Sir Malcolm's Portrait Unveiled

Our thanks to Nashville artist Michael Shane Neal and his personal assistant Shannon Crosslin for sending us their photos of the unveiling of Sir Malcolm Colquhoun's portrait a few weeks ago after the Luss Highland Games.

Shannon tells me that the portrait is a gift of Mr. Rick Calhoun of Arkansas. I've met Patrick Calhoun of Little Rock several years ago and I believe that's him in the suit on the left about to ascend the steps of Rossdhu. Please let me know if I've misidentified him.

Artist Michael Shane Neal speaking before the unveiling.

Sir Malcolm speaking before the unveiling.

The other portraits on the wall behind them are past chiefs of Clan Colquhoun. I believe this is in what was called the Large Drawing Room where the portraits were traditionally displayed.

Shannon tells me all the portraits will be moved to the Clan Museum and Heritage Center when it is completed sometime next year.

The portrait of Sir Malcolm is now added to a collection of portraits spanning over 500 years of the Colquhoun family.

From the tour book “Rossdhu”: Colquhoun Crest and Motto

The Colquhoun of Luss coat-of-arms is obviously connected with the Cross saltire of the Earls of Lennox. But the Chiefs’ heraldic supporters of two greyhounds, together with their crest of a red stag’s head and motto Si Je Puis (“if I can”), are linked with an old tale. The story runs that the king asked the Colquhoun chief to recover Dumbarton Castle from his enemies, that Scots and Gaelic-speaking Luss replied in the Norman-French fashionable at Court at that date, “si je puis”, and then pursued a stag with his hounds past the castle gates. The garrison opened them to join in the chase, whereupon his clansmen rushed the castle and captured it for the king. This clan legend may well be true. For in 1424, at the height of heraldry, King James I decided to overthrow the too powerful Lennox family, and chose John Colquhoun 10th of Luss to be his Governor of Dumbarton Castle and to wrest it from them. Interested heraldists will find the original armorial mourning “hatchments” of several chiefs in the “laird’s loft” or raised family pew in the kirk at Luss: one of the two best sets surviving in all Scotland.
When the Colquhouns went to war, their Chief dipped a charred wooden cross in goat’s blood, and sent this Fiery Cross by relays throughout the entire district of Luss: the bearer, usually mounted on a garron pony, shouting out the name of the gathering-place as he passed. The Colquhoun muster-place was usually at Cnoc Elachan, still the clan “slogan”, the “armoury hillock” near Rossdhu. Here the armed clansmen assembled, many coming by boat as the quickest transport in those roadless days, others by hill tracks, and were issued with arms if they had none and with badges of hazel, the lucky plant of their clan, to wear in their bonnets.

Barclays Scottish Open

Now being played at the Loch Lomond Golf Club.

http://www.barclaysscottishopen.co.uk/

There's a great picture of Rossdhu on their web page.

Rossdhu Souvenir Book

I know this is up somewhere else on the internet, but I don't see why we can't have our own copy. If you've never seen this, it is a book given to you when you paid to go on the tour when Rossdhu was open to the public.