President’s Report.
August  ’07.

Some of us have had lots of adventures since the previous sailing of the Galley.

F’rinstance, a number of memorable activities took place during a recent visit to Sweden. (I’m sure by now everyone knows that members of our team took part in the International Macfie Gathering in Sweden.) To suggest that we had a wonderful time would be an understatement. The welcome/hospitality/kinship and everything else, could not be bettered. Elsewhere in this issue of the Galley, I’m sure, shall be photographs and data, recording and commenting, on a delightful group of folk collectively known as the Thorburn–Macfie Society.

I was particularly taken with the wee Swedish youngsters charging about the beautiful setting in their Macfie kilts. They were wild, and bonny.   Another private delight was to be shown a plinth on top of which was a bust of a rather handsome bearded man. The man’s name….Robert MacFie.   A co-incidence is that this particular MacFies wife’s name was Violet……my wife’s name was also Violet.

Something I found very interesting was ‘our’ Society Meeting. In case you didn’t know, a Society Meeting had been ‘pencilled in’, at the AGM, that a ‘meeting’ would take place during the International Gathering in Sweden. Now, we’ve had meetings in a number of locations but this was special. The furnishings were a bit austere but the outlook was absolutely beautiful.  Something I noted, was that even although we were in another country, it was almost the same folks in attendance who appear at Bishops Stortford or anywhere else for that matter.  Now, some of us are getting a bit long-in-the-tooth and can be excused but, there are vacancies at the table for some of our more active members and we ask…….., Please come and support our activities.

At Gustavberg, the location of the Gathering…….it seems this place name is pronounced something like ‘Gustavberry’……..  our host’s ‘society meeting’ was attended by about 200 enthusiastic Thorburn-MacFies.
 
As we mentioned in the April issue, this has been a busy time and things won’t really slacken off until late September. The Pipe Band World Championships have taken place, next is the Rothesay Games after that the Cowal Games, then Braemar, then…..    It may be of interest that, at the ‘Worlds’, a Belgian Pipe Major whom I had met briefly years ago, grabbed me by the hand and said, “You are Bob McFie.” He then turned to his friends and told them, in his nearly perfect English, “This man is a leg end.”!! Well, he could have said worse.
 
By the way, our worthy Editor still hasn’t been inundated with ‘copy’, (see the dictionary), from members with tales of derring-do or ‘a report on a visit to a butterfly farm,’ even. But, we live in hope.

Nearly at the bottom of the page. Look after yourselves, take care of each other because: ‘Guid yins ur few and fawr a’tween’.
Slainte.

Diary dates
President's report
Editorial
Secretary's report
Udevalla
false alarm
making a video
Gossip
Capital Games
Burns' Night 2008
2009 Setting
Corncrake article
Rev. J Duffy

for website problems contact web@clanmacfie.co.uk last updated 16/03/2008 copyright © Clan Macfie Society. The galleys in the banner and watermark were drawn by Des Duffy(all rights reserved)