Combe MacOmish Combie McComie McColm McComish McComas Tam McComb Thom McCombe Andrew MacThomas of Finegand, 19th Chief Thomas McCombie North American Newsletter Thoms MacOmie Thomson February 2017 www.clanmacthomas.com

The New Year

2016 was a wonderful year for Clan MacThomas and we hope it was for our members as well. We had the pleasure of our Clan Chief, Andrew MacThomas of Finegand 19th Chief, and his son, Thomas MacThomas, visit North America during the 2016 Stone Mountain Highland Games as honored guests. As we move into 2017, the North American Branch has some big plans to help members become more involved in Games, Gatherings and other events around the North American continent. This edition of the newsletter will include a list of all known Games, Gatherings and Festivals as well as the future issues of the newsletter. If you have any events that are not listed, please contact Rob McComas at [email protected] / 843-263-7304 / Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/rob.mccomas with any information you may have about the event and we will be glad to add it to the calendar. We welcome members to help with the North American Newsletter’s information so please don’t be shy about sending something you think would make a great story or addition to the newsletter.

Stone Mountain Highland Games

The Games held in October are one of the biggest in the Southeast US and attract people and clans from all over the world including some royalty. The events included the Lecture/Presentation: American & Northern Ireland - Discovering your Scots-Irish Roots, Professional Piping Competitions, Whisky Seminar & Tasting, Athletic Competitions, Highland Dance Competitions, and other wonderful events.

This past year’s (2016) Clan MacThomas tent was a huge success with plenty of information about the history of the Clan and at least seven new members joining. Clan Chief, Andrew MacThomas of Finegand, 19th Chief and Without the support of new and current members, Clan his son, Thomas MacThomas along with Wendy Thompson MacThomas would not be able to keep our heritage and in front of the Clan MacThomas tent at the Stone Mountain Highland Games in Atlanta, GA, October 2016.

1 family history alive. We thank all current members and future members for their wonderful support!

Tent in a Box

With the need for consistent tent setup and to help lessen the financial burden on members, we have plans to create a “Tent in A Box” to enable the North American Branch to more effectively represent the Clan across the North American continent. Hopefully, we will start with four tent boxes to send across the US and Canada. More information will be available later this year once plans have been finalized.

Once the tents are ready and prepped, we will be looking for four members across North America/Canada located in the four time zones that are centrally located to be Bobby Thomas representing Clan MacThomas at the Stone “handlers” of the tent boxes so we can keep shipping Mountain Highland Games and Festival, October 2016. costs as low as possible. Of course, at this point, this is still in the planning stages but we would like to have the four members ready to confirm their ability and willingness to be a “tent in a box handler”, so please contact Rob McComas. More information is on the bottom of the calendar page.

Ideas? Comments? Information?

All members are encouraged to make suggestions for items to be included in the future newsletters and let us know about any festivals we may not know about that can be included in the yearly events schedule. The more Dr. Robert Thompson of Florida, in attendance at the Stone information we have, the better the newsletter will be. Mountain Games and Festival, October 2016. He has been The contact for the Convener, Rob McComas, is instrumental in adding historical information about the [email protected] / 843-263-7304 / Clan to the Clan MacThomas Repository. Facebook- http://www.facebook.com/rob.mccomas. We look forward to hearing from you and thank you in advance!

John Mohr Mackintosh Pipes & Drums, performing at Clan MacThomas tent during the Stone Mountain Highland Games and Festival, October 2016.

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2017 International Clan MacThomas Gathering and Royal Tattoo Participation

Clan MacThomas has been invited to participate in the Royal Military Tattoo for the first time in history. This is one of the biggest honors any Clan can have and we are extending the invitation to all Clan members across the world that want to join us in this special event. This is a great chance to meet fellow members from all over the world and experience one of the most exciting heritage and honor filled celebrations in the United Kingdom.

We cannot stress the importance of this event enough. We would like as many Clan MacThomas members as possible from all over the globe to attend to have a strong Clan representation. Please be sure to book your reservations for both the Clan Gathering and Tattoo by February 20th, 2017. All info for booking is on the Clan website in the events section at www.clanmacthomas.com and in the current issue of the Clach na Coileach.

The Royal Edinburgh Military Tattoo is an annual series of military tattoos performed by British Armed Forces, Commonwealth and international military bands and artistic performance teams on the esplanade of Edinburgh Castle in the capital of . The event is held each August as part of the Edinburgh Festival.

