Purpose ** The Organizations ** The Music ** The Lion symbol and blue flag (Saltire) ** Who was St. Andrew? ** The Background Plaid[TARTAN!] ** Why links to Irish and Welsh sites? ** Scottish Games History ** The ‘real ‘Wha’s Like Us?
PurposeAs one of our goals is to highlight Celtic organizations in New York we would appreciate hearing from any these groups. Send information to
webchief@cnyscots.com.
The OrganizationsThe site lists three organizations, the Central New York Scottish Games, Inc. (who put on the Scottish games), the St. Andrews Society of Central New York and the Daughters of Scotia.
The Central NY Scottish Games, Inc. is a group of volunteers formed to organize and run the Central New York Scottish Games and Celtic Festival held each second Saturday in August. In addition to the highland games the organization holds and participates in various ethic cultural events including the Festival of Nations and last year’s Christmas tree decorating held at the zoo.
The St. Andrews’s Society of Central New York is a cultural and social organization whose purpose is to perpetuate Scottish traditions and culture and to dispense charitable and educational assistance to persons who are lineal descendants of Scots. One of their projects is to support highland dance in CNY and they sponsor an Outstanding CNY Dancer award at the Scottish games.
www.cnyscots.com/standrewThe Daughters of Scotia organization is one that was established and evolved as a social and protective organization for women similar to that of other immigrant groups which started in the last century. Many immigrant women sought social interaction with other women of the same ethnic background. There was also a frequent need to protect widows and families of Scottish immigrants which became part of the groups mission as well.
www.cnyscots.com/daughter
The MusicCurrently, the music playing in the background is the hymn Amazing Grace which is a favorite with Scots and a standard for pipe bands.
(This music may change from time to time)
You can hear other music (midi files) from Scotland, Ireland, Wales and the ‘Colonies (United States and Canada) at Ceolas celtic music archive.
The Lion symbol and blue flag (Saltire)The symbol of the lion in the yellow shield is called the Rampant Lion. This is on the flag and was the symbol of the ancient Scottish kings.
On the right side of the page is the blue colored Saltire (flag) which is the Scottish national flag. It shows the St. Andrew’s cross which was reportedly seen in the clouds (against a blue sky) by a Scottish king who perceived this as a divine sign for victory. The cross of St. Andrew along with that of Saint George of England and Saint Patrick of Ireland were later joined together in the Union Jack, the flag of Great Britain.
In addition to the Saltire, the Rampant Lion flag is traditionally flown at Scottish functions.
Who was St. Andrew?St. Andrew, an apostle of Christ, is the patron saint of Scotland. He was martyred by crucifixion and was put to death, at his request, on an ‘x’ shaped cross called the "Crux decussata", now known as the Saint Andrew’s Cross. According to 14th century historians, in later years when the Emperor Constantine wanted to move St. Andrew’s remains to Constantinople an angel appeared to the monk in charge and was told to take the bones "to the far land of the Picts". The remains were received in Kilrymont, Scotland now Saint Andrew. Later when the Picts were absorbed by the Scots St. Andrew became the patron saint.
The Background Plaid..[TARTAN!]The multiple color patterns one often sees on clothing are identified as ‘plaid’. However, to be politically correct, a Scot’s clothing is never referred to as plaid. The proper term is ‘tartan’. The various colors and patterns worn by Scots, on kilts and other clothing, represents a family group or ‘clan’. In earlier warring days these tartans helped distinguish friend from foe but are now worn more for family pride. Each of these colors and patterns are registered in Scotland as the official tartan for that family group. There is no real limitation on who can wear a tartan. If you like the color wear it! There can be registered tartans for non-Scottish groups, too. The United States Air Force has an official tartan and I think there is an official United States Bicentennial tartan.
The Logan/MacLennan Clan group, to which we have ties, uses the tartan you see on the page.
Why links to Irish and Welsh sites?The Scots are part of a larger group of peoples known as the Celts. The Celts, over the centuries, made their way from the continent to, primarily, the west coast of France and the islands of Great Britain. The CNY Scottish games and the cnyscots web site tries to share cultural information on many Celtic groups. The Irish and the Welsh are also Celts. Other probably less familiar Celtic groups can be found at link International Festival Interceltique and may be mentioned on other sites on our page.
As I earlier stated I would like to provide links to more Celtic groups in New York.
UpdatesAs a hobby, I update these pages as I find interesting sites or are asked by other sites to provide reciprocal links. So although it may not change regularly it does sometimes change. I must say you could spend many hours investigating all the sites and links you’ll find. Some of the linked sites are created by folks like myself just wanting to share their Celtic heritage. Some sites also have links to some of the ‘pop culture’ sites for the movies "Braveheart" and "Rob Roy" and "The Highlander".
I’ll probably be making a few changes before your publication as I found couple of interesting sites when changes as I learn more how to do it (rather than ‘borrowing’ from other sites).
History of the CNY Scottish Games and Celtic FestivalThe games have been held in central New York since 1935. The games were first held in Auburn at Owasco Lake Park and were organized by the Clan Douglas. With the onset of World War II the games were forced into a void and were revived about 1947 when the Clan Douglas renewed their efforts and shifted the games to Liverpool at Griffith Field. Up to the late 1980’s it was run by the Syracuse Pipe Band.
After a hiatus of two years in the late 1980’s the Central New York Scottish Games, Inc. was formed by volunteers of various Celtic backgrounds from many CNY communities. The games were moved to Long Branch Park in Liverpool, NY where the current group has hosted them since 1991.
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