Outlandering

Oh, have I enjoyed the last three days:  I binged on all the available episodes of "Outlander," a STARZ series based on the fantasy/romance/time-travel novels by Diana Gabaldon set in post-WWII England and the rough Scottish Highlands of the mid-18th century.

While bodice rippers are usually not my preferred genre (for fiction, I love a history mystery), I do like bodices and was first drawn to the show because of its costumes, delectable heavy, woolen, tartan get ups, with lots of leather and knitware.  The main female character, Claire, even had a stomacher!  (But, wait, no separate pockets??)  In fact, the show had me at the scene where Claire is dressed by Mrs. Fitz, all the layers added in the correct order (though, again, no detached pockets??)  The clothes aren't that far from what colonial Americans wore, and mainly differ from my own get up in richness and historicity (I don't have wool or linen, only cotton.)  Though, fie on the producers--there's just no way you could rip sassenach Outlander, get all of the outfits at the drop of a hat, unworn and fitting perfectly?  Just no way.   Regardless, I love watching for her very outfits, and those around her--I think I even like the workaday woolens better than the prettier gowns, though the wedding dress was beautiful.  Makes me ready to add some embroidery to something . . . and some plaid!  And I want to get a bum roll for my skirts!    I just recently found a whole blog by the costume designer and can't wait to read it!

open a bodice that way, corset and all.  No way.  But that's Hollywood for you.
The other fantasy part:  clothes were a huge expense; people had few sets, sometimes only two or three. Where does Claire, the outsider

(Oh, yes, and if you are someone who likes men in kilts, well, there's lots of that.)

(On a side note, one of Mama's coworkers, who notices it as one weakness in many action or adventure films, would ask, where do they get the shampoo out there in the Highlands?  It's true--they always have lovely, clean hair!)

The setting--amid Scotland's prettiest scenery--was also enticing. Those castles, those stones, those mountains, those streams.   I can quite imagine being there in that untouched landscape . . . more than imagine, plan--because now I want to add Inverness to our dream plans to visit Scotland next June!!   (Ideal itinerary right now includes London, Winchester, a stop off to the Pudding Club at Mickleton wherever that is, York and environs, Edinburgh, and now Inverness!)

I've even found a blog about foods inspired by the show, Outlander Kitchen.  I might have to try my hand at bannocks.  And I'll bake them while listening to the soundtrack, plus other music by Julie Fowlis, Tartanic, MacTalla M'or (a local bagpipe rockband), and general bagpipe music.

Of course, I'm not new to Hibernophilia, having learned that my own ancestors are from Scotland and were (probably) at the court of Mary, Queen of Scots (rumor has it were related to someone she ordered beheaded.)  We go to the Highland games here, took a Gaelic lesson, bake shortbread, watch caber tosses, like bagpipe music, enjoy the Sailor's hornpipe--mercy, Mama has even eaten haggis.  And we all like the movie Brave!  So, casual, recreational fans of things Scottish.

So, yep, I'm enjoying "Outlander."

Summer Fun: Ceud Mile Fàilte!

We crossed off "go to a cultural festival" from our list today as we attended the local Scottish Games, for the third time (see 2009 and 2012.) And this was the best weather yet!!  Not sweltering and sauna like, but dry and breezy, which was actually the determining factor in our getting up to go this morning.   All the vendors and participants commented on the great weather.

Like years past, one of the highlights was the food:  fish and chips, Scotch eggs, Haggis puff, steak and ale pie, shortbread, and frozen lemonade.  Alas, no delicious Empire biscuits, but there were some really good Welsh teacakes, if you don't mind the cultural cross-over.

Similarly, we enjoyed hearing all the bagpipes and watching some of the dance competitions, this year seeing the Sailor's Hornpipe dance, which is performed in sailor suits and includes movements mimicking rope pulling, swaying on deck, and other sailorly things (apparently, some places say only sailors can perform it!  And it dates back to the 16the century; even Captain Cook encouraged the dancing of it for exercise.)

