I was out for a walk the other day when I stopped at a stop light. Well, right beside me was a gentleman in full highland dress – sporran and all. I said to him – “Campbell?” He answered, “No, Gordon.” I was happy he didn’t say, “MacDonald.”
I went on to say, “This must be a busy time for you, with Robbie Burns’ Day and all.” He answered, “yes, I have one this weekend and one the next.” I said, “do you recite or pipe?” He smiled and answered, I do both.”
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| Campbell Tartan |
It’s very strange when you meet a kindred soul, randomly at a stop light, in the middle of the city, somewhere, anywhere and you have this elliptical conversation because you can both read each other’s minds.
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| Gordon tartan |
Here is the background. I had asked whether he were wearing the Campbell tartan – I didn’t specify if it were regular, dress or hunting Campbell. He replied that it was the Gordon Tartan, not the Campbell and he also didn’t specify – regular, hunting or dress Gordon or any other of the many variations of the pattern.
I was happy that I hadn’t confused a Campbell with a MacDonald because of the ancient feud between the Campbells and the MacDonalds culminating in the massacre at Glencoe on Feb 13 1692 – it takes a long time for wounds to heal.
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| MacDonald Tartan |
Here is an incredibly moving folk song about the tragedy. Robbie Burns day is January 25. This year it’s on a Friday and there will be much piping in of the Haggis and recitations of Burns’ poems. Celebrate where you can, when you can, life it too short to miss a beat!!
As you can see the weaves of the respective tartans are very similar. It’s easy to make a mistake, if you haven’t looked at a reference book in years. It’s all in the details – sweat the small stuff and the rest will fall into place.
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| My reference book – found!! |