Home

Around the world Highland Festivals and Games have grown in number and attendance, especially since the advent of the TV show, “Outlander,” based on the immensely popular book series by author Diana Gabaldon. The show is credited in many visitors bureaus as having significantly increased the tourism industry in Scotland in the decade following its first airing.

Some would argue that the show built on the already existing love of Scottish history that had been building since the quasi-fictional (mostly fictional?) movies, “Braveheart” and the slightly-less successful, “Rob Roy,” both appeared in USA cinemas in 1995. “Braveheart” went on to earn nearly twice as much globally ($133.5M USD) in theaters outside the USA, showing that it was arguably the Scottish diaspora being awakened to its history – even if it was a “Hollywood history.”

Some might argue that this infatuation with Scotland began with 1986’s fantasy fiction tale of the immortal Connor McCloud of the Clan McCloud, aka the “Highlander.” With its cinematography taking viewers well into the Highlands of Scotland and showing the rich beauty of Glen Coe, Loch Shiel, and the Silver Sands of Morar, it may very well have been a first glimpse of the beauty of Scotland for many people – including me.

Others might point out that the actual Scotsman in that film, Sean Connery, began the global love affair with the Scots when his portrayal of 007 (double-Oh-seven) sent moviegoers into tizzies during the height of the Cold War. Every man of the time wanted to possess his suave sophistication, if not his baritone Scottish accent.

Not a cinema buff? Perhaps for you the love affair with your Scottish roots began with your first hearing of the bagpipes. The air of Highland festivals and games is filled to overflowing with the sounds of massed bands and individuals sharing their talents with enthusiastic listeners. Is that where it started for you?

Or did you become engaged with traditional Scottish pipe and drum music when The Royal Edinburgh Military Tattoo joined the soon-to-be social media powerhouse, YouTube in 2009? A quick search of ‘bagpipes’ on YouTube will yield videos in the thousands now with some amassing tens of millions of views.

Did your love for Scotland’s music begin to form the first time you heard a slightly more “primitive” form of the pipes and drums? Perhaps when you heard Albannach or possibly Clanadonia live at a festival? It’s hard to deny your Scottish heritage when you feel your blood stir to the thunderous drumming of bands such as these. It almost feels as if there’s a memory stored in your DNA that suddenly sweeps you back to the roots of your family tree. I cannot hear the pipes and drums without feeling that stir in my soul, an ancestral memory of a land that I have yet to set my feet and gaze upon.

Maybe your personal experience that led to your deep love for Scotland has nothing at all to do with modern media of any kind. Maybe instead, it has to do with the stories passed along, word of mouth, of your own family’s heroes and heroines.

Did your ancestors stay on in Scotland after the clearing of the Highlands, each and every one of them doing their best to build a life in the resulting harshness of outside rule?

Or were your ancestors removed from Scotland at point of bayonet, alleged to have committed crimes with scant evidence, never to return to the homes of their father’s fathers?

Did your ancestors seek adventure and new lands to tame, always choosing to make their homes just on the edge of the civilized world?

Did your ancestors wind up fighting on battlefields across the globe? Or were they the hard-willed, passionate women who kept their families – and society – together each time the world decided to go to war?

Were your ancestors farmers, the workers of the soil and herds, who built the backbone of every nation, as they were scattered across the globe in the diaspora?

I count myself lucky as my path to a love for Scotland has encompassed pretty much all of the above. Most especially, my love for Scotland is rooted in the family stories and emphasis on our roots as a great family in the history of the Scottish nation, and that our family’s story did not end there.

Whether you find your passion for your Scottish heritage rests in the fact of being born in Scotland, or you find it kindled in modern cinema, or music, or personal family history, all Logans share a common bond:

We share our love for our family name and its proud history around the globe.

In my time as president of the Society, I have had the exceptional privilege of hearing personal stories of trials and triumphs of Logans in many different countries. I hope more of you will share in the comments what ignited your passion for your Logan family history.

And if the good Lord is willing, I hope to hear those stories in person when we all gather in Edinburgh in April this year.

I cannot wait to meet you all and share stories – and a wee dram. Sláinte!