Celtic Moment

Bundanoon Stones the Stones of Manhood M odelled on the Maglashen Stones from Scotland they consist of a set of five round stones ranging from 100 kgs to 165 kgs in weight. Only five of the stones are used at any one time with the current competition set comprising the 115kgs, 120kgs,…

Originally posted 2011-03-29 14:50:46.

Tossing the Caber: “Desire for strength is greatest where manliness is strongest” “When you have the caber balanced in the cup of your hand, a little dancing around can help you keep yourself in control, but the best advice there is if you feel you are losing it is ‘get out from under it!’” From an instruction book Surely the quintessential event at any Highland Games is the tossing of the caber. It has been written about since the 16th Century, yet most people today see it as a bit eccentric, if not quite a mad thing to attempt. It looks difficult and it is. What are its origins? According to David Webster in his book Scottish Highland Games, the most probable is that it was devised by Scottish woodsmen in their leisure time and maybe came from the practice of throwing tree trucks into the river for easy transport. An old saying tells us that the “Desire for strength is greatest where manliness is strongest” so it is more than likely that contests involving strength and skill were popular with these brawny lads. With logs readily available, caber tossing would be easy to arrange and would appeal to their taste in sport. So foresters most likely brought the sport to the games. Another theory lays the origin in a military discipline to breach fortifications and barriers — yes Scotland is a harsh country requiring hard men! The dimensions of the caber (or cabar in Gaelic) can vary but the norm is 18ft (5.3m) long and weighs over 150lbs (68kg). Contrary to popular belief …

Bundanoon is Brigadoon 33rd Annual Gathering 17 April 2010 Street Parade: 9:30 am Closing Ceremony : 4:30 pm Events Street Parade: 25 Marching Pipe Bands, Clan Societies & Childrens Decorated Floats At the Oval Massed Pipes & Drums, Highland Dancing,  Scottish Country Dancing, Traditional Games and Not so Traditional Games for all ages, Solo Fiddler, Southern Highlands Kennel & Obedience Club, The Tartan Warriors, lifting the Bundanoon Stones of Manhood. Swordplay School of Theatrical Fencing and Stage Combat Highlander Celtic Rock Band Australia 130 Specialty, Crafts & Souvenirs & Food Stalls, even Haggis 30 Clan Information Tents to trace your heritage. Admission: Adults $18, Child $5, Family $40 (2 adults + 2 children) Concession $15(Only for holders of Age Pension Card which must be produced on request) •Contacts: Phone: 61 2 4883 7471 • : Email; brigadoon@highlandsnsw.com.au, • •Website: www.highlandsnsw.com.au/brigadoon • •Official Brigadoon Ceilidh (Scottish Knees-up) Bookings Phone 61 2 4883 6033 • •Accommodation Booking and Pre-Purchase Ticketing Service Phone: – 1300 657 559 • •ON-LINE TICKET BOOKING NOW AVAILABLE AT OUR WEB SITE BUY ON-LINE AND SAVE TIME • •Federal City Express Train from Canberra. Bookings on 02 62842790 Scotland with a wee bit of Aussie Flavour MUSIC by HIGHLANDERS Celtic Rock Band Australia

“Bundanoon is Brigadoon” 2nd April 2011 34th Annual Gathering Street Parade: 9:30 am Closing Ceremony : 4:30 pm Events Street Parade: 25 Marching Pipe Bands, Clan Societies & Children’s Decorated Floats At the Oval  Massed Pipes & Drums,  Highland Dancing,  Scottish Country Dancing,  Traditional Games and Not so Traditional Games for all ages,  Solo Fiddler,  Southern Highlands Kennel & Obedience Club,  The Tartan Warriors, lifting the Bundanoon Stones of Manhood.  Swordplay School of Theatrical Fencing and Stage Combat  Highlander Celtic Rock Band Australia  The Wollongong Conservatorium Flute Ensemble  92nd Highlanders  130 Specialty, Crafts & Souvenirs & Food Stalls, even “Haggis”  30 Clan Information Tents to trace your heritage. Admission: Adults $18, Child $5, Family $40 (2 adults + 2 children) Concession $15(Only for holders of Age Pension Card which must be produced on request) • Contacts: Phone: 02 4883 7471 • : Email; brigadoon@highlandsnsw.com.au, • • Website: www.highlandsnsw.com.au/brigadoon • • Official “Brigadoon” Ceilidh (Scottish Knees-up) Bookings Phone 02 4883 6033 • • Accommodation Booking and Pre-Purchase Ticketing Service Phone: – 1300 657 559 • • ON-LINE TICKET BOOKING NOW AVAILABLE AT OUR WEB SITE • Heritage Express, departs Central Station Bookings on 02 93791110. • Federal City Express Train from Canberra. Bookings on 02 62842790 Scotland with a “wee” bit of “Aussie Flavour”

