News has reached me of a brand new tartan design in South Africa – so far it’s just a design, since it has not yet been woven, but that should be done in a few weeks’ time.
The concept comes from James and Ina McGowan, who run a business in Cape Town with Ina’s son, Eugene Murison, called Tartans 4 Africa. (I am trying to get them to advertise here, by the way.)
They belong to a Christian fellowship that has a ministry to workers on wine estates in the Western Cape, and is hoping to erect a church building.
They were looking for a way to promote their project when James got to thinking about what a mighty task it would be, and what came to his mind was the name Mighty Men.
This is the brand name of a series of conferences that have been held annually on a farm called Shalom, in the Natal Midlands. Shalom belongs to kilted evangelist Angus Buchan, who travels all over Africa in a large truck to deliver the gospel message.
(The conference held recently was the last planned for Shalom. Another venue is now being arranged.)
Buchan has a ministry to men, because he believes that many families are suffering because the fathers in those families are not taking a leadership role in the household.
(Some critics have cavilled that the conferences are discriminatory on the grounds that they exclude women, but I feel this is an unfair approach.)
Buchan has given his blessing to the use of the name Mighty Men for the new tartan, and it will be marketed in South Africa in the coming months.
When I spoke to James about the project earlier this week, I told him that the focus on wine estate workers was something close to my heart.
This is because my father used to have a wine farm (producing the grapes for a co-operative, that is, not making the wine). In the wine-producing districts of the Cape there is a practice called the tot system, under which workers are given a daily ration of wine. (In Afrikaans this is called the dopstelsel, and the wine they receive is called dop.)
My father did his best to encourage his workers not to take the wine (it involves mugfuls morning, noon and night) by offering them more money.
Unfortunately they were not interested. One told my father (speaking Afrikaans): “I would rather work for another boss for less money than go without my dop.”
They spend a sizeable proportion of their Friday pay packet on more wine, and spend the weekend inebriated. Needless to say this leads to many kinds of trouble.
The systematic alcoholism of the workers in that district eventually led my brother, who was working with my dad on the farm, to go farming elsewhere, in an area where wine was not available.
Since I am not able to post attachments, I cannot provide an illustration of the tartan. And since I am at work, I cannot connect to Facebook, either.
But tomorrow I will provide a link to Facebook, where you can see what it looks like.
Regards,
Mike