The descendants of one of the founding fathers of a historic Highland Games gathering will travel more than 3,000 miles across the Atlantic to attend the event for the first time.
In his role as chairman, William Mackintosh was one of 20 men who organised the inaugural Aboyne Highland Games in 1867.
And in August, his great-grandson Duncan Mackintosh will fly to Scotland from America to see the games for himself, after he discovered his ancestor’s connection to the annual celebration while looking into his family tree online last year.
Mr Mackintosh later found out that his ancestor has also been Lord Provost of the Aberdeenshire village.
He said: “I knew my family came from Aboyne, but did not know anything about my great-grandfather’s connection with the Aboyne Highland Games, or being Lord Provost of Aboyne.
“When my father and I visited in 1967, he showed me where the family had stayed at Mill Cottage in Aboyne before they moved to Aberdeen.
“Learning what we have in the past year has filled in some of the blanks about our Scottish family tree, and opens doors to enable further exploration.”
Mr Mackintosh will take his wife Annie along on his journey, and their daughters Eliza and Adelaide.
He added: “We’re really excited about our visit to Aboyne and celebrating our family’s link with the Aboyne Highland Games.
“It sounds like a fantastic event with lots going on – bagpipes, highland dancing, tug of war and all the athletic events.
“What more could you ask for as a celebration of Scottish culture?”.
Alistair Grant, the chairman of the event, said: “When we set out to build a picture of our founding committee as part of our 150th anniversary celebrations in 2017, we never expected to be contacted by one of their descendants living overseas.
“We were surprised when Duncan got in touch and are thrilled that he and his family are making the journey across the Atlantic to attend this year’s Aboyne Highland Games.”
The games take place on Saturday, August 3, at the Village Green in Aboyne.
Events will commence at 10.30am, and continue throughout the afternoon.
