‘Getting a piece of Scotland’: Thousands gather for Highland Games in Spokane on Saturday

Kristine Rothwell gripped a handle attached to a 28-pound metal ball, swung it and flung it 15 feet in the air to clear a horizontal bar.

Rex Fraiser tasted a sample of haggis – a sort of “meat oatmeal,” as he described it, traditionally cooked in a sheep’s stomach.

Isabelle Banks hopped and crossed her legs to the tune of bagpipes, performing a traditional dance that has its origin in warriors dancing on top of shields with a spike in the center.

Rothwell, Frasier and Banks were a few of the thousands of people who came to the Spokane County Fairgrounds on Saturday to experience and celebrate all things Scottish during the 63rd annual Spokane Scottish Highland Games.

Cheryl McLean, chair for the Highland Games Association, said the event is “like getting a piece of Scotland.”

“It’s all about showing people who are Scottish, and those who aren’t, where we come from,” she said.

Visitors of Highland descent visited various tents to look up their clan tartans, which are unique plaid patterns weaved with wool that represent each family name, and many attendees tasted haggis and other traditional Scottish foods and drinks, including Scotch eggs, shortbread and Scotch whisky.

Frasier, the haggis sampler, said he traveled from Moscow, Idaho, to attend the Highland games.

He said he likes “the whole community” of Scottish tradition gathering together, but has a special place in his heart – and stomach – for the country’s food.

“I love haggis,” he said.

Marie Darling sat near the dance stage. A teacher at the Spokane School of Highland Dance, 5521 N. Wall St., she looked on as some of her students performed dances that are hundreds of years old.

“Each of our dances represent something,” she said. “The Highland Fling was danced by soldiers who placed their shield on the ground after battle and danced upon it. But there used to be a spike in the middle of it, so they had to be careful not to jump on the spike. So the goal of the dance was to dance in this one spot.”

About 40 dancers as young as 4 years old came from around the Northwest and Canada to compete, she said.

Banks, one of the competitors, has been dancing since she was 4. She just turned 16, moving her into the adult bracket and making her competition harder, so she was just hoping to place, she said.

Regardless of the outcome, she said, she wants to become a judge and a teacher of Highland dance.

“It’s a way to connect to the culture,” she said, wearing a teal vest and matching kilt.

A Scottish Highland bull was on display at the fairgrounds for the festival. The 400-pound, 14-month-old bull named Axel had shaggier hair than an Angus. Highland bulls can reach up to 1,800 pounds and are mostly used for meat, said Brian Bremner, whose parents own Axel and 10 other Highland cattle in Cheney.

In a nearby corral, two massive Clydesdale horses bent down and ripped grass out of the ground. The pair included 18-year-old Lavender, who was born in Scotland and flown to the U.S., and 14-year-old Miss Kelly Girl, who works on a farm in Clayton, Washington.

Around noon, a crowd watched bagpipers from around the Northwest march in place and play “Scotland the Brave” while drummers kept the rhythm.

But the biggest crowds gathered to watch kilted athletes throw rocks, logs, weights and hay bags.

Austin Utley stepped into a red square spray-painted on the grass. He adjusted his wrist straps, bent down and picked up a 56-pound metal ball by an attached handle.

The sport, known as weight for distance, is one of nine track-and-field-style events that all competitors play.

Utley swung the weight back and forth and launched it about 20 feet, while his competitors and a crowd looked on.

The traditional games came from historical necessity, Utley said. When English invaders took the Scots’ weapons, all that was left was rocks, logs and weights. But being known for their resilience, the Scottish fought with all they had, Utley said.

Fighting and training with those objects became a competition between the Scottish over time, he said, and the Highland Games evolved out of it.

Spokane is one of many cities around the world that host a yearly Highland Games.

Rothwell, who competed in the weight over bar event, said she ranks seventh or eighth in North America for HIghland Games. She travels to compete in Florida, Montana, Portland and Seattle, and will soon head to California.

She hopes to compete in the Women’s World Championship in October, she said.

Banks only started competing about a year ago, but her experience in track and field, as a competitor and coach, made her quickly rise in the ranks.

“I love competing,” she said.