Part 4 ~ I Hear no Music but the Sound of Drums

Good Sisters,

We all hear a different drummer and that means we sometimes interpret things a little differently as well. For this wee quiz, we will give you one stanza from 5 different poems. Please tell us what each poem is about. (1 point each). For an extra 2 points per poem, please send us a (loose) translation.

The maximum points for this challenge is 10, so you need not do the entire challenge. Please send your answers to highlandergames (at) ymail (dot) com with the word poem in the subject line of your email, and include your swap and clan name in the email. Nemetona willna be participating in this challenge as she helped us set it up) so Chieftess Eilis will be filling in for her.

#1)
The flaunting flow'rs our gardens yield,
High shelt'ring woods and wa's maun shield;
But thou, beneath the random bield
O' clod or stane,
Adorns the histie stibble-field,
Unseen, alane.

#2)
Wee, sleekit, cowrin, tim'rous beastie,
Oh, what a panic's in thy breastie!
Thou need na start awa sae hasty,
Wi' bickering brattle!
I was be laith to rin an' chase thee,
Wi' murd'ring pattle!

#3)
Fair fa' your honest, sonsie face,
Great chieftain o' the puddin-race!
Aboon them a' ye tak your place,
Painch, tripe, or thairm:
Weel are ye wordy of a grace
As lang's my arm.

#4)
Hear me, Auld Hangie, for a wee,
An' let poor damn'd bodies be;
I'm sure sma' pleasure it can gie,
Ev'n to a deil,
To skelp an' scaud poor dogs like me
An' hear us squeel.

#5)
My curse upon your venom'd stang,
That shoots my tortur'd gooms alang,
An' thro' my lug gies monie a twang
Wh' gnawing vengeance,
Tearing my nerves wi' bitter pang,
Like racking engines!


Good luck, lasses. Fiona and Mordag

The Gathering

Well, lasses, it is with a heavy heart that we gather here to celebrate the end of our Drums of Autumn swap. But celebrate indeed! There have been some beautiful sporrans received and it is great to see how everybody interpreted the book and turned it into a wonderful gift for a new friend. Our next swap, based on Fiery Cross, will begin with a Gathering as well. We do look forward to that.

Our last challenge, The Gathering, was sponsored by your chieftesses so we did not get to play. It was a logic puzzle and it was the first time one of these were used. There were a few puzzles this swap that were used for the first time, and a few that were previously enjoyed so they were brought back. There was a great variety of games and we hoped everyone enjoyed the challenges.

The answers:
For Claire's impromptu luncheon at the Gathering, the 5 young ladies, what they brought, how they got to the Gathering and where they traveled from are as follows:
Brianna brought corn and scotch, rode in a wagon from Frasers Ridge.
Catriona brought stew and beer, traveled by horse from Wilmington.
Jocelyn brought haggis and ale and walked from Jamestown.
Serease brought cake and wine and traveled by boat from Cape Fear.
And Wynda brought bridies and coffee and traveled by donkey from New Bern.

29 Lasses submitted answers to the challenge out of a possible 56. That is 52 % and a verra nice number indeed! And of those 29, 15 of them were perfect scores. Braw job, lassies!

Perfect scores were received from Sineag, Muirne, Elspeth, Isobel and Morven (of Beauchamp), Vika, Phaedra and Isla of Fraser, Kinley, Aislinn, Imogene and Ide of MacKenzie, and Caireann, Bea and Ceana of Murray. (The bolded names are the lasses who were among the first 10 with perfect scores.)

The Players:
Clan Beauchamp: Entries were recieved from Sineag, Muirne, Elspeth, Isobel, Morven, Nemetona, Caroline and Ealasaid Farquharson
Clan Fraser: Entries were recieved from: Vika, Phaedra, Isla, Bonny May and Nannag.
From the MacKenzies we heard from: Kinley, Aislinn, Imogene, Ide, Kellan, Sophia, Ceanna, Catriona Mac, Mrs. Fitz, Catriona Duncan and Eadgyth.
And from the Murrays: Caireann, Bea, Ceana, Zella and Eileen.
Well done, lasses!

