There’s mony a bonnie lass in the howe o’ Auchterless, so they say.
And, if Mother Nature turns up with a sunshiney smile, there’s mony a grand day to be had ringside at any of Scotland’s Highland Games.
They can be intimate in nature like Glenisla, where the age-old benches set into the Forter Haugh banking await next month’s return of overseas regulars to renew local friendships, or the sun-capturing bowl of Drumtochty.
And they can be grand, like Strathmore Games in the regal setting of Glamis Castle’s grounds, or the magnificent Cowal Gathering at Dunoon I know well as a Highland Dancing dad.
(That was, of course, through being the dad of a Highland Dancer rather than my personal prowess on the boards, which is, frankly, more paddy bad than pas de bas).
Scotland’s games pump an estimated £25 million into the economy every year and, if you were to ask any of the 150,000 annual visitors what their attraction is, I doubt any would say they’re here for the beer.
The beer tent is part of the tradition at games, gatherings and shows as much as the Scouts’ fundraising barbecue tent and Rotary tombola so I’m with Scotland’s Games Association secretary Ian Grieve when he said the idea of doing away with it was a “wee bit mad”.
Public drinking at open events is under scrutiny and some have suggested the drive to protect children and halt the “steady creep” of alcohol into public events could put the beer tent at risk.
Of course, it’s imperative any and every avenue should be explored in the effort to tackle Scotland’s toxic relationship with the demon drink, a cultural scourge with an annual death toll of more than 1,000 people and a cost to the country running to billions of pounds in terms of health, social care and crime.
Returning to the Strathmore gathering, their dedication in recent years has been towards developing the grass roots through primary school mini-Highland Games and junior heavies coaching.
Hundreds of children have tossed a small-scale caber or hauled a tug o’war rope with every ounce of their young might against kids from a rival school.
Hopefully, as many as possible will go on to appreciate the importance and value of the traditional spectacle and continue to enjoy a Highland Games day out, either as a participant or spectator.
And we should raise a glass to that.
