Macdonald, Macfarlane, McNeill and Stewart

You may have noticed that Rod and I both wear the same tartan (Macdonald Dress Modern) in our sash and kilt respectively. I have Scottish heritage through my father Ian (Mac) Macdonald, so Rod chose to adopt my tartan as he didn’t have such an immediate link.

Macdonald is a very common name, and Clan Macdonald (or Donald) is one of the largest and most ancient. Look around at any tartan night and you’re likely to see a number of dancers wearing one of the 32 variations of Macdonald tartan. (For example, Liz Hands, Catherine McCutcheon, Duncan and Mary McDonald, and more I’ve forgotten I’m sure.)

My grandfather was a carpenter who came to Australia from the US, his father was a Macdonald and his mother was a McNeill. He met and married my grandmother, the daughter of a shipwright by the name of Macfarlane from Liverpool, who absconded from his vessel when it docked in Brisbane.

My grandmother’s family ran a kiosk beside the Brisbane river and the family of 13 children all helped operate a rowboat service across the river – I recall my grandmother was a woman with mighty arms! From her I have connections to the more recent Clan Macfarlane.

Until a couple of years ago, I thought my mothers’ side was all English – with names like Bird and Pask. However it turns out there was a Stewart not so far back, so there’s a Stewart connection as well.

With clan mottos Per Mare Per Terras (By Sea and by Land, Macdonald), This I’ll Defend (Macfarlane), Buaidh no Bas (Victory or Death, McNeill) and Virescit vulnere virtus (Courage grows strong at a wound, Stewart), it seems life was one long fight for my Scottish ancestors.

As a child I didn’t really think about these Scottish connections, but my father always sang the old Scottish and Irish songs when we went on long car trips, things like The Bonny Banks of Loch Lomond, and McNamara’s Band. I guess my love of Scottish music came from him.

I also grew up with a love of the pipes, although I’m not sure how that came about. I lived in a small country town with (I think) only one family of pipers who had a son in my class. As it turned out my dad also loved the pipes, but I only discovered that after I’d left home and we never managed to get to a piping event together as he died a few years later.

My mother Veda Pask, encouraged me to follow dancing (my other love), starting with ballet and tap for a couple of years until the ballet teacher left town, then folk and ballroom when the opportunities came along.

Between my parents and my ancestors, I was well primed with historical, musical and dance connections to launch into living life as a Scottish Country dancer.

from Kristin Downey