Och, Aye: T'was a Grand Highland Weekend!

First of all, here's my Fraser of Lovat badge -

I wore it the second day - in honor of the Outlander novels. Je suis Prest - I am ready!

And I really coveted this shield until it was pointed out to me that a: it wasn't real wood, but that polymer junk, b: that was apparent because it was chippd in at least two places, and c: $100 for a chipped cheapo shield?!

Oh well - still looks cool in the picture:

This is actually the first pic I took at the festival as some ladies in authentic scottish dress were leaving. I was too scared to take their picture from the front or ask for permission lest they say no, so I waited until they passed and still got a good pic.

The SCA was there in full force yet again on the last day.

I am still kicking myself for not having a camera with me the first day when they demonstrated making chainmail and I saw the cutest young couple in GREAT costumes. But there were still a few good shots left to take. I thought this banner was cool:

The poor blacksmith worked hard all day, but he was lucky to be in the shade - it was HOT in the sun.

And this shot - oh, so adorable! Even the baby has a medieval bonnet on and little costume. They had a whole village set up and lots of tents, their own food, clothes, society in the midst of the festival.

I really felt bad for the guys that wore full armor - padded suits, chainmail and armour and fought for the crowds. Whew - they mustve been scorching!

Some women dressed up a little more royally than others...

But the costumed were few and far between outside the SCA village, mostly there were just lots of guys in ther kilts - some bagpipers, some just using the day as an excuse to break out a kilt.

This young man was actually the cutest one I saw all day, but he must've caught me and the camera as he suddenly struck a pose and kind of ruined the cute effect for me.

This was the first stall we visited and spent the most money on. They had grea authentic knee length wool socks, kilts, peasant shirts, belts, etc. as well as lots of toy swords for the kids.

And no Scottish festival is complete without highland games, they had a few going on at the same time, but I found the caber tossing the most fun:

This booth had LOTS of swords and flags and a few nice jewelry items. Other booths had really beautiful earrings, rins, necklaces, bracelets, etc. and we bought far too much - enough for us all to say we fulfilled our birthday present requirements for the next two months. LOL

All in all - even as the last day and too hot to stay long, it was a good thing we went back, I have LOTS more pictures and we had fun. They even had bridies and haggis and all sorts of Scottish food as well as normal festival food like funnel cakes and kettle corn, etc. We resisted it all, thankfully. ;)

I had a great time and must remember to go again next year. And also find out when the French festival is - one of the perks of St. Louis is we are a diverse melting pot of cultures and we have plenty of cultural festivals to look forward to from spring through fall.

Hope everyone else had a nice weekend. I'm still recovering from heat stroke - we had rather hot temperatures for April again. But at least it didn't rain and ruin the festival. l look forward to some more fun now that I can walk around again. Bring on the craft shows and festivals, but I better save some money for our trips...