The San Antonio Scottish Games & Festival in Helotes in April welcomed some authentic Scottish clansmen and clan leaders on a mission to boost membership in Scottish societies.
The Scottish games in Helotes every year feature plenty of brawn and rugged competitions like tossing cabers. One person tosses a caber or what looks like a giant telephone pole. The goal is to throw the caber end over end and have it land in a 12 o'clock position away from the thrower.
And there are tug-of-war competitions that pit opposing clans against one another at opposite ends of a sturdy rope. Each side digs in their heels and tries to pull the other side across a line to win.
But a new attraction during this year's Scottish games was the appearance of members of four past warring clans who traveled here all the way from Scotland's eastern Lomond region.
Their visit is part of what's called the Loch Lomond initiative, which sees the clans' age-old rivalries moved from the battlefield to the game field.
Michael Lloyd-Stern, the executive director of the Clan Colquhoun Society, came up with the initiative. He said it is an effort to entice younger people with Scottish backgrounds to join the fun events and to join their respective clan societies.
"The rivalry is still there between the clans, and we're just turning that rivalry into fun," he said.
Lloyd-Stern said clan societies today need younger members to keep Scottish traditions alive.
"Having looked at all the clans, particularly here in the United States, the membership, the average age was about 70 years old. And so, I thought, 'what can we do to get the younger people interested in the clan and to do it in a way whereby it's interesting? They'll be compelled to find out more and join the society."
One of the clan chieftains that traveled from Scotland to Helotes was Sir Malcolm Colquhoun, pronounced "ka' HOON."
He's a dapper-looking man in a kilt who explained why it warmed his heart to see the healthy turnout of people young and old at the Scottish games here.
"You don't see this really in Scotland, nearly so much now. Very sadly, I mean, the traditions and the history and everything, it's just being lost. And over here in the United States in particular, and also I imagine, in Canada and possibly Australia and places like that, you still find a lot of Scottish people still very passionate about holding onto their heritage."
Jenni May Dennis, spokeswoman for the San Antonio Scottish Games and Festival, was happy to welcome the clansmen and clan leaders to Helotes and anyone who wants to visit the games, Scottish or not.
"Our visitors come from all over the place just to learn more, have a good time. The family tents that are set up called clan tents. That's where the families are representing their lineage," she said.
While in San Antonio, the Clan Colquhoun International Society also had other fun with its "Kilts and Cowboy Boots" event at a downtown River Walk hotel.
It included whisky tasting from four regions of Scotland, the Bonniest Knees Competition — a sort of beauty contest for wrinkly kneecaps just below the kilt line — and a Scottish history challenge called "How Scottish or Nottish Are You?"
All of the events were designed to attract younger adults with ties to the clan into its society.
There are 25 million Scottish-Americans, according to the society. Some estimates place the number of Scottish-Texans at nearly half a million or more. Scots died in the Battle of the Alamo, and Scottish stonecutters built the State Capitol in Austin.
The message to young adults of Scottish descent everywhere is to do some family tree research, identify your clan, and join its society. It just might be fun.