We missed the caber toss, but I did take a Gaelic lesson!  From a man who majored it in at a Scottish university.  Talk about a challenging language.  Verbs are in the beginning of sentences, nouns have gender, there is no simple "yes" or "no", pronunciations are hard or soft based on dipthongs and the addition of an "h" changes everything, and prepositions conjugate!  I won't repeat the lesson here, as I barely followed it (spoken languages aren't my forte.)  But I did learn that "sláinte," or "cheers" is pronounced slanch-e.  It was fun, but I don't think I'll be pursuing it.

Sis visited all the clan tents, earning a little treat, while Bud most enjoyed buying pickled onions and Jelly Babies from the vendors.  I picked up Maw Broon's Afternoon Tea Book, which seems to have interesting commentary and a style that resembles a scrapbook.  I think Maw Broon is a cartoon character (ah yes, since 1936, apparently.)

On the grounds of an old estate, which partly reminded of us of our hotel in Winchester (but smaller)

I love a pipe band.

Trying hads at a harp

In the magic tree

We finished the day listening to Mac'Talla Mor while Sis climbed around inside the wonderful magical old tree with numerous trunk offshoots undulating around the ground, all enclosed by the voluminous leafy branches.  You could almost believe you'd be transported to Brigadoon through there!

The Family Tree

Gommie has long been very interested in our family history, gathering family photos and bits of lore, though leaving much of the archival work of birth, death, and marriage dates to my Uncle T and others.  Years ago, she gave me a binder full of her evidence as well as a chart of our family members.  I studied it then, mainly intrigued by the Confederate ancestor who reportedly fired the first shots at the battle of Vicksburg (and his son who penned his own memoirs as The Littlest Rebel), the Texas blockade runner during the Civil War, and such.  My Aunt Sis, on my dad's side, had always said we were Welsh and Scottish, but I only just found the proof in Gommie's notebook--but we're not Welsh (that it records), we're Irish!  My paternal grandmother has an ancestor, Alexander Mebane, who lived in Ireland from 1716 to 1793; eventually my Irish ancestors made it to Tennessee and then Louisiana.  I never knew we were a little bit Irish!  Now I'm doubly excited about St. Patrick's Day and soda bread, colcannon, and the like.  Turn on Riverdance!

My paternal grandfather's mother descended from Scottish stock, which I've known for a few years and we've celebrated at Scottish festivals and watching Brave.  Her relative, John Hay, was in Scotland, but in 1644 traveled to Virginia.  Family lore has long said we were related to a man executed for the murder of Mary, Queen of Scots's husband, Lord Darnley.  Lo! and behold, a John Hay was tried and executed with others for the plot.  A hundred or so years earlier than my ancestor traveled to the colonies.  Is our John Hay a descendant of the executed man?  I'm still looking into that as best I can.  But until I prove otherwise, I'm going to say yes!  I mean, who can pass up an ancestor who worked for Mary, Queen of Scots, and once was sent as an emissary to Queen Elizabeth I?  Coincidentally (and if I understand this correctly), before he was executed, John Hay was commendator (lay abbot) of Balmerino, a Cistercian monastery--and his descendant, my aunt's cousin, is even now a Trappist monk in France!

One last story has also recently come to us.  My maternal grandfather had a best friend with whom he fought side-by-side in WWII (through North Africa, up through Italy, and into Germany, I believe), Tom Brady, after whom my uncle was named.  Apparently, Tom Brady's descendants recently told us that my grandfather's unit is the one that captured and briefly held young Nazi Joseph Ratzinger, who was later released on the understanding that he had been forced to join.  Of course, that young man eventually became the current Pope Benedict XVI.

Two big mysteries remain:  are we Welsh?  and who are the ancestors of my paternal grandfather, about whose father (who abandoned his first wife and numerous kids to start a second family in the same town, leaving his never-divorced wife to start a boarding house in the early 20th century) we know absolutely nothing.

Thanks, Gommie, for keeping the family history!