Heritage, homecoming, and haggis

Across the Atlantic, memories meet DNA, and what ancestors left behind is seen fresh

November 30, 2008|Peter Mandel, Globe Correspondent

ABERDEEN - My earliest memory is of oatmeal. Not a crib, not a baby's toy. A bowl. Behind it, with a busy spoon, was my grandmother, Nanny Liz, who made it clear to me, even in those days, that I was by half a Scot.

Next year will mark Scotland's first-ever homecoming celebration, along with the 250th anniversary of the birth of Robert Burns, the national poet. Homecoming Scotland will officially kick off Jan. 24-25, picking up on the annual tradition of Burns Suppers full of poetry and fatty foods. The biggest-ever Burns Supper will be shared across Scotland and around the world.

I decided to get a preview of all this and planned a trip for late last month. I wanted to hear a bagpipe, have a bite of haggis, and be fitted for a McGregor tartan kilt. In honor of Nanny Liz, my grandfather, and the legions of McGregors and Emslies who went before them I would eat oats in the "auld country."

Homecoming 2009, with a year of events scattered around the country, may be the largest celebration ever held here, according to Johanna Campbell of the tourism website Extra Mile Scotland. And it's about more than Burns. "We'll be toasting some of Scotland's contributions to the world," she said. "Golf, whiskey, great minds and innovations, and Scotland's culture and heritage."

One highlight is the International Genealogy Festival planned for July. Reading about it gave me an idea. Using Edinburgh's new center for family research, I would dip into the past on my trip. How much could I learn in 10 days? I didn't know. But my goal was to scope out the farm where my grandmother grew up and as many other family landmarks as I could.

My Scottish side comes from around Aberdeen, Scotland's raw and heathered northeast. The morning I arrive is sunny and the area is as spread out as the sea - and as sparkly. "It's the granite houses," explains my cousin, Greig, who meets me at the station. "The stone is speckled with mica. But doesn't it look like silver?" It does.

The next day, Greig and I drive to the area near Inverurie where our McGregor ancestors owned a farm and market and where the family of my grandfather Thom Emslie were the gardeners at Fetternear, a local laird's estate.

Hills on the horizon are purple with dots and dashes of forest. Fields are full of fat black cows. "Aberdeen Angus cattle," says Greig. "Great steak, great steak." For a few miles we're following The Castle Trail - an area where wealthy families built manors alongside two twisting rivers: the Don and the Dee.

Fetternear estate is easy to find thanks to Greig and to records I've clicked through at the Scotlands People Centre for family research in Edinburgh. The cen ter has collected almost 500 years of census, birth, and marriage records, all searchable online.