Clans of students at St. Andrew’s School laced up their sneakers, slipped on their kilts and went to battle Thursday during the annual Scottish Games.
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Seventh-grader Garrett Floyd emerged from the playing field out of breath. After the bagpipe parade he had done everything from tossing a traditional Scottish log, or caber, to a not-so-traditional three-legged race and a relay with a tennis ball balanced on a spoon.
Garrett’s red, MacDonald Clan tartan hung across his shoulder, and the smudged grease paint on his cheeks was reminiscent of Mel Gibson in the movie “Braveheart.”
“I’m sweaty,” Garrett said. “I’ve been carrying tennis balls around, running with my leg tied to a partner, shooting free throws and eating cookies.”
Each year the Wilmington Island private school celebrates its Scottish heritage by hosting games like those of ancient Scottish Highlanders who gathered before a hunt to show off their strength and agility.
St. Andrew’s School was once affiliated with the Presbyterian Church, which rose from the Protestant Reformation in Scotland. In the 1970s, when the church relinquished the school so that it could become an independent, nonprofit institution governed by a board of trustees, St. Andrew’s held on to its Scottish traditions.
Every student who enrolls is assigned to a clan — Stewart, Campbell, Chisholm, MacDonald, MacDuff or MacPherson. Each clan has its own plaid pattern banner, or tartan, that denotes a clan or family group. Younger students are teamed with older mentors within their clan, and they carry their banners to various events throughout the year. The clans proudly have the ribbons won at the Scottish Games throughout the years on their tartans.
“It’s a point of pride,” said St. Andrew’s spokesman Scott Searcy.
Ginger Wilkins wore her green and blue Graham family tartan to cheer her two St. Andrew’s students on during the games. She stood in the bleachers and videotaped her son as he ran by with his matching kilt flapping in the wind.
“St. Andrew’s is based on Scottish heritage, and they’re carrying on those traditions with field day,” Wilkins said. “I think it’s great.”
Some students wore authentic kilts and some wrapped tartan swatches around their gym shorts. Head of School Mark Toth played an active role in keeping the students in a celebratory spirit Thursday, but decided to sport long pants.
“Have you seen my legs?” he asked.