ClanDonnell and ClanDonald
If you are a member of ClanDonnell and it is July 26 or 27, 2014, where should you be? There is only one answer. Enumclaw, Washington.
That’s the site of the Scottish Highland Games and Clan Gatherings, held annually in the Pacific Northwest. And that is where ClanDonnell was!
We were the guests of ClanDonald USA and we had our own booth in the ClanDonald tent. By the way, don’t be confused by the differences in name spellings – McDonald vs. McDonnell. We know of a book which will explain the differences and explain why the difference doesn’t mean anything. Both names come from the same Gaelic source – MacDoṁnaill.
The games were at the Enumclaw Expo & Event Center. Check out a video of one of the pipe bands.
Way back when, Frank and Mary Stevenson homesteaded in what became the center of a town. Townsfolk named the community Stevensonville. The town was later renamed Enumclaw, after the nearby Enumclaw Mountain. Enumclaw means either “thundering noise” or “place of evil spirits”, depending upon who does the translation from the local Native American language.
Either translation might be appropriate for the town, since it sits on hardened mudflow which collected after Mt. Rainier erupted nearly 6,000 years ago.
It’s hard to go anywhere in northwest Washington without being in sight of Mount Rainier – an active volcano over 14,000 feet above sea level. Reminded me of the Jimmy Buffet song, and I don’t know where I’m a gonna go when the volcano blows.
Take a look at the pdf link below, for What You See At A Scottish Festival.
