Photograph taken at Dinner in Gustavberg, July 2007

The 16th International Gathering of Clan Macfie, Uddevalla, Sweden
July 5th through 8th, 2007
Linda McFee Gilcrest

Jim and I attended the 16th International Gathering of Clan Macfie in Uddevalla, Sweden. Although we arrived late and missed some of the festivities, we still had a wonderful time. The members of the Thorburn-Macfie Family Society greeted everyone warmly and we came home determined to visit Sweden again for a longer visit.

We arrived Friday evening from St. Petersburg, Russia, where we’d spent a 2-week holiday. We arrived in Copenhagen from St. Petersburg at 2:00 PM to pick up our rental car and drive to Uddevalla. We’d been told it was a 3-4 hour drive so we’d planned to arrive in Uddevalla by 6:30 PM and join the Clan for the first ceilidh. Unfortunately, the Swedish roads did not cooperate and, due to 3 weeks of heavy rainfall, the main highway to Uddevalla was flooded and closed in several places. We were delayed several hours via waits on the roadway and detours, and didn’t arrive in Uddevalla until 10:30 PM.

Once we arrived in Uddevalla, we found our way to the Gustafsberg Resort where we had hotel reservations and where most of the activities for the Gathering were scheduled. The grounds were dark and there was no activity, but luckily, after walking around the darkened grounds, we came upon Rolf Thorburn, a “cousin” who helped us find a live body (someone cleaning the restaurant), who thereupon called the innkeeper. Although she had already retired for the night, she came down and gave us a key and directed us to our room. Our room was in an older building on the resort grounds with a lovely view of the Uddevalla Bay, called “Byfjorden,” on the west coast of Sweden. We were quite disappointed that we’d missed the evening’s ceilidh, but looked forward to seeing everyone the next day.

The next morning we hurried down to the “Snackin’ Shop” for breakfast in hopes of seeing the Clan…we were not disappointed! Bobby, Iain and Fiona McFie were all enjoying breakfast, as were Christer and Marianne Hemberg, the Gathering Coordinators, and several other Scottish and Swedish Clan members. We were greeted warmly and felt like we were seeing close family members. We shared our driving “tale of woe” from the day/night before, and heard all about the previous evening’s ceilidh at Villa Lindesnäs. The Villa was Christer’s boyhood home, and is now a Clan lodge used for gatherings. The Villa is a short walk up the coast from Gustafsberg.

We enjoyed a quick breakfast and then gathered for a walking tour and history lesson on the Gustafsberg grounds and the 1920s era homes and buildings…one of which was our hotel. It’s a beautiful nature preserve with lovely walking paths and the area has a long history tied in with William Thorburn and Jessy Macfie. They settled in the area in 1823 and Mr. Thorburn was a very successful businessman, and the family is greatly respected in the area.

After our walk, we all gathered in the courtyard at the Gustafsberg Badrestaurant where we had an opportunity to meet and visit with many of the Swedish Clan members who again welcomed us warmly. After the hospitality, all of us were “piped into” the restaurant for lunch by Clan Piper and Scottish Clan President, Bobby McFie. All of us had reserved seating so Jim and I were seated across the room from each other, which gave us an opportunity to visit with the local Swedish hosts. The Swedish Clan has a large library of family history, photos, and genealogies which were displayed at the luncheon.

Swedish Society President, Arne Wallin, graciously welcomed us. Clan Commissioner in Scotland, Iain McFie, read greetings from Clan Commander Sandy McPhie, and his wife Helen, in Australia, who also expressed their regrets and not being able to attend; and Scottish Clan President, Bobby McFie added greetings from Scotland. There were also several Clan members from Ireland, England and New Zealand in attendance. Jim and I, sadly, were the only representatives from the United States.

After the greetings and review of the program, the Scottish contingent entertained us, led by Bobby McFie with his original bagpipe composition of the “Macfie March.” This inspired Iain to join him at the podium and enthrall us with their rendition of “Ragtime Cowboy Joe,” followed by David Mackay singing Gaelic songs. A short meeting followed.

Later that evening, we all drove out to Trollgild, an old hunting lodge that has belonged to the Clan since the early 1920s. It’s a small lodge, in a picturesque setting on a pond that the Clan has used for hunting and get-togethers. There were snacks and refreshments, and all of us enjoyed the beauty of the misty rains falling on the pond.

Plans were made at the lodge to go back to Gustafsburg for another ceilidh at 9:30 PM, which excited Jim and me since we’d missed the first one. However, we arrived at 9:45 PM and found no one there. We wrongly assumed the ceilidh had been cancelled due to the rain.

Sunday morning was our last day with the Clan and we were already saddened that it was over when we entered the restaurant for breakfast. Of course our dear friends were there, and asked why we’d missed the previous night’s ceilidh. We then found out that it hadn’t started until 10:00 PM and we missed out again! However, I’d printed 50 copies of the “Clan Macfie Song” that I’d written with my sister in Colonsay in 2005 to share with the Swedish Clan. I’d planned on leading the group in song at the ceilidh. Since we missed the ceilidh, I gave the song sheets to Christer so he could share them with the Swedish Clan in the future. In minutes, Iain had passed them out to everyone in the restaurant, and the entire restaurant joined in as we all sang the song, with Bobby playing the notes to McNamara’s Band” on his imaginary bagpipes. It was fantastic!! What a moment! One that we’ll never forget!

After breakfast, many of us took the hour ferry ride around Byfjorden and saw firsthand the beautiful western coastline of Sweden. It was reminiscent of our ferry ride to Colonsay 2 years ago with our good friends from Australia, New Zealand, Ireland, Scotland, England and the U.S. We also saw the picturesque Villa Lindesnäs from the water, where they’d enjoyed the first night’s ceilidh.

After docking, we bid a fond farewell to our Clan family as we headed home with visions of 2009 in Scotland in our heads. I’m sure there’ll be a big Swedish contingent there to share it with us.

All in all, we had a wonderful time as we enjoyed the warm hospitality of our Swedish hosts, while experiencing the grandeur of the beautiful Swedish fjords. And Jim and I have vowed to return to Sweden when we have more time to explore it.

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

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