Albannach

Posted on by Thor

I heard a commotion at the other end of the grounds and I headed that way. I grabbed a vanilla ice cream cone since there was no line. The gas powered churn sputtered and the belts shook on the machine making ice cream the old fashioned way. I cut through crowds at the craft vending tents and I finally stood at the top of a large bowl shaped hill. Hundreds and hundreds of people lounged on the hill, some in camping chairs and others seated in the grass. The Music tent was set up at the base of the hill and as Albannach played, children danced.

I stood eating my cone and scanned for a spot I could sketch from. I walked behind the tent where little boys were playing with their dull toy arrows. A woman in a Scottish dress walked back, her breasts hoisted high with a corset. I found a spot right next to the speakers where I leaned back and sketched. Albannach’s music is energetic and sparking full of life. My lines danced quickly full of the music’s energy and drive. Drum sticks twirled and moved with such speed that they were just a blur. There was something primal and raw about the performance. People on the hillside started to dance. Children spun in front of the stage until they became dizzy and fell. A drummer shouted out, “I’m thirsty!” When a woman walked down the hill with a cold pint of beer, the audience applauded.

I was buzzing when the performance was over. I knew that experience could not be topped so I decided to hike back to my truck to get home. I bumped into Sarah Purcer who is now engaged to Marco Bojorquez III. Her step daughter who is maybe 10 years old shook my hand. It was obvious they were having a great family day out. Time to get home.

Her Majesty’s (Scottish) Forces

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I went to the Scottish Highland Games up in Winter Springs. Terry didn’t want to go, so this was a solo mission. The games were more crowded than ever this year. Police waved my truck along until I was just about in the next town over. I parked behind a MacDonald’s and hiked the half mile or so to the entrance. A blood donation truck was offering a pint of beer for a pint of blood.

The air was filled with the sound of bag pipes. I ran into Chad Bruce and Dana VanZandt who were perched on a hill top overlooking a medieval Scottish encampment. Chad was smoking a pipe which he said, indicated that they were upwind of the cow dung and downwind from the smell of the food vendors. He blew a puff of smoke that drifted behind them. I walked to the food vendors since I was starving, but the lines were too long.

Rather than watch the caber toss or sheep throw, I immediately went to the tent village full of family clans. There was no Thor Clan. I’m pretty sure there was some Scottish blood on my mother’s side of the family. Even if there wasn’t, I figured I’m Scottish enough for the day. What caught my eye was the World War II weapons on display with His Majesty’s (Scottish) Forces in Florida. The sergeant standing in front of the table became curious about my sketch and he informed me that he was an artist himself. It was a difficult spot to sketch since people kept stopping right in front of me to have long chats. The Reenacting Unit was representing the 51st (Highland) Division and the 5th (Scottish) Parachute Regiment.

Highland Games

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The Scottish Highland Games are always held the third weekend in January at Winter Springs. When I arrived, the parking both were packed. I pulled my SUV up over a curb and parked next to some woods. When I went to the press tent and asked for my pass, the man asked, “Are you that artist that sketches?” I thought to myself, don’t most artists sketch? But I said, “Yes?” He related that he follows the blog and he always wanted to meet me. We chatted for a while. I entered the event site feeling golden. Of course the first thing you hear upon entering the Highland Games is bagpipes. Bagpipers perform and compete for coveted prizes. I followed my ears and found a group of bagpipers standing in a circle rehearsing.

I wandered over to the playing fields which were surrounded by construction site orange mesh fencing. Women were throwing heavy metal weights. There really wasn’t much competition for Kate Burton, who threw that thing twice as far as any other woman on the field. Later at the caber toss it was the same story. A caber is a telephone pole sized log which is supposed to be tossed end over end. The competitor that tosses the caber closest to 12 o’clock wins. When it was Kate’s turns the announcer said, “Kate Burton is on the caber!” There was laughter from the crowd. I didn’t understand why at first. A man helped her get the caber up into position, though I think she could have done it herself. She stood up and took a step back to catch her balance. She ran forward and thrust her arms in the air achieving an 11 o’clock toss on her first try. The crowd went wild. No other woman was able to up end the caber that day.

The men’s caber toss competition was surprising in that the larger men were not the best caber tossers. Having a thick chest, legs as thick as barrels and thick beefy arms didn’t matter. It must all be about technique because the smallest man on the field, perhaps 5 foot tall and of medium build, was the clear champion.I sipped a delicious apricot ale as I sketched.

On another field, Scottish Sheep Dogs were demonstrating how to herd sheep. Four sheep were on the field and the dogs would circle around them to bring them back to the herder. Using just a series of whistle commands the dog could even get the sheep to follow an intricate course maze. It was an impressive sight. I ended the day listening to a Scottish Band called Albannach. Their high energy music had a large crowd of people dancing in front of the stage as the sun set and golden orange light filtered up to the treetops.

