Extracts from

Out-going North American Society President
Rev. Christopher McMullen, N.B. (left) with
his cousin Father Allan MacMillan, N.S.

See (and print-out if you want to) original published version: Page 1 (PDF file)

NEWS
(original version in PDF: Page 2)

NEW CLAN CENTRE TRUSTEE
Connall Bell, Ambassador at Large for the Pacific Branch of Clan MacMillan (pictured below),
has been invited by the chief to become a Trustee of the Clan Centre.
He and the members of his branch will be playing host to George and Jane
in California in February of 2002. If you live on the west coast
of the United States or in the state of Arizona, which the chief will also visit,
please contact Connall for details of George and Jane's itinerary:
Tel: (818) 791-0930; Email: cpbell@earthlink.net

GEORGE TO BE CHIEF IN GLASGOW, KENTUCKY
George and Jane have accepted an invitation to be Honoured Guests
at the Glasgow Highland Games in Kentucky, 30 May - 2 June, 2002.
Graeme, who attended these most enjoyable games earlier this year,
has also been invited, and will be giving a special presentation
for MacMillans, as well as general seminars on Scottish history & genealogy.

NORTH AMERICAN PRESIDENT HAILS SUCCESS OF GATHERING IN THE MARITIMES
Rev. Chris McMullen, the outgoing President of the Clan MacMillan Society of North America,
reports that 117 kinfolk participated at different times in the gathering in the Canadian Maritimes in August, including four from New Zealand, seven from Scotland (including the chief and his wife), twenty from the United States, and twenty two from parts of Canada outwith the Maritimes. One of the seven from Scotland was Catriona, wife of Alex Macmillan from Blairlogie near Stirling, who has kindly chronicled the main events for us in an article to be found on the centre pages. President Chris concludes his review of the two weeks of hot weather, hectic travel, and harmonious socialising with the following thoughts: I was especially encouraged by the firm concensus … for the future and the "mission" of the Clan MacMillan Society of North America, as a continent-wide society of committed kinfolk who will encourage local clan societies and branches, and facilitate communication among them and with our Chief and the Clan Centre…. Anyone who has attended any of these marvellous biennial events, which alternate between Canada and the USA, can only endorse these sentiments; and look forward to the next such event, to be organised - probably in New York - by Chris's successor Andrew MacMillan in the summer of 2003. In the meantime those of us who were in Canada this year will always remember with special affection the star of most of the the shows, Susannah, the charming little girl being fostered then by John B. and Blanche McMillan. She is undoubtedly the youngest person yet to be accorded the very special status of an honorary MacMillan, and is pictured below wearing a MacMillan tartan outfit that Blanche made many years ago for one of her own daughters, when they were no doubt equally entrancing babes!

MAKING MERRY IN THE MARITIMES
by Catriona Macmillan

Have you ever wished a remark unsaid? I happened to mention to Graeme that I kept a diary and before I knew it, I found myself with the impossible task of writing about the 2001 Clan MacMillan Gathering in North America. Impossible, I say, because how can one give a brief account of ten wonderful days spent in the company of people who went from being complete strangers to becoming genuine friends. The Gathering got off to a fine start on Friday, August 3rd with a banquet at the Rodd Royalty Inn, Charlottetown on Prince Edward Island. The guest speaker, the Hon. Norman Carruthers, gave a most entertaining talk and, at one stage, it was suggested that one didn't have to be a MacMillan - to sleep with one was qualification enough! The Maritime Celtic Group, the Mizzamen provided first class musical entertainment. The following day, we attended the Eldon Highland Games opened by the Chief and his wife. What a beautiful setting and what a marvellous time we had watching the dancers and the heavyweight competitions and listening to foot-tapping music. Here I must confess that the highlight for me was finding my own clan, the McNicols represented and, for a short time, I slipped away from the bosom of the MacMillans! On Sunday, a church service was held at St John's Presbyterian Church, Belfast and afterwards, the congregation laid on a lovely buffet for us in the church hall where we were able to mingle with the local people. I, personally, did enjoy listening to Sandy (pictured left) play his pipes as I wandered among the gravestones.

In the evening, we drove to Victoria a beautiful seaside village where we watched a comedy called "Maritime Way of Life". On Monday, August 6th, after a farewell brunch, we said goodbye to friends staying behind, and I, for one, left this beautiful island with genuine regrets which in some ways diminished my admiration for the spectacular Confederation Bridge taking us on our way to New Brunswick. We arrived in Fredericton in time to enjoy a walking tour of this historic city. In the evening, an informal reception was held at the Fredericton Inn. The next day was devoted to workshops on Celtic spirituality where the lectures by Graeme on "Celts, Clansmen and Churchmen", Dr Andrea Schutz on "Celtic Spirituality and Folklore" and Chris on "The Faith of our Emigrant Kinsfolk" were really most interesting and absorbing. In the evening, there was Celtic Evensong at Christchurch Cathedral and later at the Inn, Frances Helyar, folklore researcher, composer and entertainer rounded the day off, ably assisted by some clan members, with her selection of music and song. On Wednesday we spent a most enjoyable day wandering around King's Landing Historic Village talking to people in costume acting the roles of early settlers. To end the day, there was a banquet during which the Chief spoke and the time passed pleasantly with music and personal anecdotes. Sh! Two rebels mingled with other guests, one wearing the McNicol tartan and the other the Crawford (pictured right).

