2014; What We Know. An End (we hope) to Press Speculation

Scotsman celebrate the news that the Scotland on Sunday article was mostly 'pish'

If ever an article had to start with the word 'right' then this is it.....

Right!

Finally we have some confirmed news that should settle those of a nervous disposition. Firstly lets address the issue of the information void that was created after the 'silent convention' we experienced tuning into Stone Mountain. The reason we have not had a transcript of the discussion yet is down to the fact that Frank Wherret, secretary to the Standing Council of Scottish Chiefs is still typing them up. No Watergate style cover up, just down to old school typing! We expect these full details very soon!

This afternoon I had a fairly long chat on the phone with Sir Malcolm MacGregor from SCSC and he has confirmed as we all suspected that the Scotsman/Scotland on Sunday were putting 2 and 2 together to make 6 in their claims that the plans for clan events in 2014 had been canned. The only event that has gone is Stirling Council's event that had been scheduled for the 11th-13th July. As we announced well over a week ago the revised plan for a clan village and clan inclusion in the Bannockburn celebrations are still happening. These will form part of a wider series of clan events that will run over 2014 in locations important to the respective clans.

Also we want to put to bed once and for all a rumor that started flying round that a gathering would be moved to 2015. This is totally untrue, what actually happened was that during a discussion on potential event funding from the private sector in the USA it was pointed out that for this to happen the timescale was already too tight and if this type of funding was being sought then the event would need to have been scheduled for 2015. Unfortunately a few folk mis heard this and then it was picked up by others keen to deflect the obvious political aspect of the 2014 date. please ignore anything else you hear about 2015 nothing will happen then (apart from the setting for Back to the Future Part II).

Malcolm also confirmed that a second clan convention would be taking place. The specific date and location are being worked on as is the scale. Some suggestions are that this will be a much larger and inclusive event maybe relocated to Perth where there is a suitable venue.

The other exciting news is that as part of the wider schedule Glamis Castle are very keen to host a multi clan event. Glamis are experts in this type of thing and just recently were able to comfortably welcome 25,000 visitors to the castle grounds. Also they can be flexible about dates so it may be possible to bring this in close enough to the Bannockburn 700 weekend to allow visitors to attend both.

Malcolm has given me a copy of a statement that he had prepared for clan leaders. Nothing has changed from the details set out below and we can now take this as a basis for what will be coming in 2014.

It should also pointed out that all of this can take place without the interference....err I mean assistance of Stirling Council. We have with the assistance of NTS and SCSC taken back the clan events. Lets just start deciding what to wear.....

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Malcolm MacGregor's Statement:

The Plans are as follows:

Part 1 is for the National Trust reenactment of the battle of Bannockburn on 28,29,30 June 2014 to be a signature event in 2014. An extra day has been added to accommodate the clans. In addition to the re-enactment there will be a distinctive, good quality clan village at the site. The National Trust will run all of this and have done reenactments before at Bannockburn so there is a high degree of confidence in this event. There is also the new visitor centre which will employ state of the art 3-D technology to interpret the battle.

Part 2 is for greater emphasis to be given to regional clan type events such as highland games in which there might be clan participation in 2014. An example is the Aboyne Games in which some 8 clans participate. Reference has also been made to SW Scotland and the Inverness area.

Somewhat fortuitously, Glamis Castle is planning a gathering type event in July 2014. I have met with the management there and things are looking very good - providing they get the funding. This event will be of high quality in a fantastic location.

The overall concept behind part 2 is to give greater prominence to the regions, which should go down well with some members of the SCSC and other organisations. In my view it is an interesting concept and one that might bode well for the future. We have been doing some detailed work on the contribution of the clans to local economies. This still has to be worked up into a formal paper but there is very strong evidence that clans make significant contributions to specific localities in various ways.

Part 3. This is the anticipated clan convention which in the absence of a gathering in 2014 assumes greater importance and will be run either in Stirling or Perth for a day sometime between 27 June and 4 July 2014. Owing to the uncertainties over the gathering, little progress has been made here but this should be rectified in the coming months. This convention will build on 2009 and the seminar in 2012 at Stone Mountain.

Other aspects. There might be a march and a concert type event at Stirling Castle - depending on what can be organised and whether there is demand.