Swordplay School of Theatrical Fencing and Stage Combat began with the blessing of Rolland Von Zopf. As his student for many years training both competition and theatrical fencing, my last big competition event was the 2000 Olympic games. However I was always drawn towards theatrical fencing. I loved the old movies, swords flashing and swashbuckling heroes. My own background is a long history of martial arts which includes Judo , Tae Kwon Do , European Weapons, Japanese Sword and Korean Sword achieving black belt in different disciplines. Many years of training in different styles of fighting have prepared me for the understanding of how weapons move and together with my drama teaching background combine nicely to be able to teach stage combat. Other training has been added to the mix, including travelling to Italy with my daughter Kathleen and together training under 5 international fight directors along with combatants from around the world in an historic castle and grounds. Directing fight sequences, action scenes, all sorts of weapons to work with and creating choreography for them. That was an exciting experience that was also life changing in my knowledge of fight directing. Kathleen and I also had the opportunity to perform fight sequences we had prepared and became ranked in the British Academy of Dramatic Combat. We received gold rank for our Case of Rapier fight , silver rank for a Hutton Sabre fight and Kathleen received gold rank for a knife and cloak fight

Scottish Dancing When organised Highland Games were instituted over 100 years ago, with caber-tossing, hammer-throwing and piping, the dancing contests, too, were an all male event. Nobody it seems had ever considered that girls could dance. That is until a young woman called Jenny Douglas entered a competition and was accepted. By 1900 that first girlish drop had become a substantial trickle and then a flood so that today the position is completely reversed with the girls outnumbering the boys by roughly 100 to 1. There are two main types of Scottish dancing Country Dancing and Highland Dancing. Scottish Country Dancing is entirely different from Highland Dancing.

Originally posted 2010-11-27 15:25:08.

NAB Tartan Warriors • Bundanoon Stones: The Stones of Manhood proudly sponsored by The National Australia Bank This year 2010 the Annual Scottish Highland Gathering will see our past Brigadoon (Bundanoon) champion, Derek Boyer (195cm and 140kgs) returning to challenge present and past champions in the amazing feat of the Lifting of the Stones of Manhood The Stones of Manhood are modelled on the Maglashen Stones from Scotland…consisting of a set of five round stones raging from 90kgs to 165kgs. . (See following page for the history of the Lifting of the Stones) Derek held our title for five years, taking a break from competition to concentrate on other strong-man events, as well as films. He has been persuaded by David Huxley to return to Brigadoon on April 17 to give us a real Battle of Champions! Defending the current title will be Aaron Monks (185cm and 110kgs) who won for the first time in 2009 against Craig Reid (185cm and 127kgs). Craig had held the title for three consecutive years. Included in the team will also be Luke Reynolds (200cm and 145kgs), a young man with serious potential for upsetting these Champions! 2010 is all about the Challenge of the Champions, so be there and witness this gigantic struggle of strength, speed and agility … culminating in the crowing of the NAB Champion of the Bundanoon Stones. BUNDANOON STONES OF MANHOOD Modeled on the Maglashen Stones from Scotland they consist of a set of five round stones ranging from 90 kgs to 165 kgs in …

42nd Royal Highland Regiment 1815 (Australia) Inc. ABN 96 515 982 714 E-Mail: solomon.s@bigpond.com Website www.rhra.com.au The 42nd RHRA are coming to Bundanoon Who is the 42RHRA? Or is that What is the 42RHRA? The 42nd is better known as the Black Watch. This title comes from the dark colours that make up the pattern of the kilt. Many people are very familiar with this sett and it is called the Government Sett. The 42nd Royal Highland Regiment (1815) Australia Inc. is a fully incorporated association of living history enthusiasts that actively re-enact all aspects of the Georgian\Napoleonic Period (1800-1815). We are part of the Worldwide Highland Brigade (a living history organisation with links into Germany, the United Kingdom, Italy and the United States). The association also has reciprocal membership arrangements with the European Napoleonic Society (ENS) and Napoleonic Association (NA) of the UK. In Australia, the 42RHRA has members in Queensland, New South Wales, Victoria, South Australia and Western Australia. The 42RHRA research and strive to show how men and women lived, worked and survived in the early 19th century. Members learn such thing as; how to load and fire a Brown Bess flintlock musket; how to light a fire without modern matches and to perform period foot drill. Find out how people dressed and what was happening the English Empire in during the period of His Majesty King George III. A Brief History of the 42nd Royal Highland Regiment The Black Watch …

The inaugural Bundanoon Highland Gathering (Bundanoon is Brigadoon) took place on 21 October 1978 running in conjunction with the Bundanoon Boronia Festival. Brigadoons principal aim is to raise funds for local charities and volunteer groups and bring tourism to Bundanoon in particular and the Southern Highlands in general thereby benefiting local businesses, guesthouses and hotels. This idea has continued to the present day and makes it one of the most successful events staged in NSW. From their humble beginnings of 6 Pipe Bands and around 100 spectators Brigadoon has emerged as the Premier Scottish gathering in Australia Brigadoon is a not for profit registered charity which after taking into consideration their costs and appropriating a small management budget for the coming year readily distributes the surplus profits from the day to charities and volunteer groups that assist in the administration of the gathering Bundanoon is a comfortable 2 hours drive from Sydney, 1.5 hours from Canberra and the South Coast, which makes it the ideal location for travellers who just want to pop in for the day or for others who wish to stay and enjoy Brigadoon and the hospitality and culture of the Southern Highlands Everyone is made most welcome at the gathering and encouraged to participate in the Traditional and not so traditional games. The committee recognises this as a The Ideal Family Day Outing and encourages mass participation by spectators and especially the children …