Members of the Laurinburg Rotary Club enjoyed a special performance and lecture Tuesday from

two personalities in town for the inaugural Scotland County Highland Games, to be held Oct. 3 at the John Blue House in Laurinburg. Introduced by Rotary Club member and games' Vice Chairman Beacham McDougald, musician Rona Wilkie of Laurinburg's sister city of Oban, Scotland performed a pair of fiddle tunes, Ashokan Farewell and Donald MacLeod's Reel, and sang a song a capella in Scottish Gaelic to the audience of 61 Rotary members.

"I am delighted to be here in Scotland County," Wilkie said at the conclusion of the event. "It is very interesting to hear the Scottish names and to see the Scottish appearances of many of the people here. Some of the people here look as if I could be related to them."

Following her performance, Marlboro County, S.C. native Donald MacDonald, a 48-year resident of Edinburgh, Scotland, the co-founder of the world famous Grandfather Mountain Highland Games near Linville, and the honorary chairman of the upcoming Scotland County Highland Games, took the podium to speak on his efforts to bring a Highland Games event to North Carolina.

"I am 'fair chuffed' to be here in Scotland County," MacDonald said, referring to the Scots word for delighted. "The decision to hold these games in Laurinburg has been the happy answer to a dream for me."

MacDonald explained that the clan system, the "clan-cestors" of many in attendance, had enjoyed the games for generations both in Scotland and in the Sandhills, "keeping the practice alive at the old Laurel Hill Scotch Fair" in the 19th century. After the games were banned by the church, MacDonald said, the event became a complete novelty to people of the Carolinas for almost a century.

And then MacDonald came upon the idea that would make history.

"I attended the Highland Games at Braemar, in Scotland in 1954," MacDonald said, "and with the heavy concentration of persons of Highland Scottish descent in this area, I wanted to do a similar event in Scotland County."

MacDonald said that several obstacles stood in his way.

"I wanted to do a summer games, but it was too darned hot here in the Sandhills to ask people to dance, toss telephone poles (cabers), and parade around in 100 percent pure new wool (kilts). The 80 to 90 degree heat would work against us."

MacDonald considered a fall event, but realized that "the sounds of Tar Heel voices were beginning to ring out. As Andy Griffith famously used to say, 'What it was, was football.'" MacDonald knew football season would be an inauspicious time to draw spectators to the Highland Games.

MacDonald considered Morrow Mountain State Park, located in the Uwharries range of foothills near Mt. Gilead.

"After all, Stanly County was on the perimeter of the Highland Scottish community," he said. "The great Scottish heroine Flora MacDonald had lived only a few miles from Mt. Gilead. But before I had time to consult the N.C. Dept. of Parks and Recreation, a kind and friendly gentlewoman from Linville, Agnes MacRae Morton, contacted me about a clan gathering for the MacRaes at what was then called 'Grandfather's Mountain'."

The event grew to become the Grandfather Mountain Highland Games, the first of many now held in the Southeast and beyond.

"I can think of no more appropriate area in which to honor our Highland heritage than here," MacDonald said. "Grandfather is great, but I say without shame, and without, I fear, an overabundance of modesty, that the forthcoming Scotland County Highland Games will be great also. Thank you for making me feel so 'chuffed' today and for giving me an opportunity to salute you."

The inaugural Scotland County Highland Games will take place from 8 a.m. until 4:30 p.m. on Saturday at the John Blue House in Laurinburg with traditional Scottish athletic events, music, children's activities and more. On Saturday evening, the Cypress Bend Vineyards in Wagram will host a musical event and wine tasting beginning at 7:30 p.m.

On Sunday, Old Laurel Hill Church will host a traditional "Kirkin' o' the Tartans" worship service at 11 a.m. in conjunction with the Scotland County Highland Games weekend. A speech by MacDonald on the Stewarts of Appin will follow at 2 p.m.

For more information about the Scotland County Highland Games,visit www.schgnc.org.