THE OFFICIAL NEWSLETTER OF T H E C L A N The Defender K I N C A I D ASSOCIATION INTERNATIONAL THE DEFENDER I S S U E 9 6 – M A R C H 2 0 1 9 INSIDE THIS ISSUE: The Chief’s Column — Madam Arabella Kincaid of Kincaid Chief’s Column 2 continued Fellow Kincaids, Kinsfolk, Friends, President’s 3 Message The very opening words must be addressed to Emily, our Defender Editor, to wish you all the best for the next precious few weeks especially as you welcome a 2019 Gathering 4 new little person into your family! A miracle every time, new life - with all the love, Schedule, Accom- joy and hope that comes with it. modations Greetings from 5 I have just been away, together with Giles and our youngest (Kalula), to the Communica- Durham for a mini break and to see Angus. Whilst we were there we went to an tions Director evensong at the Cathedral. It is hard to find the words to describe Durham Cathe- This and That– 5 dral. The sheer magnificence of the place is overwhelming and the history that we Kincaid can imbibe so easily thanks to the information available is hard to take in in just one 6 visit. I mention this because I was struck forcibly with the impact of what can be Clan Kincaid Gathering Golf achieved, built upon and embellished throughout many generations of people who Shirt Special have invested into a place, family, cause, dynasty etc. The visible structure of the Sarasota Games Cathedral is there for all to see and it has been a place of worship and welcome for In Gratitude for 7 almost a millennium and housed therein is the grave of St Cuthbert (one of the the Gathering most important medieval saints in the North of England with a cult centred on his Membership 8 tomb) and also the Venerable Bede (who is also known as the Father of English His- Update tory). Clan Kincaid has been a recognised force in the world for almost a millenni- Highland Games um as well Our influence has been dispersed over the millennia, rather than con- Schedule centrated in one place like Durham Cathedral but as I came away from the beautiful choral evensong of soaring harmonies and lifted hearts, thinking of the flow of love 2018 Financial 9 and light through the generations of worshippers in that place. We Kincaids have, Summary through the generations, carried the bloodlines of our warrior forbears, brave Jaco- Board Members 10 bites and loyal servants of the Monarch. From Scotland these qualities of goodness & Commissioners of heart, strength, loyalty and more have gone out to serve the world, with all those wonderful qualities in which we live today. Wee Shopper 11 Order Form With only a few short months until the Gathering at Grandfather Mountain Wee Shopper 12 it is really lovely to think that so many of us extended family will be able to spend a Catalog few days together in the beauty of the Mountains. So much to look forward to and so much to celebrate. James Brisbin and Hugh Kincaid are putting together a won- derful programme of events for us all to enjoy and I am looking forward to being able to spend time at the Clan Tent and enjoying the festival together. We gather P A G E 2 as kindred, family, and cousins and it is all possible because of each and every person who vol- unteers, giving of themselves in many different ways through their generosity of time, re- sources, gifts, and skills. Profound thanks is due to everyone working on this. Within our num- ber, on this occasion, I am very delighted to let you know that we have our very own Reverend John Kinkead officiating as our Chaplain for the duration of the Festival, which is a great blessing. Recently a Lennox Clan Society has been born and along with that a project is springing up to proclaim support for the preservation of Lennox Castle and the hope is to eventually inject some life into it once again. For those of us who have been there we know that this is a monu- mentally large project. As many of you will know, in the 1830’s, a Glasgow architect called David Hamilton was commissioned by John Lennox Kincaid Lennox to design a new house in the style of a Norman castle. Lennox Castle was duly designed and built but was only lived in for a few generations. World War 1 was the beginning of the end for many old family run estates and homes in Britain. The Castle became a military hospital during the Great War and only a few short years later the Castle was sold in 1927 to the City of Glasgow. The Castles’ descent into ruin happened quite quickly even as it was still within living memory of a few to have lived in it. My Grandmother, Madam