~ A Miscellany of RootGrafix Pages ~

Why haggis? Why not?

Scottish Festivals, Music Festivals, Sheep Festivals

Reports on:

• The Glasgow Lands Scottish Festival, 1998, 1999, 2000, 2002. 2003, 2004, 2005. (Massachusetts)
• The Round Hill Highland Games, 1999. (Connecticut)
• The Strawberry Park Bluegrass Festival, 2000. (Connecticut)
• The Bridgewater Fair, 2001. (Connecticut)
• The Cummington Sheep Festival, 2002. (Massachusetts)
• The Montpelier Sheep and Dog Trials, 2002. (Virginia)

Arranged chronologically earliest to latest attended. Contact me at thehaggispages @ Yahoo.com (close up the spaces). A revision of these pages is in the works!

Glasgow Lands Scottish Festival website My visit to the Fest, July 1998 Seven Nations Whisky Before Breakfast	The Glasgow Lands Scottish Festival is an annual event that used to occur in Blandford, Massachusetts in July, and is the subject of this set of pages. I've included my own 1998 report on the festival; more recent reports are visible if you scroll down. Several musical performers went on stage. Herein we present pages on two of these: Seven Nations, based in the southeast USA, and Whisky Before Breakfast, which is a New England band. Both bands bring bagpipes to their interpretations of Celtic Rock.
Round Hill Highland Games website My visit, July 1999	The Round Hill Highland Games is another annual event occuring in July, this one in Norwalk Connecticut, held on the Saturday closest to the Fourth. Again, I've gone and included my own report on the festival.
Glasgow Lands Scottish Festival website My visit, July 17, 1999	We return to the Glasgow Lands Scottish Festival, which has now moved its lands to Westfield, Mass., and which never has been held in Glasgow itself... My own report on the festival follows, with photos.
Strawberry Park campground website Various Notes June 2000 The Seldom Scene Lonesome River Band Dry Branch Fire Squad Jonathan Edwards	Strawberry Park is this really amazing campground, which hosts the occasional music festival or two alongside providing a variety of camping conveniences. I was only able to attend their Bluegrass Festival on Sunday, although it is a weekend-long affair. Thus, my report is based entirely on the events of June 4th, 2000. Performers I saw: The Seldom Scene. (The Rarely Herd and the Barely Smelt did not perform...) The Lonesome River Band, which were stunning. Jonathan Edwards.. He's not really bluegrass, but he hangs around the shanty with them. The Dry Branch Fire Squad. The weakest link of the four performances.
Glasgow Lands Scottish Festival website My visit, July 15, 2000 Music, Part I Music, Part II Closing Ceremonies	The Glasgow Lands Scottish Festival is getting to be quite the annual affair. Pages here include: Intro: Arrival, food, sheep and dogs, a Proposal, and thusforth. Music, Part I: Clandestine, Charlie Zahm. Music, Part II: Six Mile Bridge, Pioneer Valley Fiddlers. The Closing Ceremonies. Heavy on the bagpipes.
Bridgewater Fair My visit, August 2001	The Bridgewater Fair is an annual weekend occurence which happens in the dog days of August. It's a good, old time, New England country fair. This is the first time I appeared with a camera to record it. I need to re-scan the pictures larger.
Cummington Sheep Festival My visit, May 2002	The Cummington Sheep Festival is a Western Massachusetts highlight for those who raise sheep, as well as for those who spin wool. Herein lies my report, divided up into three internal pages, including my faves: llamas and goats.
The Glasgow Lands Scottish Festival My visit, July 2002	I missed 2001. BUT, I am BACK! Come, check out the details. Intro, Events, Iona (a band), Enter the Haggis (a band), and Random Bits. Five pages of rousing good times.
The Montpelier Sheep and Dog Trials My visit, October 2002	This occurs annually in Virginia, and the focus is more on the spinning than the rearing of sheep or other critters. And, there are the dog trials, too.

Other Items at this Web Site

Haggis is made of extraneous sheep parts, oatmeal, and a few seasonings, combined in such a way that the haggis itself is greater than the sum of its distinctly different parts.
It might be an acquired taste, but I seem to have acquired it as a child without too much effort.

Favorites (links and such).

The household of the Great Dark Horde (a branch of that medieval re-creation group, the Society for Creative Anachronism). A few pages here are currently available, and work is proceeding on more.

Coming Soon: Critters: Animals seen around this wild little Connecticut homestead.

An Item or Two Not at this Web Site

The Hunger Site: A daily "click" at this site helps feed the world's hungry; check out the details.

The Rainforest Site: A daily "click" at this site helps the Nature Conservancy buy up threatened rainforest acreage.

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