Plans for Clan Hay’s next gathering in August 2022 are now taking shape.
The remains of the 'new' castle of Slains
These plans have been in train for two years, first postponed from 2020 and then again in 2021, due to Covid. Now, for the first time in two years, we are cautiously confident that this programme will be able to go ahead this year. Visit Scotland, the government agency responsible for promoting Scotland as a tourist destination, has agreed that the grant funding, originally awarded in 2020, then extended to 2021, will be available in 2022.
Slains Castle in its glory days in the early 20th century
Visit Scotland's theme for the year is 'Coasts and Waterways,' which is ideally suited to Clan Hay's historic base on the Aberdeenshire coast. These events will be based in the village of Cruden Bay, close by Slains Castle, for centuries the seat of the Earl of Erroll, Chief of Clan Hay. The four-day programme will run from Friday 5 to Monday 8 August. Although Cruden Bay will be the centre of operations, the programme will take in the Aboyne Highland Games, the site of Clan Hay's main annual gathering for the last forty years, our usual annual lunch at Delgatie Castle, the Clan Hay Centre, and a visit to the Turriff and District Heritage Museum, which contains much of interest about Clan Hay. We hope also to arrange a visit to the Battlefield of Culloden, with a presentation by our local member Burgess Hay, whose direct ancestor fought there.
The draft programme is as follows:
Friday 5 August
10.00 am: Exhibition opens in Cruden Bay village hall, until 6.00 pm
9.00 am and 1.00 pm: Bus tours: Castles of the Coast
11.00 am and 3.00 pm: Bus tours: The Jacobite Coast
8..00 am and 1.00 pm: Boat tours: The Smugglers' Coast
12.00 midday: Guided Walk: The Sands of Forvie
6.00 pm: Lecture: Slains and the Hays of Erroll
8.00 pm: Welcome ceilidh: Music, dancing and stovie supper
Saturday 6 August
Aboyne Highland Games, at Aboyne, Aberdeenshire: Clan Hay tent on the games field
10.00 am - 6.00 pm: Exhibition open in Cruden Bay village hall
9.00 am and 1.00 pm: Bus tours: Castles of the Coast
11.00 am and 3.00 pm: Bus tours: The Jacobite Coast
8.00 am and 1.00 pm: Boat tours: The Smugglers' Coast
6.00 pm: Lecture: The Jacobite Coast
8.00 pm: Re-enactment of the Battle of Cruden
Sunday 7 August
10.00 am: Private guided visit to Turriff and District Heritage Museum, Turriff, Aberdeenshire (tbc with trustees)
12.00 midday: Clan Hay Lunch at the Clan Hay Centre: Delgatie Castle, Turriff, Accompanied by archery and falconry demonstrations
10.00 am - 6.00 pm: Exhibition open in Cruden Bay village hall
9.00 am and 1.00 pm: bus tours: Castles of the Coast
11.00 am and 3.00 pm: bus tours: The Jacobite Coast
8.00 am and 1.00 pm: boat tours: The Smugglers' Coast
3.00 pm: Guided visit to the old and new Castles of Slains
4.00 pm; Guided clifftop walk, Cruden Bay to Boddam, via Bullers o' Buchan
7.00 pm: Lecture: The Smugglers' Coast
Monday 8 August
10.00 am - 2.00 pm: Exhibition open in Cruden Bay village hall
9.00 am: Bus tour: Castles of the Coast
11.00 am: Bus tour: The Jacobite Coast
9.00 am: Boat tour: The Smugglers' Coast
12.00 midday: Guided walk: The Loch of Strathbeg
3.00 pm: Farewell concert, featuring local music, song, story and poetry
The purpose of Visit Scotland's funding is to bring together local communities with those visiting to attend clan gatherings, so all the events around Cruden Bay will also involve local people.
Winter at Delgatie Castle, the Clan Hay Centre
Keep an eye on this website for details of how to book for individual activities. A booking system will be in place by 1 May, which will enable you to reserve spaces for as many, or as few, of these events as you like.
Work is now underway to establish pricing for each of the individual components of these days. Those costs will be kept to a minimum to ensure things are as accessible as possible for all who attend, both visitors from Clan Hay and those from the local community.
Finally, there is the caveat that we shouldn’t take the programme above as inviolate; it may change, although we can now safely say it won’t change significantly. However, the society reserves the right to reschedule the bus and boat tours, for example, based on uptake, and likewise other fixtures in this programme.
From now, weekly articles will appear in the ‘news’ section this site, for 13 weeks on each of the 13 themes and activities this programme represents.
We are all looking forward to getting together with fellow Hays for the first time in three years, and especially to welcoming our overseas cousins once again.