What does a Scotsman wear beneath his kilt?

I am sure that all of us Scotsmen who wear a kilt are continuously asked this question. "What does a Scotsman wear below his kilt?"This I think should remain a mystery and adds to the mystique of the Highland dress. The relevance of this particular blog arose from an incident at the Glenfinnan Games last Saturday. We had many visitors from all over the world at the Clan Cameron Association stall including a young couple from Nice. Among the items for sale at our stall, was a lady's kilt in the Cameron of Erracht tartan. The young lady tried it on and looked stunning in her Cameron kilt. She did however put it over her jeans and continued to wear it thus throughout the day. We know therefore what a French lady wears under her kilt but the riddle of the Scotsman and his kilt must remain a mystery.

MA CAMERON'S

The most recent Council meeting of the Clan Cameron Association Scotland was held most appropriately in Ma Cameron's Tavern, Belmont Street, Aberdeen. This is an old established inn and is in fact Aberdeen's oldest pub having witnessed and taken part in the city's history for almost 300 years. The hostelry which had sympathised with the Jacobite cause began to flourish as a coaching inn in the 1800s Since then it has been recognised as a mecca for both locals and visitors to the city. Many of the Aberdeen hostelries were kept by women and none is more remembered than Amelia Cameron who continued to run the pub following the death of her husband, John. Amelia was affectionately known by her clientelle as "ma". In 1933 the pub was taken on by Alex Mitchell thus ending a period of 60 years association of the Camerons with the pub.

The council meeting was held in "The Snug" which appears to have changed little since the days in which "Ma Cameron" was the host. Our picture was taken before the meeting and shows members of the Clan Council at the door of "Ma Cameron's".

Peter Pininski

At its annual lunch after the Culloden Memorial Service, the Clan Association had an inspiring speaker in Peter Pininski. Peter told of his meticulous research through the Ftrench and Polish archives to identify the fact that he was a direct descendant of Charles Edward Stuart's daughter Charlotte. Charlotte in a secret relationship with Ferdinand de Rohan who was an archbishop and a member of one of the greatest families in France gave birth to two daughters and a son. Only the middle child, Marie Victoire de Rohan had a child and he was Antime, Chevalier de Nikorowitz (1806-1852). He married the daughter of an Austrian army officer and his daughter married Count Leonard Pininski (1824-1886). Peter is a great-great grandson of Count Leonard. In the next blog I will summarise Peter's connection with the Camerons. The picture shows Peter addressing the Clan Association at the Cawdor Tavern on Saturday, 19th April 2008.

The Clan Cameron Flagstone

One of the features of the new visitor centre at Culloden Moor is the pathway to the front door from the carpark. The flagstones are from Caithness stone and each one has been bought and dedicated by someone who wants to remember or be remembered. The Clan Cameron Association Scotland bought a stone at the very outset of the process. This stone cost £150.00. Subsequently, the National Trust for Scotland advertised much bigger stones for clans. These cost £1500.00. I like to think that ours represents a discretion which reflects our clan. Otherwise you might say we were mean!! Any views?

Culloden 08

There was an interesting symmetry in the memorial service at Culloden, today - Saturday 19th April. The main speaker was the Broadcaster and scholar John Alex MacPherson who is a native of North Uist. However John Alex has spent much of his life in Canada and currently lives on Cape Breton Island. In his speech, John Alex referred to the parallel service taking place at Pictou in Nova Scotia. When Elizabeth and I were in Nova Scotia in July 2007 we visited the cairn which is modelled on the one at Culloden. It is a touching reflection that on both sides of the Atlantic, people of all clans and indeed no clans remember with respect and admiration those who fought and died in support of the Stuart claim to the throne of Britain.

HOW ARE WE DOING?

The Clan Association are about to undertake a benchmarking exercise to compare our Association with other Clan Associations. What we want to look at is the activities offered, including the geographical spread. We want to examine the communications - website content and newsletters (content and frequency). We want to explore how we could improve the experience for the younger clanspeople? We want to compare our subscription rates with other clans and in general what can we do better than we are doing at present and how do we achieve that? To start the ball rolling, I would appreciate any comments - positive or negative about the current set-up and ways in which we might expand the activities to make the association more inclusive. You might wish to comment on the membership fee and whether it is value for money! Any suggestions will be taken seriously and I welcome and look forward to a healthy debate.

Ian Cameron

While in Nova Scotia last year, Elizabeth and I met with many interesting people who had Cameron or Cameron connections. Amongst those we met were Ian And Evelyn Cameron. Ian had been hugely influential in promoting Cameron fellowship in Nova Scotia and was one of those who petitioned the late Lochiel in the 1980s to form a Branch of the Clan Association in Nova Scotia. There were and still are many Camerons in that part of Canada. As a token of the work done by Ian over a long number of years, he was presented with a very particular badge of which only 5 were made. The fact that there was no longer a Branch of the Association in Nova Scotia was a cause of great disappointment to Ian and to his sister in law Harriet - whose husband had been the last President of the Association. If any one reading this, in Nova Scotia wants to explore the possibilities of re-forming an association, I will be happy to act as a go-between. My e-mail address is alan.ccas@btinternet.com. The picture on the right Ian is speaking to Elizabeth and his badge is shown on the left.