Scotland – Dan Routh Photography

Pipes and Drums

Grandfather Mountain, Highland Games, Music, North Carolina, People, Pipes and Drums, Scotland

Grandfather Mountain Highland Games. Linville, North Carolina.

Scottish Highland Cattle, "Beasts"

Agriculture, Animals, Cattle, Farm, Greensboro, Scotland

A herd of highland cattle grazes just outside of Greensboro. Though I believe these particular cows are kept as pets, the Scottish breed is prized for it’s lean meat. The shaggy hair acts as insulation against the cold, a necessity in the cool, damp Highlands of Scotland, so the animals have less fat than standard beef cattle. Smaller in stature than regular beef cows, they have a presence nonetheless.

And yes, both the males and the females have horns.

(photographs copyright by Dan Routh)

Scottish Drum Major

Greensboro, Portraits, Scotland

Large sections of North Carolina were settled by Scots in the 18th and 19th centuries. Both my wife and I claim descent from Scottish families. I have been told that there are more people in North Carolina of Scottish descent than there are in Scotland. Whether that is true or not, I do not know, but in recent years there has been a surge in the Scot culture in this state, and elsewhere. Many highland games are held each year throughout the country featuring highland garb and food, bagpipe bands, heavy highland athletics and dancing, with the largest being the annual highland games at Grandfather Mountain in Linville, North Carolina. Both of my sons have participated in these games over the years, my son Tristan as a piper and my son Devin as a flourishing tenor drummer. There are a couple of pipe bands active in the Greensboro area, The Jamestown Pipes and Drums and the Deep River Pipes and Drums. The photograph above is of a drum major from the Triad Highland Games, held annually in Greensboro.

Scottish Castle

Scotland, Travel

If there is one place I would like to be right now it would be Scotland. My family is of Scottish descent (circa 1750) as is my wife’s. It is said that there are more people of Scottish descent in North Carolina now than there are in Scotland itself. During the “Clearances” of the 18th and early 19th century, thousands of Scots left Scotland and many settled here in North Carolina. Names such as Chisholm, McMasterss, McCallum and Wallace are prominent in our genealogy. We attend highland games. In fact North Carolina has the world’s largest such games at Grandfather Mountain each summer. My older son is a piper and my younger son plays the flourishing tenor drum. When my older son was married recently, the males wore kilt.

One of my favorite spots in Scotland is Eilean Donan Castle near the Kyle of Lochalsh on the western coast near the Isle of Skye (where my family originated). It’s a misty place that shouts “Highlands” and is near the Kyle Bridge that leads over to Skye. The day we were there, it was a normal Scottish day, slightly cool and rainy or as they say, “fresh”. The BBC produced a television show back in the 1990’s called “Hamish Macbeth” which was filmed near there.

Postscript: I got an email from Peter Hunter from Fife just north of Edinburgh. He had some very kind things to say about my blog. If Scotland interests you, check out his website at http://www.scotlandinoils.com