For Kith and Kin – The Story of a Scarf for the Braemar Highland Gathering

One of the many things I love about taking part in craft markets is you never know who you might meet. Lets go back to Tea Green end of 2022 at Aberdeen art gallery when a chance meeting with Hazel from Braemar Highland Gathering visitor centre – we immediately connected over our fascination with Pictish stone circles and the mysterious folklore surrounding them. I was delighted when she chose one of the Moonlight silk scarves for herself. 

We got chatting, and to cut a long story short she asked if I’d consider designing a scarf for the Highland Gathering pavilion gift shop, of course this was an amazing opportunity and I immediately jumped at the chance!

So one bright cold day in February 2023 I went out to Braemar to meet Hazel and visit the games centre and arena. It was such a fascinating visit, we looked through old programmes, learnt about the athletes who had been legendary participants in the heavy events, and got to visit the arena which was completely peaceful and calm, trying to imagine the hustle and bustle and riot of colour come the day of the Gathering.

I loved this research stage of this and learning all the history and folklore from Hazel – I’m ashamed to say I’ve lived in this area all my life and never attended the Braemar Highland Games – so I had a lot to learn, and Hazel was amazing at painting a picture of the atmosphere of the event. I thought it would be lovely to share some of the chat I had with Hazel and what inspired the scarf design.

Hi Hazel,

Just to get us started – can you tell us a little about the first time we met at the Aberdeen Art Gallery and what drew you to my work – you told me an incredible story about your personal connection to Pictish stone circles and I wondered if you would be up for sharing a bit of that story ? I thought it would be a lovely introduction to this chat!

Absolutely. I had come to the art gallery for the Christmas market, and I saw your beautiful stand with scarves and prints and notebooks. As I looked through them, my eyes were drawn to the deep purple silk scarf with a stone circle on it, and vibrant Pictish female warriors. I connected instantly with this and knew I had to have it. I have a deep connection with our ancient stone circles, particularly the East Aquhorthies one near Inverurie, I often go there to meditate as it is so peaceful. I have been studying for an Open University degree in creative writing and Classical History and for our final assignment that year, I had written a piece on a Pictish Priestess who held a ceremony for the warriors before they went in to battle with the Romans, there at the base of Bennachie. The battle of Mons Graupius.  I had gone to the stones to pray and ask for help in writing the assignment. A friend had taken a photo of me while I stood next to the recumbent stone, and later when looking at the photo, we could see a green mist all around my hands. I felt the stones blessed my hands to perhaps tell history through my story, The stones are so magical, and I love connecting with them. All of this to say, as soon as I saw your stone circle design, I had to have everything in the collection. I bought a scarf, two prints and a notebook!! Loved all of it. I felt you also connected to the amazing energy of the stones and those that must have served them all those years ago. I just knew that you would be perfect to design a scarf for us at the Braemar Gathering as your details and colours capture so much. 

How did you come to be in the role you have at the Braemar Visitor Centre and what excited you about the role?

I had been running my own business in event and wedding styling and floristry for twelve years called Robins Egg. After some big personal changes in my life, and covid, I decided it was time for a change. Tricky when you have been self-employed for a long time though. It’s hard to fit in to a normal job. I was approached by Thorpe Malloy recruitment agency who had been tasked with finding someone who was up for the challenge of developing the business at the Highland Games Centre, running events, and also day to day management. They needed someone who could work well on their own and had an entrepreneurial head. It felt like the perfect fit.  To work somewhere with such an incredible history and prestige, while also getting to use my skills in events and running a business, was such an amazing opportunity. I was ready to not have to set my alarm for 3am, and be making up flowers in the cold, carrying big heavy flower buckets and climbing ladders. I swapped that for a tweed jacket, an office that overlooks the Cairngorms and lots of bagpipes and kilts. It’s wonderful. It is a big challenge, in such a rural location, but Braemar has so much on offer. 

It was such a privilege to design this scarf for the shop at the centre – can you tell us about some of the elements that were important to capture in the design?

Goodness, I was so delighted to work with you. The history of the Braemar Gathering goes back over a thousand years to King Malcolm of Canmore and most recently, 1815 when it was reinstated after the Jacobite uprisings. We have so much history, and unbroken Royal patronage since 1848 with Queen Victoria.  So many of the events that take place at the Gathering go back hundreds of years. The hill race that takes place on Morrone, was part of the original games for King Malcolm on one of the other local hills. So it was vital that we captured all elements that make up the Braemar Gathering. So, we have the ‘Heavies’ these are the classic highland game events, like tossing the caber, shott put, and hammer throw, These are the big lads that tour the highland game circuit. The Scottish Champion for the year is awarded at Braemar. I love your Heavie in the design with his kilt and hairy legs throwing the Shott Put. 

