Crief Highland Games August 19, 2001

Photos belong to Karma do not use elsewhere without permission

This whole odd experience started way back in March when I first read on this board that Ewan would be Chieftain of the Crieff Highland Games. My husband (Chris) has always said I need to be more spontaneous. However, when I came home with the idea of jetting over to Scotland and visiting the Games, my spontaneity was overshadowed by my well-known Ewan addiction. But I have to hand it to him, Chris took the idea in stride and encouraged me to make plans...

We decided to visit Edinburgh first, spending 2 nights there. As luck would have it, the Edinburgh Festival and the Edinburgh Fringe Festival are on right now, so aside from the usual attractions, there were a few indie-type films playing and many street performers. We missed our first Scottish breakfast at the B&B we were at because we overslept....the battery on Chris' watch died. What are the odds????! We spent most of that first day at Edinburgh Castle, and we took one of them double-decker tour busses around the city. At night we wandered around the festivals. On Saturday we took a train/bus to Perth, then over to Crieff. We met another American couple on their way to Crieff, but they were going there to meet up with some old friends of theirs that they'd met 15 years ago on a student exchange program.

They didn't know about the Games (or who Ewan was, but that's another subject). There is one main road in Crieff, High Street, and it appears out of nowhere. You can tell the town is growing because at either end of High Street are some very new homes being built right next to the original buildings. Our hotel (The Crieff Hotel) was on this road and was situated above a restaurant and bar (PUB, as we were corrected many times). We arrived in Crieff around 6pm, when most of the stores are already closed, but we went for a walk anyway and passed by Morrison's Academy. Chris didn't appreciate my interest in the school, figuring it to be just another building. We didn't walk all that far, because you'd be leaving town if you walked too far in one direction... I was up at about 6am on Sunday, unable to go back to sleep. Unfortunately, it was raining. The Games opened at 10:30am.

I made sure Chris was up and ready to go and we walked to Market Park about 10 minutes from the hotel. I went down to the game field where there were some people milling around the middle, measuring different things and getting the events started. Did I mention almost everyone was in a kilt? It was a feast for the eyes, I tell you. Anyway, I'm standing by the fence trying to see through the rain, and I am struck cold by the fact that Ewan is standing about 20 feet from where we are! Just like that, out in the middle of the grass. And of course the first thing I notice is the kilt. And the very handsome oilskin jacket he's wearing for the rain. No hat, and I can tell that his hair is longer than in the BHD pictures we've been seeing, but shorter than in TPM. Now I'm jonesin', because I don't know what I should do next. I can't run out onto the field and the little Chieftain's tent they've set up is in the middle of the grandstands, for which we don't have a ticket. So I just stand there as the events start up. The crowd at this point is sparse, the rain I'm sure kept many people home.

The announcer starts to talk about the events, and it's Ewan's dad! That was pretty cool, I wasn't expecting that. Ewan talked with the competitors between the events, stopping to take pictures with them or talking with the reporters present. I notice that a small crowd has gathered by part of the fence across the field. I believe that was where I should be, so I nudge Chris in that direction. Wouldn't you know it, as I start walking over, Ewan starts walking over to that area too. Now I'm whipping the camera out of my bag and making sure not to fall flat on my face in the mud and I slip down the hill to the fence where Ewan is shaking hands with some people in the crowd. He looks as if he was just taking a short break and was about to re-join those in the middle of the field when I say... "Mr. McGregor!" As soon as I said that I turned white, and the whole little speech I had prepared in my mind was lost. I didn't even remember my name! I'd wanted to say a lot of things! Ewan turned around and walked back to the fence where I was standing with my hand out.

