Ken McColm, Former
Australian Branch Secretary, writes:
On Sunday 3rd May 2009 nine members of the
Australian branch of the Clan MacThomas Society and three of
their guests attended the dedication of the MacThomas stone
and plaque in the Wall of History at the Australian Standing
Stones site in Glen Innes, New South Wales. The stone had been
picked up within six foot of the Cockstane in Glenshee and
presented by Finegand to the Australian Secretary, Ken McColm,
in August 2008. The weather was kind to us, a lovely autumn
day with the sun shining on us - it could not have been
better.
Also present were representatives of several
other Clans, including a lieutenant of Clan Lamont,
Commissioners from Clans Finley, and officers from The
Australian Scottish Heritage Council. I felt quite overwhelmed
being a mere lance corporal.
The members attending were Jill and Ken McColm,
Ian and Val Thom, Alexandra
and Michael Blomeley, Iain Coombs, Catherine
Thom and former secretary Marguerite Knight. Also there as guests of
members were Iain’s wife Mary and two friends of
Marguerite.
The Glen Innes site is well chosen, if a little
too far from Melbourne - a two hour flight and a 5 hour
drive.It is a flat piece of ground where the Standing stones
are mounted, on the side of a hill.The visitor centre and Wall
of History overlook the stones. The whole site is extremely well
thought out and tastefully done,
not flashy at all.A fitting tribute to the Celtic nations it
is meant to honour. Each year at the Australian Standing
stones they honour one group and this year it was the
Welsh.
There was plenty to see and to spend your money
on, as well as Welsh choirs, Scottish and Irish dancing, heavy
games and even jousting. I do not know where they came in –
they seemed more Norman/Saxon to me. I may be wrong, but good
fun all the same.What I did notice is that the other nations
items were friendlier than the Scot’s - ours seem to be much
more warlike, with pipes, marching, sgian dubhs,dirks and
claymores.
The
wall in my opinion is a little too large at the moment and the
sixty or so stones already there seem a bit lost with room for
another 150 stones, but it will fill eventually and look
great. If you are in the area I believe it to be well worth
the time to visit there.
The
ceremony was made up of:
●
Flower of Scotland played on the pipes by
Iain Coombs, Branch Piper.
●
Opening Address by Ken McColm
●
A message from Finegand (read by Ken
McColm)
●
A Prayer lead by Catherine Thom
●
Closing Address by Ken McColm
●
The March of the MacThomases, Lady Finegand's Air and Thomsons
Dirk
played on the
pipes by Iain Coombs.
The
texts of the various addresses and the message are reproduced
in full below:
Opening Address:
Clan Commissioners, fellow MacThomas’s and
ladies and gentlemen.As most of you know my name is Ken
McColm, and as secretary of the Australian branch of the Clan
MacThomas society, and representing Andrew MacThomas of
Finegand here today, I welcome you all on his behalf to Glen
Innes.For the dedication of the stone presented to me by
McComie Mhor at the meeting place of the MacThomas’s atour
ancestral home of Glenshee, Perthshire, Scotland, known to us
as the Cockstane,in August 2008.
This stone was chosen by me and was picked up
within 2 metres of the 'Claich na Choilic'. It was most
probably there when John McComie chased the tax collectors
away and the rooster landed on the ancient rock to give the
rock the name it is now known by. How many of your forbears,
have trod on it or kicked it all those years
ago?
I
have here a small message to you all from Andrew MacThomas
19th chief of Clan MacThomas.
Message
from Finegand:
Clansmen and women, the Clan MacThomas society
has had an active branch in Australia since the 1970’s. I
myself was lucky enough to visit your wonderful country in
1982 as the guest of the Australian Scottish Heritage
Council.While I was there I was delighted to be able to meet
many of you who are involved in ensuring that all peoples of
Australia appreciate and always remember the huge role Scots
have played in the history of your country.
Scotland
has some of the oldest rock formations in the World, where
some are an unbelievable three billion years old. In a
ceremony last year in Glenshee Scotland, from where most
MacThomas’s originally come from, I presented a piece of
ancient rock from our clan lands to Ken McColm, the secretary
in Australia to take back with him.
I am
delighted this stone is to be inaugurated today at Glen Innes
in perpetuity.The Clan MacThomas plaque recording this
historic moment includes on it such well known names as Thom,
Thoms, McOmish and McCombie amongst others, which are all
connected to this clan.
This will
enable those Australians bearing such names who visit this
beautiful place in the future to see at a glance a part of
their ancient heritage.
I am sure you
will all have a memorable day and I am just sorry I cannot be
with you.Finegand.
Closing
Address:
Thank you
all for coming here today. I hope you all feel as I do that to
have a little piece of our ancestral lands here in Australia
is a bit special.Jill and I visited here in August 2007 on the
way home from my daughter Alexandra's wedding. We both felt
then, that a stone in this wonderful and tastefully done
tribute to the Celtic nations would be a fitting place for it
to rest. I hope you do.
