Fair Hill Scottish Games at the Colonial Highland Gathering in Fair Hill, MD

[pn1scott]

Wanted to get there, but had to work....but will attend next year....

[tulloch]

Nice photos. Cool being able to look at them and recognize someone in them from so far away. The drum instructor from Scotia Glenville is a friend of mine and was responsible for my daughter's and my going to Scotland last summer. It is indeed a small world, this world of kilts, and smaller is the subset of piping and drumming!

[O'Callaghan]

I suppose you could have a Scottish Games anywhere, even in a place with an Irish name. The mention of Fair Hill brings to mind a location in Cork, Ireland. Seems a pity it's not a celtic event, rather than a Scottish one (ducks flames, LOL!). I didn't know we had a Fair Hill here in Maryland, so I assume it's in some other part of the state far from me? Curious now as to where it is?

There are a lot of people of Irish descent in the Baltimore, Maryland area (although I am from London and live in a different part of the state), and the original Baltimore is in Cork, so it seems that there's a high probability that Fair Hill, Maryland may be named after the one in Cork as well. The O'Callaghan branch of my family were from Cobh (pronounced as per its English spelling, Cove, aka Queenstown at one time), which is also in Cork.

[OC Richard]

Well Nile we probably saw each other a number of times during the day, but didn't know it.

Yes my first time attending. The setting is beautiful, amongst rolling farmland.

In the early morning the pipe band people setting up their various encampments. Interesting how close the Games are to people's homes



Solos were held on platforms here and there along the grass-covered race track. In the background you can see the grandstands from which the Pipe Band competition will be viewed, in the afternoon



Viewed from a different angle, showing the several solo platforms spread along the curving fence



An interesting sight was pipers scattered all over the green warming up their pipes



A young piper and an old hand having a chat



Also in the morning was Highland Dancing



These lads wearing interesting uniforms... one has got an award



Now time for the Massed Bands!

[ASinclair]

Nice pictures and report. Thanks Richard.

[OC Richard]

You're welcome!

An interesting thing about these Games was the lack of signage. I drove past the grounds because there wasn't a single sign of any sort. The park has a permanent sign which has an electronic billboard showing current and upcoming events and the Games weren't listed.

Anyhow some interesting kilted folk here, including the group of London Scottish reenactors, one of whom is XMarker BobsYourUncle



I've been going to Games for 40 years now and an interesting (to me) thing is the various things you see in the different bands' encampments. Here in California there's a band that constructs a huge rack thing out of white PVC pipe (maybe 6 feet high and 12 feet long) that all the pipe cases and drums can fit in.

At these Games a band had this thing on which all the pipes could hang upside down like slaughtered creatures



My favourite thing about Games is hearing all the good bands, in this case all bands I'd not heard before. The best time to hear the glory of a well-tuned pipe corps is when the pipes are doing their final tuneup before going into competition, and at these Games the pipe corps tuned up below the bleachers. The sound from above was fantastic and also an opportunity to get cool photos. Here's a band wearing the Red Gordon tartan, the New York Metro Pipe Band



This smaller band had a beautiful kit with lovely selfcoloured claret kilts



This band had an excellent tone from the pipe corp, the Ottawa Police Pipe Band in Ross tartan



Time for tuning is over, now it's time to march into the circle. Note the mismatching kilts, which would disqualify the band in Scotland but not here



The judges approach their prey, clipboards in hand



The pipe corps playing, the piping judge writing (Ottawa Police Pipe Band)



An excellent fullsized drum corps (New York Metro Pipe Band)

[Downunder Kilt]

Excellent photos and explantions OCR, thankyou for sharing your expertise on matters of piping and competition. Cheers