He shook it and said, "Hello!" with a big smile, and I am now struck mute because I am looking right into his eyes which are so blue, and noticing his skin which is so flawless, and that his hair is sticking up in little spikes in the front, and it seems he is larger than life and even more handsome in person. In this most intrepid moment, I said.... "Uh....we....uh...." and Chris said from behind me... "She says we came all the way from Florida and..." I interrupt him, knowing that Ewan doesn't have all day, and because I am utterly embarrassed say "CanItakea picturewithyou?". This actually came out as, "Can you take your picture with you?" but I didn't know this until later, when Chris had a fine old time recapping the incident. "Sure." he said and put his hand on my shoulder and I am smiling at the camera with the biggest sh*t-eating grin of my whole life. As we are posing, the pipe competition is on in the background, and Ewan is singing along softly to the music and I just about melted into a puddle right there in the dirt. "Thank you so much." I managed to get out, and shook his hand again.

Ewan kind of nodded in our direction and smiled again before walking back to the events. Now, the smile on my face is starting to hurt! We went back to our original spot and watched the hammer throw and the shotput, but moved again for the caber event. Since it had been raining, the cabers were extremely slippery and the competitors weren't able to get it over...one fell backwards and sent Ewan and his dad scrambling out of the way! At 2pm, they opened the grandstands to let people with no tickets for the seats buy some. We went in, glad to be out of the rain. Ewan had disappeared for a bit, probably for lunch. It was around now I noticed a young girl in a red coat standing by the Chieftain's tent, which was Clara. She was holding onto her grandma's hand.

Then I spotted Eve, who looked about as radiant as one can. I'd only seen a few pictures of her, and she is even more pretty in person. Ewan then appeared and picked Clara up, kissing her on the cheek and giving her a hug. It was so sweet! About 2:30pm they had the "Salute to the Chieftain", where Ewan was introduced and he gave a short speech, thanking everyone for coming and that he was thrilled to have been asked to be Chieftain. He also reminisced about when he was younger, and he and his brother Colin would help set up the park for the games, but only managed to get in everybody's way. During the salute, Eve was with Ewan on the stage, and I noticed (happily) that they never let go of each other. At this point, the Games officials were letting in small groups of people to meet Ewan in the Chieftain's tent. I got up and mingled in with the line, and kind of shuffled through with everyone else. He was signing autographs and posing for pictures and he seemed a little overwhelmed, but not annoyed. Y'know when you see celebrities on TV getting mobbed by people?

It was nothing like this, but he was surrounded by fans. When it was my turn I asked if he'd sign my action figure (that'd I'd dragged all the way from the USA). It was one of the newer ones, the Cold Weather Gear Obi-Wan. He looked at it for a little while, reading the box, and I figured he'd never seen it before and I go, "That really is you" and he says "But I don't wear any of this!" He signed the figure and Chris' Games programme (that had Ewan on the cover) That was the extent of that conversation, because after he handed the programme back to Chris one of the Games officials tugged on his arm to return to the field. Ewan was in charge of handing out all the awards for the various events, and I think he had the most fun handing out the kid's prizes. It appeared to me that he spent more time talking to them than the adults.

Morrison's Academy had a relay team that won a prize and when they were announced, Ewan clapped his hands over his head. Finally, I'd gathered enough courage and tried to speak with Ewan once more, when he returned for more autographs. The rain had picked up, which is why the line was kind of thin. Chris wanted his picture taken with him so we got back in line once more. Chris greeted him, and Ewan said hello, then he looked at me and I am AGAIN struck mute because I'm staring at the man. I take his picture and then in a last attempt to redeem myself, I try to congratulate him on his new baby (which local papers report being a boy) and what comes out is, "I just wanted to say...congra...congra... congratulations on..your, um...your, um..new, little,....um..." and I'm trying to signal "baby" with my hands. Ewan, I think, got the gist of the conversation and says, "Oh, thanks very much! Thank you."

And then I notice Eve is standing next to him and she says "Thank you!" in a very quiet voice and shook my hand. I know this encounter wasn't as intimate as some others have been, but seeing how well I did here would hint that a real conversation would have been a disaster waiting to happen, since I couldn't get anything I'd wanted to ask out! Even though I am a little frustrated with myself about my less-than-dazzling performance, I know I'll always remember what I felt when I was looking into his eyes... maybe somebody else who's met him can confirm this, but Ewan really looks people in the eye. He just didn't glance at his fans, he studied them. And it seemed he was very happy to be home and at the Games.