The Southampton Concert band invites music lovers from everywhere to attend its Spring Concert at the Port Elgin United Church.
“We will be performing all of your favourites of Scottish musical history on 27 May, 7-830 pm. Entry is by donation,” says director John Wills.
Special guests for the evening will be two local pipers, Pipe Major Andy Mackenzie and Piper Steve Wolfe.
Bruce County has a long Scottish heritage and with it, a long musical tradition. It even derives its name from James Bruce, 8th Earl of Elgin and 12th Earl of Kincardine and who was the sixth Governor General of Canada.
In an article that was written by A.R. (Archie) MacKinnon, who was Dean Of Education at Simon Fraser University in British Columbia and who now lives in Guelph, he wrote that, “During the early pioneer period, Gaelic would appear to have been a dominant language in Bruce County. In certain areas, for example Ripley and Tiverton, services in the churches were conducted in Gaelic first and English secondly up until the early 1930s. Gaelic was also a common language of commerce and certainly it was a dominant medium for preserving the traditions of Scotland. A wide range of Gaelic songs, stories, piping tunes, recipes and folk sayings which had their origins in Scotland, flourished in Bruce County in the pioneer period and continued almost up to the present day and which are unique to the County.”
Bruce County Tartan
The design is attributed to Lord Bruce, the son of the Earl of Elgin, and chief of the Clan Bruce. It was adapted from the Clan Bruce tartan.
Two blue stripes were added to represent the coastline of Lake Huron and Georgian Bay