What is a Military Tattoo? (Source Credit: Wikipedia.com) The term "tattoo" derives from a 17th century Dutch phrase doe den tap toe ("turn off the tap") a signal to tavern owners each night, played by a regiment's Corps of Drums, to turn off the taps of their ale kegs so that the soldiers would retire to their billeted lodgings at a reasonable hour. With the establishment of modern barracks and full military bands later in the 18th century, the term "tattoo" was used to describe the last duty call of the day, as well as a ceremonial form of evening entertainment performed by military musicians. Origins:

The first public military tattoo in Edinburgh was entitled "Something About a Soldier" and took place at the Ross Bandstand, Princes Street Gardens, in 1949. The first official Edinburgh Military Tattoo was held in 1950 with eight items in the program. It drew some 6,000 spectators seated in simple bench and scaffold structures around the north, south, and east sides of the Edinburgh Castle esplanade. In 1952, the capacity of the stands was increased to accommodate a nightly audience of 7,700, allowing 160,000 to watch the multiple live performances. Since the 1970s on average, just over 217,000 people see the Tattoo live on the esplanade of Edinburgh Castle each year, and it has sold out in advance for the last decade. Thirty percent (30%) of the audience are from Scotland and thirty-five percent (35%) from the rest of the United Kingdom. The remaining thirty-five percent (35%) of the audience consists of 70,000 visitors from overseas.

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Clan MacThomas Participation:

From the Clan Chief, “There has never been such a great or exciting year to come to the Clan Gathering in Scotland as we are representing Clan MacThomas and not to mention, the British Pound is currently at a very low exchange rate. The Clan MacThomas night at the Tattoo is Thursday, August 24th and is part of the 6-day Clan Gathering. Which also includes a tour of the Clan MacThomas home land, genealogy research, battle reenactments, Scottish Highland Games, Scottish dancing and Piping that includes a rendition of “Ode to a Haggis”. We would love to see as many Clan members as possible attend the Tattoo this August!”.

Since 2004, the Edinburgh Military Tattoo has also held free abridged performances at the Ross Bandstand in Princes Street Gardens, entitled "Taste of the Tattoo", and as of 2008 also in George Square in . The Edinburgh Military Tattoo has also toured overseas, visiting New Zealand in 2000 as part of the Tattoo's 50th anniversary celebrations. It visited Australia in 2005 and returned to the Sydney Football Stadium in February 2010 as part of the Tattoo's 60th anniversary celebrations. It has been announced that the Royal Edinburgh Military Tattoo will be heading to Melbourne and Wellington, New Zealand in February 2016, the first time in 16 years since it was last held there. As of 2014 the Princess Royal is the patron of the event, with the main corporate sponsor being the Royal Bank of Scotland. In 2010 the event became the Royal Edinburgh Military Tattoo after HM Queen Elizabeth awarded the Royal title in celebration of its six decades of existence.

The Royal Edinburgh Military Tattoo is a chance for Clan MacThomas to let its prospective future members know we are here and a strong Clan. This event is broadcast all around the world and will be some of the best Clan promotion we can get. The more Clan members attend, the better, so we can’t reiterate enough, we would love to see as many Clan members as possible attend. We hope to see you there!

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Calendar of North American events, festivals and Highland Games. Please be sure to contact Rob McComas with any events that we do not have listed at [email protected] / 843-263-7304 / Facebook- http://www.facebook.com/rob.mccomas JANUARY 2016 14-15 Central Florida Scottish Highland Games – www.flascot.com Winter Springs, Florida February 2016 4 Sarasota Highland Games and Festival – www.sarasotahighlandgames.com Sarasota, FL 25 Northeast FL Scottish Games & Festival – www.neflgames.com Green Cove Springs, FL March 2016 4-5 Phoenix Scottish Games – www.arizonascots.com/05games.shtml Phoenix AZ 11-12 -Irish Faire & Highland Games – www.chspb.org Midland, TX 18 Southeast Alabama Highland Games & Scottish Festival - www.wiregrasshighlandgames.com Dothan, AL April 2016 1 National Tartan Day – www.mshighlandsandislands.org Biloxi, Mississippi 29-30 Las Vegas Highland games –http://www.lasvegascelticsociety.org/ Las Vegas, NV 30 Southern Maryland Celtic Festival & Highland Gathering – www.cssm.org St. Leonard, MD May 2016 Canceled Scottish Festival & Celtic Gathering – www.scots-westvirginia.com Bridgeport, WV 6 Savannah Scottish Games – www.savannahscottishgames.com Savannah, GA 13 Mid-Maryland Celtic Festival – www.midmarylandcelticfestival.com Mount Airy, MD 5-7 Texas Scottish Festival & Highland Games – www.texasscottishfestival.com Arlington, TX 20-21 Smoky Mountain Scottish Festival & Games at Maryville College – www.smokymountaingames.org Maryville, TN 20 Fair Hill Scottish Games – www.fairhillscottishgames.org Elkton, Maryland 20-21 Rio Grande Valley Celtic Festival – www.celtfestabq.com Albuquerque, NM TBA Alma Highland Festival and Games – www.almahighlandgames.com St. Alma, MI June 2016 3 Scottish Festival at Old Orchard Beach – www.oob365.com Old Orchard Beach, Maine 3 Milwaukee Highland Games / Scottish Festival – www.milwaukeescottishfest.com Wauwatosa, WI 3 Garrett County Celtic Festival – wwwgccelticfestival.com Friendsville, Maryland 3 Allegany County Celtic Festival – www.alleganycountyceltic.com Cuba, New York 10-11 Blairsville Scottish festival & Highland Games – www.blairsvillescottishfestival.org Blairsville, Georgia 16-17 Scottish Festival & Highland Games Chicago – www.scottishfestivalchicago.org Itasca, Illinois 23-24 Ohio Scottish Games – www.ohioscottishgames.com Wellington, Ohio July 2016 15 Minnesota Scottish Fair and Highland Games – www.mnscottishfair.org/ Saint Paul, Minnesota 29-30 Pacific Northwest Scottish Highland Games & Clan Gathering – www.sshga.org Enumclaw, Washington August 2016 4-5 Glengarry Highland Games – www.glengarryhighlandgames.com Maxville, Ontario 4-6 Colorado Scottish Festival - www.scottishgames.org Snowmass, Colorado 19-20 Buffalo Niagara Scottish Festival – www.bnhv.org/scottish 19 Maine Highland Games – www.mainehighlandgames.org Topsham, ME 19-20 Bitterroot Celtic Games and Gathering – www.bcgg.org Hamilton, MT 26 Long Island Scottish Festival and Highland Games – www.liscots.org Westbury, NY TBA Green Hill Highland Games [email protected] (Games Event day and location not posted) Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/GreenHillHighlandGames/ 23-28 2017 Royal Edinburgh Military Tattoo (Clan MacThomas Gathering) - https://www.edintattoo.co.uk/(Registration ends February 20th) 4-26 2017 Royal Edinburgh Military Tattoo-https://www.edintattoo.co.uk/ September 2016