Once again, it was time to say our goodbyes to new friends as we set off for our final destination, Cape Breton in Nova Scotia. En route, we had a picnic lunch at the Jost Vineyards and afterwards, a short tour of the vineyard itself and the cellar finishing up with some wine-tasting. Off again and we stopped at Pictou to visit the Hector, the ship which brought the first Highland immigrants to Nova Scotia in 1773. Arriving at the Trailsman Motel near Baddeck at about 10pm, Chris discovered a slight problem regarding accommodation. Suffice to say, most of us were soon settled but I am currently working on the plot of my first novel entitled, "Where Slept the Vicar"! Next day, we had a tour of the Alexander Graham Bell Museum, a truly fascinating place dedicated to a truly remarkable man. He must be a MacMillan Bell! Our national bard was remembered at the banquet later when Sandy piped in the haggis and Andrew addressed it with great feeling.

Above: Clair MacMillan, N.S.,
with George and Jane

On Saturday, we visited the College of Gaelic Arts at St Anne's, Cape Breton where we attended workshops and demonstrations in Gaelic speech, singing, dancing, piping and fiddling. After a traditional codfish supper, we had a ceilidh with a choir, fiddlers and dancers. On the final day, we attended St Andrew's RC Church in Judique and during the service the investiture took place of two past presidents of the Society, namely, John F. "Lofty" and Clara MacMillan but, due to ill health, neither was able to attend so their grandsons stood in for them. Afterwards, we had a lovely lunch in the church hall where we were made so welcome. Mid-afternoon, we crossed by ferry to Iona where we had a fascinating tour of Iona Highland Village followed by a meal and a farewell ceilidh. It was a truly memorable evening of songs - Father Allan's unaccompanied singing in Gaelic was so moving - poems, stories, sing-songs and fiddle playing, this last by two very talented young lads and was the perfect setting for saying farewell to George and Jane.

Sleeping Beauties at Kings Landing, N.B.
Susannah the Babe & Hazel "the Hat" Huckvale

The evening did end on a rather worrying note, for me anyway, when Jane let slip to someone that, to help Clan funds and save money, she might consider swimming home. I couldn't help thinking that as Alex and I were flying home on August 21st and George was safely back at Finlaystone reading the book he refused to relinquish to Jane on that last evening, somewhere far below us Jane might still be striking out boldly for the Scottish shores! To end on a personal note, Alex and I wish to say a big thank you to everyone who made our first overseas gathering such a delightful experience and a special thank you to the folks of the Maritime Provinces especially those who ferried us to the various venues - namely, David & Joyce, Winston & Marguerite and Margaret Bell (all of PEI), Peggy, Bert, and Chris (NB) and Sandy (NS). Tapadh Leibh Agus Beannachd Leibh.

Glenn & Flower MacMilan, New York, USA,
with Sheron Wenzl, ON, and her mother
Peggy MacMillan, N.B.

For published version of the above in PDF see Pages 4 & 5

ALSO TO BE FOUND IN ISSUE NO.17:

Bill & Carol MacMillan at Montreal Highland Games

"M'MILLAN GENEALOGY AND PROJECT MAOL REPORT"
which includes the latest discoveries about the Macmillan of Glenpean family,
a note about the many M'millan entries to be found in the General Register of Deeds
and county registers of deeds to be found in the Scottish National Archives,
and an explanation of why the name McGill equates to McMillan.
PLUS FIVE NEW DOCUMENTED SPELLINGS OF M'MILLAN
on Page 6 (PDF file - for which you'll need Adobe Acrobat Reader)

"A VIEW FROM THE ARCHIVIST'S (CANADIAN) AERIE"
which reports Graeme's visits to the Highland Games at
Maxville, ON, and Montreal, PQ, to publicise the GR2002 gathering,
and on his trip to "The Garden of Eden" in Pictou County, N.S.,
where Macmillans of his branch settled in the late 18th and early 19th centuries
after emigrating from Glen Urquhart
on Page 7 (PDF file)

Howard McMillan, Glen Urquhart MacMillan
descendant in Pictou County, Nova Scotia

Issue No. 17 also contains the latest Clan MacMillan International Directory
and an update on plans for GR2002 (for which see separate pages on this website).

Click here to find out how to subscribe to the twice-yearly magazine

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