Early bird goes to Caireann of Clan Murray. Her response was received at 8:27 am on 8/13.
Sneaker goes to Eileen of Clan Murray. Her response was received at 9:27 on 8/20.

The Score:
Beauchamp: 58 + 4EP + 8 P = 70
Fraser: 30 + 2 EP + 5 P = 37
MacKenzie: 48 + 2 EP + 11 P = 61
Murray: 41 + 1 EB + 2 EP + 5 P + 1 SN = 52 +
5 (game winner) = 57

EB = Early Bird
EP = Early Perfect (first 10 perfect scores)
P = Participation
SN = Sneaker

The names of the 15 lasses wi' perfect scores will be going into a hat and the winner will be drawn. Before we do that, please make sure that if you sent something in, you see your name above.

Thanks for playing along with us. We enjoyed the swap, the games, getting to know our old Outlander friends better, getting to know our new Outlander friends and seeing and sharing all of the sporrans.

Respectfully submitted,

Your Chieftesses: Eilis, Fiona, Mordag and Seonag

Murray Challenge - Sections 2 and 3

This next challenge is brought to you, courtesy of our Murray Sisters. Answers are due by midnight EST on June 23, 2010. Please email your answers to highlandergames at ymail dot com and have Murray in the subject line. Please include your swap name, your clan name and your rav name. Have fun!

~Seonag

Murrray Challenge - Sections 2 and 3

DiA Clan Gathering

The Dragonfly in Amber swap is set to begin in less than two weeks. Just a few housekeeping items:

Each clan will have 15 members and one clan leader: Eilis=Vicjorob of Clan Beauchamp, Fiona=Cinnamonamon of Clan Fraser, Kellan=Knitmo of Clan Mackenzie, and Mordag Elsbeth McLean=Abitknottie now of Clan Murray. Assistant clan leaders will be identified within each clan camp. The clans are:

• Clan Beauchamp (Claire’s family): blush pink and tawny rose dusted with tan and lavender.
• Clan Fraser (Jamie’s paternal line): Red, dark blue, hunter green & a touch of white
• Clan MacKenzie (Jamie’s maternal line): Moss green, grey, red, white
• Clan Murray (Jamie’s sister married into this line): royal blue & kelly green with a touch of red

Each clan is represented by colors found in historical clan tartans. However, clan colors will not play a significant role in this particular clan gathering but can be used if so desired. Rather this clan gathering will focus on themes inspired by the second book in the Outlander series – Dragonfly in Amber. Such themes can include dragonflies, amber, wine, King Louis XV’s court, French- inspired things, and herbal-inspired things (re: Mr. Raymond’s shoppe). Individual clans may even get together secretly to come up with a special thematic item to include in their packages.
This is NOT a secret swap, so get your talk on – communicate, communicate, communicate. To help get the chatter going, we will post simple questions that can be fodder for your blog, posts to the message board, and/or communications with your spoiler and spoilee.

So, let the fun begin.

CLAN GATHERING

Scottish clans were originally a Highland way of life. The Highland clan was, above all things, a family; a family in which everybody believed they were all, from chief to blacksmith, descended from one founder or progenitor. They regarded themselves as very close kinsmen. This Swap is dedicated to such clan families and will be organized into the following clans (in alphabetical order):

• Clan Beauchamp (Claire’s family)
• Clan Duncan (Geillis and others)
• Clan Fraser (Jamie’s paternal line)
• Clan MacKenzie (Jamie’s maternal line)
• Clan Murray (Jamie’s sister married into this line)

Each clan will have 15 members and one clan chieftan: Eilis Beauchamp, Catrionia Duncan, Ms. Fraser, Kellan Mackenzie, and Jenny Murray . Each clan will be represented by colors found in historical clan tartans. Eilis also is the chief of this clan gathering (i.e., swap coordinator). Sign-ups will be limited to the first 15 in each clan for a total of 80 people.

Go the to Ravelry group "Outlander Fans" for information about how to join this clan gathering. We're waiting on ya'.