the official opening at 6.30pm, but the games themselves were well underway shortly after 4pm.

No Highland Games is complete without caber-tossing, as announcer Bruce Murray informed the early crowd.

“In Scotland, the pole would be made from a larch,” Mr Murray said. “In Bermuda, it's made out of casuarina from Cooper's Island.”

The original version is 175 pounds, just under 20 ft. The tapered-down Bermudian versions came in a range of sizes.

As Mr Murray explained: “The skill and the art is not how far you throw it — but how accurately you toss it.”

Boston visitors Brad Callow and his girlfriend Melissa Pickering were only too happy to volunteer first.

Following a practice throw, Mr Callow took on the biggest caber, the 'Belco Big Bertha' — so-called because Belco workers chopped down its parent tree.

“I'm just glad I didn't hurt myself,” Mr Callow said, after a successful throw close to the requisite 12 o'clock position.

Cablevision's Charles Hall drew roars of approval with his throw: “I'm used to handling poles from my job,” he said, striding off the field in his kilt.

Mr Hall traces his Scottish ancestry to “the last of the riding clans between the English and Scottish border”.

Kilts were flying for the highlanders' relay on the rain-soaked grass: speedy Scot David Murray came through the winner.

Bermudian Ian Maule arrived in full regalia to show his support.

“We've got to keep this going here,” said Mr Maule, whose Edinburgh-born father “brought me up with an appreciation of my Scottish parentage”.

Onlooker Oral Swan assured The Royal Gazette he was not of Scottish descent, but has enjoyed his trips to Scotland in the past.

“I'm here because I love all this type of stuff, the music especially,” Mr Swan said. “The bands really fascinate me. At least this time, I didn't have to travel so far for it.”

Useful website: www.caledoniansocietyofbermuda.com.

For more pictures of the Highland Games click

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