Scotish Highland Games – Caber Toss

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Now this is a manly sport! Heavy men in kilts competed to see who could toss this heavy pole end over end. A perfect score is achieved if the end of the pole the handler is throwing ends up furthest away from the thrower at 12:00 on the hands of a clock. For the duration of this sketch, not a single contestant managed to toss this caber end over end. There were a few agonizingly close attempts, but the fact remains that no one ever flipped the caber. I missed the finer points of judging but the winner would have been the man who got his pole to face closest to 12:00. A judge always follows closely behind the thrower and once, a contestant was off balance and the huge log almost clobbered the judge. His reflexes saved him. Another contestant lost control and somehow he found himself straddling the end of the caber as it hit the ground and then it bounced up and hit him between the legs. There were a number of jokes told for the rest of the afternoon in high squeaky voices.
After the days events were over, we were allowed to walk on the field and test out some of the equipment. I could barely lift the end of the caber off the ground. There is no way I would be able to lift the darn thing and throw it.

Highland Cattle

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At the Scottish Highland Games I noticed some people wandering around with these placid quiet cattle on a tether. I didn’t get too close since the horns looked very sharp. At the crest of a hill beneath a huge Oak tree, I found this small enclosure with several adults and quite a few calfs. Even though there was plenty of hay to eat in the enclosure the cattle would always approach anyone who held a handfull of hay for them to eat. They kept sticking their wet noses through the bars near me and looking at me with their sad eyes. I guess they thought I had some tender morsel hidden in my sketch pad. Karen Cali, a fellow urban sketcher, was also at the Highland Games and when I told her I had sketched the cattle, she said, “They are hairy and horny just like most men I have known.”
Later near the games fields, I was walking over to the food booths, one of which featured a picture of one of these cattle, and the sign said this was the finest, most tender beef you would ever eat. They were selling Highland Beef burgers, but I didn’t have the heart to try one. As I got closer to the burger stand, I almost stepped in a large pile of dung. I wondered aloud, “They must have been bringing over one of the cattle on a tether and he read the sign and realized his fate.”

The Scottish Highland Games – Beer Tent

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Wandering around the Scottish Highland Games, I soon discovered the place that had the most activity. This was the center of the hive where the hordes gathered to collect their nectar. Beer was on tap in a large trailer and the three men who were filling pitchers and cups could barely keep up with the demand. Whenever a keg would run dry, a cry would rise up from the crowd.
Doing this sketch was a real challenge. I found a small spot to place my chair and then leaned back against the ropes that support the tent. With any gust of wind, my backrest would lurch just as if a child was sitting behind me in a movie theater and kicking my chair. I was in front of the spot where people could pick up refills and, more often than not, drunk patrons would trip over my feet as they made their way back to get more brew.
The girl in the pink shirt would wave to the people in line trying to get them to come to her table. Either people didn’t see her or they thought she was waving to a friend because very few people got the hint that she had beer to offer. The scene was constant and never ending chaos. I discovered a much quieter beer tent on the opposite side of the event and ordered a peach and apricot beer that was sweet and delicious. The Dundin Brewery did a fine job of keeping the crowd satiated, inebriated, and happy.

Highland Games – Bagpipers

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When I first entered the Scottish Games, I was immediately greeted with the sounds of this bagpipe and drum corps band. The leader with the baton, would stand perfectly still until the song was about to end, then he would raise the baton over his head and wave it gently for a few beats before slamming it to the ground ending the performance. I knew my time was limited, so I started sketching immediately. The group performed about 3 songs before they wrapped things up and disbanded. I was far from finished so I entered the park area following my ears, and headed straight to the Piping Station. Here bag pipers were all standing around rehearsing. I used these individuals to add details to my sketch which had already been blocked in from the first groups performance. As I sketched, a bagpiper approached ma and asked “Excuse me sir, you’re not a Steward Check are you?” I of course replied “No” since I didn’t know what a Steward Check was. Looking around I finally realized that there were Stewards seated in small tented areas who were judging individual bagpiper’s performances. The performer would play his pipes marching back and forth in front of the Steward. The pipers who were waiting would talk nervously to each other anticipating their turn. I added the background from the bagpipe station rather then the parking lot where I first saw this group. There were hundreds of bagpipers at the Highland Games. You could here them from where ever you were all day long.

Scottish Highland Games

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If you have never been to the Scottish Highland Games, you really should go. They take place at Central Winds Park at (1000 East SR 434 in Winter Springs). The event’ is still going on today (Sunday, January 17) from 9AM to 4:30PM with a concert following at 6PM. I had an absolute blast sketching the events all day long on the first day of the festivities. This sketch is of the Kingdom of York which is an encampment which demonstrates the art of blacksmithing. It threatened to rain several times but the weather held. The Kingdom of York lists their core values as: Fairness, Integrity, Loyalty, and Respect. One of the blacksmiths, when he saw the sketch, was very pleased that I had trimmed at least ten pounds off of his figure. I discovered the artisan working the bellows is named Jack and I had sketched him and his wife Christina before. They were the couple I chose to sketch who were helping paint over hate at the Center on Mills Avenue.

In the background of this sketch you can see the sheaf toss in progress. I never got close enough to see the competitors up close but now I realize that they use a pitchfork to hurl the bales over the pole. The bar is slowly raised after each round and it becomes increasingly difficult to get the sheep over the pole. The crowd would scream with delight whenever the sheaf went over.