Queen Mary Scottish Festival

In 1934, the Queen Mary, built in Clydebank, Scotland, was launched. Since 1967, the ship has been docked in Long Beach. Today part of the Queen Mary is used as a hotel, and you can tour the inner workings of the engine rooms and see displays of the ocean liner's history. This past weekend the Queen Mary park was the site of "Star Trek: The Tour" and the 15th Annual Scottish Festival. Even without the clever title I'm sure you can figure out which one I went to.

We arrived in time to see the opening parade with the massed bands, and were standing directly opposite the reviewing stand. This is where the massed bands stopped, so it was quite loud. At the end of the parade and the welcome to the festival there was a firing demonstration by a reenactment group called Bydand Forever. The group represents a battalion of Gordon Highlanders from the 1880s. During their demonstration they fired their rifles, did bayonet drills, and shot their Gatling gun and little cannon. We spectators were forewarned that the artillery, relatively small though it was, would be quite loud, but I personally thought that it wouldn't be too bad, as long as I knew it was coming and knew it would be loud. This is what happened when I tried to take a picture as they first fired:
I can't say for certain what that picture actually is. I'm afraid I jerked back rather badly from the impact of the shots. I'd been forewarned, sure, but it was loud, much louder than I'd expected. Once again, I think I'm all cool and then I look dumb. You'd think I'd learn.

This festival was unique because of its location. The parade, some of the vendors, the piping and drumming competitions, and the sheepdog and throwing events were all on land outside the Queen Mary, while the majority of the vendors, the clan booths, the main stage, and the food vendors were onboard in the exhibition hall. Plus, as I mentioned, you can tour the ship yourself. Docked next to the Queen Mary is the Scorpion, a Russian submarine that you can tour, and there is a guided tour of ghosts and legends of the Queen Mary, too. I think being right by the water was probably quite nice for the athletes. It was good throwing weather, with only a little breeze and coolish but not cold. To me, the weight for height looks like possibly the easiest throw, as all you have to do is get up a little momentum and then swing that 56-pound weight up in the air. If the bar's at 11 feet and the athlete is six feet tall, then with one arm overhead that means about an eight foot reach, so the weight only has to go up another three feet. I guess the fact that the throwers make it look easy helps, too. The emcee compared the weight in this event to a five-gallon bottle of water, although considerably smaller and thus denser. If there were a way to do so without breaking it, I'd likely try to throw one of our water bottles.

I was a bit disappointed in the food that was offered. I got a sausage roll that I suspect would have been dry even if it hadn't been sitting out for a few hours, mashed potatoes, and peas and carrots (I like peas and carrots, okay?). And even with all the vendors there was nary a bottle of Irn Bru to be found. There was, however, a whiskey tasting and seminar. I did not attend, but through osmosis learned that it's pronounced Glenfiddick, not Glenfiddich like it's spelled, and that the 12- and 18-year-old single malts were pretty good. I also remembered that I don't much like the idea of being in a structure underwater, even if only 30 feet under.

Three pictures from the pipe band competition. We were all quite amused by the bass drummer with the pink hair. The piper on the right, from the University of California at Riverside pipe band, demonstrates what pleating to the stripe looks like. There are two ways of pleating the back of a kilt: to the sett, so that the pattern in the back looks like the one in the front, or to the stripe, so that the back just has a striped pattern horizontally instead of the full plaid pattern. The UCR kilts are clearly knife-pleated.

To me, the most interesting thing about this Scottish festival was its location. I'd never been to one near the water, much less to one partly held on a retired ocean liner. I think more could have been made of the Queen Mary's Scottish roots, perhaps by putting up a display up with the other historical bits. I would have liked to have seen pictures of people working on building the ship, information about if and how the construction helped local businesses, things of that nature. If you'd like more information in book form, including lots of diagrams and pictures and copies of menus, allow me to direct you to The Queen Mary: Her early years recalled by C.W.R. Winter.

If you're getting bored of me going on about Highland games, you're in luck, because the only upcoming one I'll be able to go to isn't until the end of June. The next installment may be an experiment involving chocolate, or it may be the J. Paul Getty Museum. And expect a Big Event at the end of March or beginning of April, for I have Plans.