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[Type a quote from the document or the summaryClan of an interestingGregor point. YouSociety can position the text box anywhere in the document. Use the Text BoxGreat Tools tabLakes to change Chapter the formatting of the pull quote text box.] Joseph Greer, Chair Marcia Maloch Ebert, Treasurer & Advisor Patrick McGregor, Newsletter Editor Susie McGregorHuyer, Steward, Minnesota & Wisconsin

clangregorsocietyglc.org

The MacGregor Monitor Please send any questions or comments about this newsletter to SPRING 2021 [email protected].

WELCOME to five (5!) new CGSGLC members: Andrew Hart (Chambersburg, PA), Nicole Hurst (Huron, OH), Jodith Nielson (Temperance, MI), Branwen Roesch (Fargo, ND), and Gregory Todd (Shelby Twnshp, MI).

Upcoming . For a complete list refer to the CGSGLC website. • Ohio Scottish Games 2021 have once again been cancelled. Instead, a virtual highland games program will be held June 25-26. • Minnesota Scottish Fair & Highland Games July 21 VIRTUAL PROGRAM. IN PERSON GAMES CANCELED • St. Andrews Society of Detroit Highland Games August 6-7 Livonia, MI • Wisconsin Highland Games September 3-5 Waukesha WI • Kalamazoo Scottish Festival September 11 Kalamazoo MI • Ligonier Highland Games September 18 Ligonier PA • Celtic Festival & Highland Games of Quad Cities Sep 25-26 Davenport IA Welcome the Menzies! On a dark day in 1502, the castle of Weem (now Castle Menzies), home of the Clan Menzies chiefs, was burned by Neil Stewart of Garth and a band of Roro MacGregors over succession disputes for land tenure. The roof, furnishings and part of the Z-plan fortilace were destroyed. Ironically, a century or so earlier, the Roro chieftain in nearby Glenlyon married the daughter of the then Menzies chief in a period when relations were better. Such stories are common in medieval , where it’s fair to say that throughout the turbulent history, there is not one building or plot of land that has not been disputed, fought over, and often changed hands.

At this time, the MacGregors were not outlawed. They did however represent a formidable fighting force which was sometimes difficult to control. The major troubles with Campbell overlords were yet to come, although as that clan gained the lands around Loch Tay and Glen Lyon, Roro families were being pushed out. In 1513, the most disastrous battle in Scottish history took place at Flodden, England, with the loss of James IV and many of the nobles and clan leaders who had supported him. In the aftermath, and perhaps through the good graces of the earlier marriage, a number of Glenlyon MacGregors moved north to holdings around Loch Rannoch belonging to the

1 Menzies. From here they could raid and retreat to the impenetrable wastes of Rannoch Moor. Their powerful neighbors soon filed complaints against Menzies and in 1523 we find him in the following position -

The above is Robert Menzies’ response to a complaint by the Duke of demanding he control his tenants. Menzies replies in these remarkable words - “the said MacGregor entered my lands in force and holds them masterfully, being of far greater power than me. They will not be put out of their lands”. Records indicate that we do not pay Robert or his successors the rent for something like a hundred years. * * * Fast forward to 2016/17, when various meetings by Peter, Richard and Keith take place with David Henderson, caretaker for Castle Menzies. As one chat lead to another we were introduced to Neil and Rory Menzies, trustees for the estate, who were quite friendly, or should I say understanding, when our past trespasses came up in the conversation. In fact, they were even better than that as we began to discuss what we might do for each other: they had a glorious medieval castle and we had none; we could bring large numbers of visitors to their venue especially during our International Gatherings (in fact, we were planning for 125 members to join us in 2018). We were in need of a large venue for our catered dinner. Their response was, come up to the second floor -we’ve got just the thing! The rest, as they say, is history…

Our story doesn’t end there. We told them that the museum in Killin where our artifacts were housed was closing and they had to be moved. In a generous display of hospitality, a third floor room in the castle, next to the Menzies museum was offered for a new MacGregor museum, free of charge – just pay for the cases…!

