Bruce Cameron Williams had spent more than 40 years wondering about the meaning of the initials engraved on a silver Scottish brooch passed down to him by a distant relative.
The mystery was solved after the 77-year-old New York state resident contacted the Royal Scottish Highland Games Association (RSHGA), where Highland Games expert Alasdair MacDonald identified the initials and traced the brooch to an 1845 prize.
Williams was given the brooch during a visit to Inverness in 1983. The relative who gave it to him said she wanted to keep it in the family and in the hands of a piper. Williams plays the bagpipes and has displayed the heirloom ever since.
The front of the silver plaid brooch is engraved with thistles, the initials “D.C.H.F.S.” and the date “1845”. On the reverse are the words “To Jas. McPherson” and “for Pibrochs”. A pibroch is music played on the bagpipes.
Williams spent years trying to determine what the initials represented. He said he had written to everyone he could think of and repeatedly searched online without success.
“Then one recent day, I located online the Royal Scottish Highland Games Association, sent an email requesting help, and in less than 24 hours had the most remarkable response from one of their members, Alasdair MacDonald,” he said.
MacDonald identified “D.C.H.F.S.” as the Dunkeld Caledonian Highland Friendly Society, the awarding body connected with the brooch.
An RSHGA spokesman said MacDonald also found a report in the Perthshire Advertiser dated July 10, 1845. The report said that at a meeting of the society, a “handsome silver brooch” was presented for “Pibroch to J. McPherson, Fonab”.
The same report said McPherson had been judged the “best attired Highlander” and received a “silver-mounted Snuff-Mull”.
Further research identified Jas. McPherson as one of the pipers to Lord Glenlyon of Blair Atholl.
Williams said he had believed the brooch must have been a Highland Games prize because it was clearly not regimental. He described himself as “thrilled” to finally know its origins.
“I have always treasured this brooch because of what it is, and the way it was given to me from the most distant of Inverness relatives on that exceedingly moving Remembrance Day Sunday along the banks of the River Ness,” he said.
“Now, over 40 years later, I am enjoying it all the more thanks to the helpful people at the Royal Scottish Highland Games Association, and in particular to their scholarly, professional and friendly expert, Alasdair MacDonald.
“To say that I am grateful is inadequate: I am thrilled with the information, and overwhelmed by the responsiveness of Mr MacDonald and the RSHGA.”
Williams is interested in eventually returning the brooch to Scotland and hopes that an appropriate place can be found where it could be displayed.
MacDonald said he was happy to help identify the inscription.
“As soon as I saw it, within a minute I had the results because I knew what it stood for,” he said. “I’ve got the history of 1,616 different Highland Games so anybody who wants to know the history of Highland Games, I can spit it out instantly because I’ve got all the history.”
Iain Watt, director of the RSHGA, said the organisation welcomed queries connected with the past.
“It’s nice to be able to help people out with these queries which reach back to another time – times change but the Highland Games carry on,” he said.
