T’was a bonnie day, it was! A spring morning near the lake—with the birds chirpin’ and the pipes pipin’. And the pretty tartans a-flappin’ in the breeze!
Oh sorry, Tallahasseeans, for the brogue and the burr. But April 6—known in the United States and Canada as Tartan Day, in Scotland as its 1320 Independence Day, and here in Northeast Tallahassee as the day when Louise Fleischmann Maclay donated Maclay Gardens to the State of Florida 72 years ago—was both a thrilling Scottish spectacle of commemoration and a folksy family reunion.
In pleated plaids, pipers droned and drummers beat a heart-pounding march across the oak-circled lawn of the Maclay House. For many of the 43 members of the Alfred B. and Louise Maclay family, who had come from across the country, it was their first time visiting the property. But decked out in specially created “Maclay Tartan” baseball caps and in a variety of plaid dresses, shorts, and shoes, the Maclay clan seemed to grow more proud as the day progressed…