Heather, remembers being taken up to the Castle to see her Grand- mother when she was a small child. I remember her telling me that she herself remembered the smart new shoes she was wearing on one visit. Lennox Castle is an important building for both the Lennox and Kincaid because it was really out of the union of John Kincaid of Kincaid and Ce- cilia Lennox, that the idea for this building and its subsequent creation came about. On that ba- sis we, as Kincaids are invited to be a part of this great plan. Time will tell how this plays out but, watch this space for development! Looking forward to the onset of Spring and the countdown to our 2019 Gathering in July. Yours aye, Arabella. P.S. Angus has been enjoying the Caledonian Society at University to the fullest extent, which means spending an evening a week reel- ing to his great delight. Each year the Society puts on a Ball at which this photo was taken. Please en- joy. Angus Kincaid, center THE DEFENDER P A G E 3 A Message from the President I want to remind Clan Kincaid Members that year 2019 will be an election year. Board of Officers to be elected: President (Incumbent David Kincaid) Membership Secretary (Incumbent Donna Knauss) Secretary (Incumbent Linda Hoskins) Treasurer (Incumbent Christopher Kinkead) Communications Director (Incumbent Emily Silversparre) Wee Shopper Manager (Incumbent Rick Kincaid) Chief Commissioner (Incumbent: Karen Davis) Term of Office: Newly elected officers will serve a term of three years beginning 1 January 2020. Those Eligible to vote: Any Clan Member in good standing by 1 June 2019 will be eligible to vote. The Mem- bership Secretary will identify those Clan members eligible to vote in the election. Application Procedures: Letter of Intent: Potential additional candidates who wish to be placed on the ballot must be a member in good standing and submit a letter of intent for a specific position. The Letter of Intent shall include a personal biography and statement of their goals if elected. Letters of intent shall be limited to 500 words and shall be deemed to be public domain and authorized for publication in The Defender newsletter and on the Clan Kin- caid website. Letter of Intent Due Date: Clan members must submit their Letter of Intent to the Secretary of the Associa- tion or President no later than 1 May 2019. Letters arriving later than 11:59 PM, 1 May 2019 will not be ac- cepted. Ballots Provided the Clan Membership: Ballots with Letters of Intent and voting instructions will be provided to the Clan Membership in the August/September 2019 issue of The Defender newsletter. Completed Ballots must be sent to the designated election Officer (Steve Nesbitt, address will be provided on Ballot) no later than 1 October 2019; however, ballots arriving between 1 and 15 October bearing a 1 Octo- ber 2019 postmark will be counted. Any ballot arriving after 15 October 2019 will not be counted. New Board Member Announcement: The Clan Kincaid President will announce the new Clan Kincaid Board of Officers in the December 2019 issue of The Defender newsletter. Warm wishes to all and I hope to see many of you at the Grandfather Mountain Gather- ing. Slainte Mhath/(slan ju vah), David Kincaid, Clan Kincaid President (M-73) THE DEFENDER P A G E 4 The Clan Kincaid Gathering 2019 - Grandfather Mountain, Boone NC USA The Countdown to the Clan Kincaid Gathering 2019 at Grandfather Mountain, North Carolina continues. July 11th to 14th will be upon us in just 4 more months and already the excitement is building toward what promises to be a most extraordi- nary experience and perhaps the biggest Clan Kincaid event ever. With over 100 days left we already have confirmed registrations at our host hotel of 56 Kincaids and over 30 have pur- chased their Gala Tickets. Madam Arabella Kincaid of Kincaid has confirmed her attendance as the Honoured Chief of our Honoured Clan. She will be traveling from her home in Shropshire, England with her two sons, Angus and Dominic. The Grandfather Mountain Scottish Festival is one of the biggest Scottish events in North America with an annual attend- ance of 30,000 and the largest contingent of Clans. (Last year saw 118 clans march in the “Parade of Clans”) This year the Pa- rade of Clans will be led by Clan Kincaid and we hope to have well over 100 attendees to march in support of our Chief who will be reviewing the Parade. How proud she will be in having the largest group of any of the clans! The festival will have all the traditional Scottish events available for your enjoyment.