Fun and Games

So, as mentioned, Mrs. Drang and I attended the Pacific Northwest Highland Games in Enumclaw on Sunday.

Neither one of us is Scottish--despite my attempts to prove Scottish, or maybe Welsh ancestry, eventually I had to admit that my Great Great Grandfather came from Dorsetshire--but Mrs. Drang is Irish, and we both enjoy Celtic culture, so we go. (Mrs. Drang doesn't enjoy the bagpipes as much as I do, but she doesn't hate them either...)

There did not seem to be as many Ren Fairies, SCA types, Pyrates, and so forth as usual. Maybe it was the heat. Maybe the Games are actively discouraging people in poor-quality, highly inaccurate Halloween costumes from entering. I dunno. All I do know is, as a history geek, I find those clowns offensive...

Look, there's a strong fantasy element to Highland Games as held in America anyway. The whole tartan "system" is a fabrication (heh) of the Romantic movement; until the late 18th or early 19th centuries, tartans were associated with districts, not clans. If a bunch of parvenus had not caught the eye of Queen Victoria--who was more than a bit of a romantic, and a sucker for the Highlands anyway--we might have been spared a lot of nonsense.

Or, on the other hand, we might have missed a lot.

Anyway.

I have learned--the hard way--not to laugh at or argue with people at these affairs, when they try to tell you "the true lore" of this, that, or the other tartan. An Ancient tartan is one that was faded, or, alternatively, one that has been made to look like it had faded, or possibly one that has been made to look like it was dyed with authentic "period" (i.e., natural) dyes. The "hunting" version of a tartan has been made with muted--think camouflage--hues, but otherwise the same pattern. (The exception being those kilts made from, e.g., woodland camouflage material, sometimes known as the "Huntin' Russian" tartan...) And, if you really want flights of fancy, inquire about Irish clan tartans...

(Yes, dear, I know you're proud of your heritage. But you have to admit that the entire concept of Irish and Welsh tartans is a marketing ploy as much as anything else. Same with American tartans, including the US Marine and US Air Force setts; you will have noticed that there is no official US Army tartan, as the US Army refuses to authorized it, there being no lineage from any highland unit to any US Army unit...) (Not that no one has tried...)

Many of the venders at these affairs also deal at Ren Fairs, SCA events, SF Conventions, and so forth, and do not necessarily weed out all their merchandise from one event to another. Then again, there's a lot of overlap in clientèle. Mrs. Drang pointed out a button to me that read "It's not the Society for Compulsive Accuracy!" which, I guess, is my problem...

...So we tried on some incredibly impractical (but extremely cool) clothing. I still think it odd that Mrs. Drang, as great a fan of BBC programming as she is, never "got" Monty Python: Still, I tried on the "Highwayman Coat", flipped the collar up, mimed pistols in each hand and intoned "Give me all the lupins you've got!" and... She didn't get it... s*i*g*h

I did pick up a photograph:

Photo of the picturesque Castle Stalker in Loch Laich, Appin. REF NUMBER: #7382&
SOURCE: www.scotland-flavour.co.uk

Although not the one above--copyright, you know--the subject is the same: Castle Stalker. It first caught my eye because I spent more time in the Army assigned to the "Stalker Battalion" than to any other unit, and then because I recognized it as Castle Arrgh! from Monty Python and the Holy Grail.

Did not get a chance to listen to a full set by the Wicked Tinkers. On the other hand, I bought most of their CDs I don't already have, so, I think it balances out in the long run.

Saw a lot of pretty swords. Most of them had crap blades; the ones that weren't crap, were still stainless steel, which, come to think of it, is simply a higher grade of crap. (Hey, if I need to slay a dragon for Mrs. Drang, my sword had better have a blade of good steel; just because stainless steel doesn't rust, doesn't mean it will take, or hold, a decent edge.)

Ms. Drang got herself some pretty clothes, and I ran into a bunch of co-workers: Apparently, the Puget Sound Salt Mines recruits based on an interest in Celtic culture...

That's all for now. More later...