Light posting - London earlier in the week and now we are away to the Venice of the North - no, not Inverness. Full report - and photos - next week.
Skye Gathering Dances Over to Russia
The Skye Ball dates back to 1877, when the chiefs of the Macdonald and MacLeod clans decided to establish a Highland Games each summer which would rival those in Inverness and Oban. The Skye Gathering Ball took place on the night before the games, but some years ago they became separate events. This year, after a chance discussion with the secretary of the Caledonian Society of St Petersburg in Russia, the ball is taking place not on Skye but amid the splendour of the Shuvalov Palace, once a home of the Tsar of Russia. Over two hundred people are travelling by chartered aircraft from Scotland to St Petersburg to take part in the event on 2 December. The group will include three clan chiefs who will attend a reception, the ball and a performance of the Hermitage ballet on consecutive days.
Figures St Petersburg gets a Caledonian Society to tempt the MacDonald and McLeod Cheiftains over to throw a ball with two hundred or so of their closest chartered friends, while we here in the Bay Area only ever merit a Highland Games with a couple cheesy tea-towel venders, a caber-toss, and the Orange Band, for whatever reason. (Never mind that it takes place in *Campbell*!)
Posted by: ninme | December 01, 2005 at 02:40 AM