AMERICAN VISIT AND THE DAVID R ROSS FUNDRAISER |
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| David R Ross was to accompany a large group of American visitors on a week long tour of his beloved Scotland, alas it was not to be but it was decided the tour should go ahead in honour of David. It was a whirlwind tour to say the least but so much was packed into their week that I'm sure they will have been glad to get home for a rest. Society member William Ballantyne took them on a bus tour of Glasgow on the Wednesday followed by a trek round Stirling and Bannockburn, and they'd only just arrived that day. Well done William. I joined them on the Thursday where we took a tour of Glasgow Cathedral, the Robroyston Monument, Paisley Abbey then off to the monument at Elderslie where we were greeted by Duncan and some society members which our visitors really appreciated. Duncan said a few words of welcome and told them the history of Elderslie and Wallace. Then it was off to the Wallace Tavern for a wee dram and some surprises. Society secretary and weaver Christine gave us a small insight into the work that went into David's plaid he wore for the Walk for Wallace in 2005. She also showed the gathered crowd the new plaid that she'd been working on for David for Bannockburn 2014. Lots of emotion on display as we shared stories of David and Scotland. The evening finished with a wee pub crawl which ended up at Uisge Beatha followed by some tunes from special guest Irish tunesmith Mickey Harte, great way to end the day. The Society was keen to be involved and played host to them at Elderslie and joined them at the Three Sisters fundraiser in honour of David in Edinburgh. |
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Donovan lays some flowers at the Monument |
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Christine with David's plaid |
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Mickey Harte |
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| Our venue for this evening's fundraiser was the Three Sisters in Edinburgh and it was packed, we didn't expect that with it being a Sunday night and arranged at such short notice. Everyone who made it through should give themselves a big pat on the back. We launched the new petition on the night to bring the Wallace letter back from Kew, special guest Christine Graeme officially launched the petition and we'd like to thank her for that and all the work going on behind the scenes. There was so much going on that it's hard to remember everything, we had a raffle, an auction speeches, special guests, Albannach, Ted, phew and so much more. The atmosphere was very special as everyone from both sides of the border danced and chatted the evening away telling some tales of Big David along the way. It would seem the Big Guy touched hearts and minds not only on this side of the world but judging by the outpouring of emotions and stories of our American friends it would seem his adventures over in the States more than equalled anything he'd ever done here. The evening raised a nice amount of money for causes close to David's heart and more on that will be revealed at a later date. To everyone who made our American friends welcome to this country we call hame, thank you, David would have been so very proud of us all. Slainte |
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Gary's speech |
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Donovan says a few words |
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The Albannach 2010 Homecoming Tattoo |
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Mary, the lovely owner of the tattoo |
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Albannach as always, superb |
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The place was mobbed |
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Ted Christopher |
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| © Society of William Wallace 2007-2024 | The Society of William Wallace is a Scottish Charitable Incorporated Organisation Registration number SC045959 |