1Banquet Hall (large window)

2 A few short months before our 2018 entourage arrived, the artifacts were moved in and displays set up (special thanks to Peter), and our annual AGM banquet was set for Castle Menzies. Those of you who attended will remember it was an event you won’t soon forget. Rory Menzies offered the first toast – “Welcome back! Where have you been? We’ve missed you!” – to which Neil Menzies added “I think you owe us some back rent…” which brought down the house!

2 MacGregor Museum 3rd floor below the turret

To which I add, “Welcome the Menzies” when you meet them at games and events. Share our stories. Offer a dram. And thank their clan for a true showing of good will, and real Highland hospitality.

3 3Banquet attendees at Caste Menzies

NOTE: At the Stone Mountain games in October you’ll find the Clan Menzies tent right next to ours. I wonder how that happened?

Keith MacGregor ([email protected])

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Bruce MacGregor of Inverness is a well-known fiddler, musician, radio host and restauranteur in Scotland. He is the co-owner of MacGregor’s Bar in which was written about in the previous issue of The MacGregor Monitor.

The bar was shut down during the pandemic, therefore, he got involved in many other interests:

*Hosts an online Gaelic music show on Live at Five, a Scottish topical entertainment and magazine program, which has been getting audiences across the world. It is broadcast worldwide from the virtual MacGregor’s pub on the pubs Facebook page every Friday. * Was featured in an online news show for a speciaI tribute on the anniversary of the Battle of Culldoden. The interview had over 30K YouTube views that day. * Wrote a tune, Doddie’s Dream for Scottish rugby legend Doddie Weir’s charity to help fund research into MND (Motor neuron diseases which include ALS). It hit no 9 in the UK charts. The production involved over 30 musicians, including Nicola Benedetti, Jerry Douglas, Julie Fowlis and Phil Cunningham. The song is on YouTube and features Bruce playing lead fiddle. * Bought a hotel with restaurant/bar which is due to open this summer in Golspie on the NC500 and near Dunrobin Castle. *And perhaps he is best known for his weekly BBC Radio show with the tagline “Bruce MacGregor presents Radio Scotland's flagship folk programme and brings you the very best of today's music and song”.

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5 DESIGN YOUR OWN – Step by step instructions Featuring TartanDesigner.com

You too can design a plaid which symbolizes an organization, community, special event or meaningful aspect in your life. Here's simple steps to get started.

1) Choose something that you want to design a tartan for. 2) Choose a color that is most significant for that thing. Provide a rationale for why each color is being chosen. 3) Pick the next most significant color. Be bold, have contrast because you can tone it down later when actually visualizing your design. 4) Pick the third most significant color. 5) You're now past the minimum of two colors so you may want think about how many colors you want to use. Strive for more than two and maximum of seven or less and remember that colors can be reused. For example, in our Clan Gregor modern tartan (1 of only 4 approved by the Clan Chief) there's red, green, black, and white. Red is used twice, green is used twice, black is optionally used once, and white is used once. Keep in mind that the number of colors variations that appear in the pattern ends up being the summation of the series of 1 to the number of colors. For 4 colors, this is 4+3+2+1 = 10. For 7 colors, this is 7+6+5+4+3+2+1 = 28. Too many colors can result in a muddled look. 6) Continue picking colors until you feel that you've gotten the sense of what you're designing covered. 7) Now try the colors out by going to an online tool such as the one at TartanDesigner.com. Start a new design and set up the colors that you have selected. 8) Change the threadcount for each color. Values of '56,06,04,08,04,04' are a good start. 9) Tweak the threadcount and order of colors to raise or lower the dominance of various colors until you hit that 'AHA' moment. Warning! You can spend a lot of time playing with this plus take note of any selections you like and may want to go back to. 10) Consider swapping light to dark or vice-versa for one or two of the major colors in order to provide 'Hunting', 'Ancient' or 'Dance' versions.

If you want to get your masterpiece registered and/or woven then go to the Scottish Register of at https://www.tartanregister.gov.uk. There you can find out how to submit your design and find weavers who can bring your creation to life.

Tartan Designer lets you set up a no obligation account in order save your designs online. You'll also find more about tartan design, registration and some resources to help you learn more.

William Petrie, Council Member and Co-editor, Clan Gregor Society Canada Chapter

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