"Ye Jacobites by name..."

Yesterday Mrs. Drang and I attended the Seattle Scottish Highland Games. I'm not Scottish, I just like the music. Yes, I'm one of those weirdos who actually enjoys bagpipe music. And the Scotch.

Having attended several Highlands Games and Festivals over the years and in several states, I've noticed a trend of more space and energy being devoted to non-Scots Celtic peoples, specifically, the Irish and the Welsh. (Nothing Cornish that I have seen, yet. Maybe this is the wrong part of the country, maybe in Michigan, where many "Cousin Jacks" were miners, you see pasty tents .) Mrs. Drang being Irish, she thinks this is a fine idea.

Anyway.

Ran into Mrs. Drang's sister and her family there, their Revolutionary War Living History group was participating, as was a Civil War Reenactment group.

What's the difference? Reenactors try for what you might call "practical accuracy", and, yes, reenact battles, and other significant historical events. They have to pass for accurate en masse, from across the room, as it were. Living Historians, sometimes called experimental anthropologists, strive for the strictest accuracy possible, and to live the life of people in the era they are interested in. (Not on a day-to-day basis, except in the most extreme cases.) Reenactors will cook over a campfire when in an encampments, living historians practice when no one else is watching. (I hasten to add that many members of reenactment groups could be considered living historians; it's a matter of preference and interest.)

Anyway. Mrs. Drang's sister, whom I will refer to henceforth as The Raven, is a costume maker. SCA, SF, Fantasy, you name it. Also Brides and (shudder) Bridezillas. So, yes, the Raven family are Living Historians. We would be, too, if we had the time and energy; it might have happened anyway, but Mrs. Drang and I introduced the Raven Family to XVIIIth Century reenactment/living history.

Anyway, Raven's husband (The Tiger) was busy with unit administrivia, so The Raven and Mrs. Drang and I went off in search of Beer. (The Scotch tasting being exorbitant @ $35.00 a head. Maybe if we'd known about it in advance and had been able to budget for it... Maybe next year.) The Raven had a Full Sail Pale Ale. Mrs. Drang had a Deschutes Brewery Inversion IPA, which I believe I've spoken of before, highly. And I had a "Black and Apple", equal portions of Deschutes Black Butte Porter and Spire Apple Cider. Magnificent!

While we sat in the shade and enjoyed our beverages, we talked, among other things, about the people who go to Highland Games and think it's a Renaissance Faire. "What's with the Disney Pyrates? And the Belly Dancers? And the Skinheads?" (We're probably not supposed to recognize them....) "And the people who think this is a Society for Creative Anachronism Tourney, and are walking around clanking like a boiler shoppe because of the fifty-'leven swords, knives, battle axes, etc?

"And did you see this year they have educational seminars on Scottish and Celtic History and Culture? Aren't they afraid of ruining someone's fantasy?" "I suppose the people running the thing have gotten sick of the Ren Faeries, too, and are Trying to Do Something About It."

Which led to us discussing Sharyn McCrumb's novel Highland Laddie Gone, which was, I believe, the third of the Elizabeth MacPherson novels. It takes place at a Highland Festival in Virginia, and has a hilarious scene in which the county sheriff, a Civil War reenactor, and Elizabeth MacPherson, representing the Chattan Confederacy at the Festival (complete with Cluny the Bobcat, which the Chattan Confederacy Motto says you are not supposed to touch unless you're wearing a glove) are discussing whether the murder can be resolved by next weekend when "those SCA weirdos have the park..."

And then The Wicked Tinkers started to perform so we finished our drinks and went to watch. Now, while you might not think a band billed as being Scottish Bagpipes and Drums could, or should, also feature a didgeridoo player, it fits. Quite well, in fact. Trust me. (Highland pipes and didgeridoos both drone, which might explain it.)

Other things seen:

• Three or four co-workers. "I had no idea!"
• Nessie. (Think Scottish version of a Chinese New Years' Dragon.)
• The Scottish Farm had wee shaggy Highland Cattle, but no Clydedales, and the closest thing to a sheep we saw was the wool The Raven was spinning when we spotted her.
  
• The MacDonalds right behind the Campbells in the Parade. "Only in America!" Question: Were the MacDonalds peeved at the Campbells' having precedence, or glad to have the Campbells' backs so handy...?