Then we have the pipe bands, the highland dancers, the hill race, and of course, my favourite, the tug-o-war. I didn’t realise until coming to Braemar that our tug-o-war is a participated in by Military only, apart from one inter-estate between Balmoral and Invercauld Estate workers. Military tug-o-war teams come from around the world to take part in our competition. It is seen as very prestigious.  

We also have the Royal Box where the Royal family sit during the Gathering, and they hand out the prizes to all the winners from the steps of the box. This box has been there since 1932 and is protected by Historic Scotland. You also managed to bring in the Royal crest to the design alongside our own ‘For Kith and Kin’ crest which ties in all of our patrons. 

The covered seating areas are also protected and go back to 1932, and the iconic ‘Games Day Green’ paint with the red roof, is part of the history. You captured this perfectly with within the scarf. Our building, the Highland Games Centre, or Duke of Rothesay Highland Games Pavilion, is painted in the same colours to tie in with the rest of the buildings. We incorporated this in to the scarf . 

Lastly, our tartan. We have a Braemar Royal Highland Gathering Tartan, and you have beautifully dressed all of our competitors in our tartan. I loved this detail so very much.

I really enjoyed learning some of the ancient history and folklore of the Games from you – could you tell us in your words about the origins of the Games?

I guess I touched on this earlier, but the original gathering of the clans started with King Malcolm of Canmore, who would come to the area for hunting in the eleventh century. His wife, Queen (Saint) Margaret would come on pilgrimage to where St Andrew’s bones lay in a small chapel also located locally. The clans would gather, and they would bring all of their strongest and best men. They would perform feats of strength, agility and speed for the King and the best of these were then taken in to the service of the King. They would become Kings men.  I hear that they would become quite bloody and fierce at times as men battled it out to have a place in the Kings army or service. Thats one of the reasons it is so special that we still have the Royal family come each year to the gathering as it harks back to a very ancient time. The King would sit under a structure made of trees and heather to protect him from the elements, and to this day, we decorate the Royal Box with conifer, firs, and heather that takes weeks to prepare,  

Any other Games folklore you can share with us? Famous characters?

Until 1932, five Highlander clans would march to the Braemar Gathering. The Atholl,  Invercauld, Duff, Balmoral and the Lonach Highlanders. They would march over the hills and gather at Marr Lodge. Then together would march down to the Gathering. However, in 1932, by the time the made it to march before the King, they were so drunk on whisky, and I mean sozzled, that they couldn’t walk in a straight line. A ramble. The King wrote a letter to the Braemar Royal Highland Society, stating that this was a disgrace, and he would not tolerate this behaviour at the Gathering. We have this letter on display in the exhibition. From then on, the marching of the Highlanders was stopped, and we now have the massed pipe bands. Only on special occasions do the Highlanders march. In 2015, for our 200^th anniversary, the Atholl Highlanders marched and presented their colours to the late Queen. Very special.

It was fab to be invited to have a stall in the visitor centre during Games day last year. Brilliant moment when you boldly asked a group of soldiers if they would pose with the scarf for a photo! Were there any other stand out moments for you that day?

Haha, loved that! Those Royal Scots Guard looked so smart in their uniforms, it had to be done!  Two moments for me on games day this year. I arrived early, and it was frosty. I parked my car up at the top and as I came over the hill to walk down to the arena, the sun was just coming over the top, frost was sparkling. it all looked so beautiful. I walked down to the arena, and looked around me, everything ready to go. I took photos of the frost glistening on the white lines painted on the grass and I felt a huge surge of pride of getting to be part of such a spectacular and historical event, And of course, the massed pipe band. It never ceases to give me goosebumps and makes me so proud to be Scottish. 

It was this time last year that we launched the Kith and Kin Scarf! Have you got any exciting plans this year that you can share?

We are so enthralled with your design Helen, it has been such a success. Everyone loves it so much.  This year, we are hoping to keep expanding our bespoke retail offering at the Pavilion, and of course, selling your beautiful products.  We do have a very exciting opportunity for VIP events to be held in the Royal Box. We only have a limited amount of these per year that we can do, but they can be used for weddings, or a private dinner or whisky tasting. So, we are working on our marketing for that, and looking forward to welcoming guests there. 

Thanks to Hazel for taking the time to have a chat with us about the scarf!

The Scarf comes in three variations,

90x90cm Silk Crepe-de-Chine Classic Silk Square £145

42x42cm Silk Crepe-de-Chine Mini Silk Square / Pocket Silk £40

125x125cm Wool Twill Shawl £190

We also have A3 art prints and postcards available

This is for sale exclusively through the Braemar Highland Games Visitor Centre, however if you are interested in placing a mail order please get in touch with me at [email protected] and I’ll pass your request on to Hazel.