
Our 2023 Clan Cultural Row Information
St. Andrew’s Society of Detroit cordially invites your Clan’s participation in the oldest continuous Highland Games in North America. Our 173rd Annual Highland Games will be held again at Greenmead Historical Park in Livonia, Michigan on Saturday August 5, 2023.
Blessing of the Tartans
Few countries in the world can boast a life span as rich or diverse as Scotland. The true story of the people, the battles, the nobility and its Kings and Queens, is more thrilling than any novel, and has more love stories than all the Hollywood movies. Scotland’s clans provide Scots everywhere with a point of reference for their identity, history and culture.

The term clan is now applied almost exclusively to the tribes into which the Scottish Highlanders were formerly, and still, to some extent, are divided. The term was also applied to those large and powerful septs into which the Irish people were at one time divided, as well as to the communities that inhabited the Scottish borders, each of which, like the Highland clans, had a common surname. Indeed, in an Act of the Scottish Parliament for 1587, the Highlanders and Borderers are classed together as being alike “dependents on chieftains or captains of clans.”
The border clans, however, were, at a comparatively early period, broken up and weaned from their predatory and warlike habits, whereas the system of clanship in the Highlands continued to flourish in almost full vigor down to the middle of the 18th century.
As there is so much of romance surrounding the system, especially in its later manifestations, and as it was the cause of much annoyance to England, it has become a subject of interest to antiquarians and students of mankind generally; and as it flourished so far into the historical period, curiosity can, to a great extent, be gratified as to its details and working.
Few countries in the world can boast a life span as rich or diverse as Scotland. The true story of the people, the battles, the nobility and its Kings and Queens, is more thrilling than any novel, and has more love stories than all the Hollywood movies. Scotland’s clans provide Scots everywhere with a point of reference for their identity, history and culture.
The term clan is now applied almost exclusively to the tribes into which the Scottish Highlanders were formerly, and still, to some extent, are divided. The term was also applied to those large and powerful septs into which the Irish people were at one time divided, as well as to the communities that inhabited the Scottish borders, each of which, like the Highland clans, had a common surname. Indeed, in an Act of the Scottish Parliament for 1587, the Highlanders and Borderers are classed together as being alike “dependents on chieftains or captains of clans.”
The border clans, however, were, at a comparatively early period, broken up and weaned from their predatory and warlike habits, whereas the system of clanship in the Highlands continued to flourish in almost full vigor down to the middle of the 18th century.
As there is so much of romance surrounding the system, especially in its later manifestations, and as it was the cause of much annoyance to England, it has become a subject of interest to antiquarians and students of mankind generally; and as it flourished so far into the historical period, curiosity can, to a great extent, be gratified as to its details and working.
Clan Fraser – 2022 Nesbitt Cup Winner
Our Nesbitt Cup and Past Winners
Clans that will be in attendance in 2023: (indicates website)
Bell of the Borders (ClanBell.org)
Clan Boyd House of (ClanBoyd.org)
Clan Buchanan (clanbuchanan)
Clan Campbell (ccsna.org)
Daughters of the British Empire (dbenational.org)
Clan Donnachaidh (clandonnachaidh)
Clan Donald (clandonaldusa)
Clan Elliot (elliotclan-usa)
Clan Farquharson (clanfarquharsonN.A.)
Clan Fraser (cfsna.com)
Clan Gordon House of (houseofgordonusa)
Clan Gunn (ClanGunn)
Clan Hay (ClanHay)
Clan Innes (claninnes)
Clan Irvine
Clan Lamont (ClanLamont)
Clan Logan (ClanLoganSociety.org)
Livonia Masons (livoniamasons)
Clan MacCallum-Malcolm (ClanMacCallum-Malcolm)
Clan MacKay (ClanMackay)
Clan Machlachlan (ClanMachlachlan)
Clan MacIntosh (ClanMacIntosh)
Clan MacKenzie (ClanMackenzie.com)
Clan MacKinnon (TheMacKinnon.com)
Clan MacLaine of Lochbuie (maclaine.org)
Clan Maclarenna (clanmaclarenna)
Clan MacMillian (clanmacmillan.org)
Clan MacPherson (MacPherson)
Clan MacTavish (ClanMacTavish)
Clan Martin (ClanMartin)
Clan Nesbitt/Nisbet (ClanNesbitt)
Clan Sinclair (clansinclair)
Clan Young (ClanYoung.com)
Questions about Clans?
Contact:
Clan Coordinator at clans@detroitscots.com