The plan today was to head to Crieff for the Highland Meeting, a community event / fair consisting of competitive events, as a way of celebrating Scottish and Celtic culture. As we drove out of Edinburgh, I noted to Allen that we would be passing close to the Kelpies, horse head statues that I has seen pictures of. He said it was not far out of our way, and we could make a stop. So we did. The Kelpies are a pair of monumental steel horseheads. The Kelpies represent the lineage of the heavy horse of Scottish industry and economy, pulling the wagons, ploughs, barges, and coal ships that shaped the geographical layout of the Falkirk area.
Continuing on to Crieff Allan let us off a bit aways from the entry. As we made our way to the gate, we were passed by the first of many events, numbered runners of various ages were making their way down the street in some form of race.
Once inside the game grounds we wandered along, accompanied by continuous pipe music, past many tents where vendors of all sorts were selling their wares, various handmade crafts. We found one tent where they advertised to embrace your Scottish heritage. When they were not too busy we did find the MacIver tartan for Judy!
We then found an area of ground where we could sit and watch the various athletic events. The Hammer throw was in progress. It was fascinating to see how they wind up and then toss the hammer over their shoulders.
The Caber toss was next. This is not just a feat of strength but skill as you must lift the pole, toss it 360 degrees and land it in a 12 o’clock position.
While all this was going on in the center of the grounds, various pipe and drum bands would be introduced and played on the end of the field. There were also Track and Field events going on as well. After a while we explored some of the other areas where there were food vendors and other performances. There was a Highland dance contest as well as a piper contest.
After about 3 hours we called our driver and met him where he had dropped us off. I asked if we could make a stop at the Falkirk wheel. This is an engineering marvel. It is a rotating boat lift that connects two canals that had not been connected since the 1930’s.
After a brief stop to watch the wheel in action, we continued our way back to Edinburgh and our hotel.