Clan Leslie is honoured to have been chosen to be the featured clan at the 2016 Fergus Scottish Festival and Highland Games which runs from Aug. 12 to 14.
Clan Chief, the Honourable Alexander Leslie has been granted the honour of being Grand Chieftain of the festival.
He and his wife Miranda Leslie will be travelling from Edinburgh, Scotland to preside over the Hearth Lightin’ Ceremony at the Friday night tattoo, and the Calling of the Clans ceremony at noon on Saturday.
Well over 100 descendants of the first named Leslie nearly 1000 years ago in 1067 (he was a Hungarian Nobleman, Bartholomew, upon whom King Malcolm Canmore lll bestowed the name), as well as descendants of the five Septs of Clan Leslie, the families Bartholomew, Cairney, Lang, Abernethy and Moore, will be participating.
The families will be travelling from England, Scotland and all over Canada and the United States to attend.
Leslies have spread out across the world, some departing for a new life directly from Scotland, but others spending a couple of hundred years or more in Ireland, before crossing the Atlantic to the United States and Canada.
Many, now living in Wellington County and the Greater Toronto Area (GTA), are descended from pioneer Leslies. They followed wilderness paths marked only by blaze marks on trees for many difficult miles through dense forests, and upon arrival at their allotted parcel of land, struck the first blows of the axe to create the life we now enjoy.
If you and your family are descended from a Leslie or one of the Leslie Sept families, please join the Clan Leslie gathering, being held at the time of the Fergus Festival.
A lot is planned and all events are centred around the festival. The gathering events begin on Aug. 11 and conclude at the festival closing on Aug. 14.
This Clan Leslie gathering is hosted by the Clan Leslie Society International and for more information about registering, please have a look under the “events tab”on our website, http://www.clanlesliesociety.org.
Contact Robert Leslie at 1832leslie@gmail.com, or by phone 519-856-4083 for more information.
More information about the Fergus Scottish Festival and Highland Games can be found at fergusscottishfestival.com.
