OK, patience here... I'm putting this up on Thursday Jan 7th at 10:41 in the AM Pacific Time. It will take me a while to get a bunch of the information up here.

I'm going to focus on athletics, eh? .... seeing as this is the Athletics Forum!

However, as I've pointed out to a lot of athletes, it's worth our while to remember that the very first Highland Gathering after Proscription, was at Falkirk in 1781. The political climate had eased, the first Highland Societies and Caledonian Societies were forming, and to over-simplify....a bunch of lads who were shepherds and who played pipes, drove their sheep down to Falkirk, got together, and played pipes while a small crowd gathered. Thus, the first "modern" Highland Gathering began with the pipes, and to this day, pipes are....and rightfully should be, one of the centerpieces of the Games.

However, it wasn't long before the Athletes appeared, and there you go.