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2-3 Virginia Scottish Games – www.vascottishgames.org The Plains, Virginia 7-10 Longs Peak Scottish-Irish Highland Festival – www.scotfest.com Estes Park, CO 9-10 Columbus Scottish Festival – www.scottishfestival.org Columbus, IN 15-17 New Hampshire Highland Games & Festival – www.nhscot.org Lincoln, NH 15-17 Charleston Scottish Games and Highland Gathering – www.charlestonscots.org Charleston, SC 29-30 St. Louis Scottish Games and Cultural Festival – www.stlouis-scottishgames.com www.stl.scot Chesterfield, MO 22-24 Celtic Classic Highland Games and Festival – www.celticfest.org Bethlehem, PA 23 Ligonier Highland Games – www.ligonierhighlandgames.org Ligonier, PA 30 The Dandridge Scots-Irish Festival – www.scots-irish.com Dandridge, TN October 14 Indianapolis Scottish Highland Games and Festival – www.indyscotgamesandfest.com Indianapolis, IN 20-22 The Stone Mountain Highland Games – www.smhg.org Atlanta, GA 28-29 Carolina Caledonian Fest – www.caledonianfest.com Fayetteville, NC

This calendar does not include many Canadian Games and Festivals. Please contact Rob McComas if you have any information that can be added to the calendar for the US and Canada at [email protected] or call 843-263-7304.

The blue shading in the date column indicates we have Clan tent representation so please let us know if you want to be a tent tender.

Tent in a Box side note:

If you wish to be a tent tender and represent Clan MacThomas, please contact Rob McComas as soon as possible to secure the event and the request for the tent in a box. We have to move quickly to secure funds for the event registration and shipping. Please remember that the tent in a box is still in concept form as of right now but is currently being planned. Hopefully it will be executed very soon and we can start to move forward with this plan but we need to know that we have the necessary amount of members that are wanting to be tent tenders. The tent in a box is a costly venture so we absolutely need to show the need for it and we hope to hear from many of you about representing Clan MacThomas!

A message from the N.A. Convenor:

If you have any information, history, suggestions, etc., please feel free to email, call or Facebook me. I welcome any and all to contact me as I am always in need of additional content throughout the year. This will include news and phots of births, marriages, any significant anniversaries, new Scottish activities in your local area and any letters for publication in the NA Newsletter. I look forward to hearing from you! [email protected] / Cell 843-263-7304 / Facebook- http://www.facebook.com/rob.mccomas.

I plan on sending out a monthly calendar updated with any new events and who will be representing Clan MacThomas. Hopefully this will help with other members wanting participate in events and help our Society recruit more members from North America. We would love for Clan MacThomas to be represented in most events, festivals and highland games as possible. With more new members we bring to the Society, the more the Society can participate. It is vital we bring in new members to help keep our wonderful heritage alive and in the forefront of clan societies. We cannot do it without the help and support of our members and we thank each and every one of you!

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