Grandfather Mountain Highland Games and the Standing Council of Scottish Chiefs

Every year the Grandfather Mountain Highland Games invites a clan chief to come to the Games and act as Chieftain of the Games. Grandfather is the preeminent Games in North America for clans and it’s always a great experience for chiefs to come and engage with them.

Grandfather is also the home base for both COSCA – the Council of Scottish Clans and Associations, and for Scottish Heritage USA, two groups with which the SCSC is pleased to maintain a close relationship. The special affection the chiefs hold for this Games led to an unprecedented donation being made by the Standing Council to the relief efforts following Hurricane Helene, a donation which they encouraged their clan societies to match.

The Standing Council was formed at a meeting held on 25th March 1952 in Edinburgh, with the Earl of Elgin, Chief of the House of Bruce, as its founding Convener. At the annual meeting this year his grandson, Lord Charles Bruce, agreed to become the new Convener, succeeding Sir Malcolm MacGregor. Today, there are more than 135 members of the council, including the heads of almost all the major clans and families in Scotland. In October 1984 the Lord Lyon granted corporate arms to the council, featuring the three feathers in gold on a blue background. By tradition in Scotland only a recognised chief of the name, holder of the undifferenced arms, is entitled to wear three feathers.

The council and its members not only liaise actively with their clan societies but also with umbrella groups like COSCA and CASSOC/Scots Canada on matters of mutual interest. Back home, the council also works closely with the Scottish Government both in furthering Scottish interests around the world and in raising awareness within Scotland of the vital role played by heritage tourism in the economy. The Scottish Government launched its Scottish Connections Framework in 2023 as a way to reach out to the Diaspora and appointed Viscount Dunrossil, Vice Convener – Standing Council, to represent the council and by extension the clans on the Scottish Connections Advisory Panel.

Membership of the Standing Council is by invitation only and the council reserves the right to decide which chiefs and clans meet the historical criteria, and merit invitation. In recent years the council has become concerned about the growing number of new societies formed around Scottish surnames in the US, which aspire to have a chief, and yet which unfortunately do not have a compelling history of acting as a clan.

There is no other body in Scotland or in the Diaspora which has the authority to act as an arbiter of authenticity in these matters. Lyon has real legal authority, but his role is primarily, even strictly, heraldic. To fill this vacuum, the SCSC recently decided to make use of its three feathers symbol. Any organisation (clan society, Games, or whatever) to which it grants permission to display the insignia, can be seen as genuine and authentic. We expect that the 3 feathers will come to be seen as a way of assuring the public as to the authenticity of the group displaying them. The same is already happening with manufacturers of clan-related jewelry and other materials.

The Standing Council of Scottish Chiefs applauds the fact that the Grandfather Mountain Highland Games has always placed a high value on preserving and celebrating the authentic traditions of our beloved Scotland.

The Rt. Hon Viscount Dunrossil
Vice Convenor Standing Council of Scottish Chiefs