Scottish Heritage Day at Macon’s Hay House

On April 12, The National Trust for Scotland Foundation, USA and the Knight Fund for Macon of the Community Foundation of Central Georgia hosted the First Annual Scottish Heritage Festival at the Hay House, located on Georgia Avenue.
This event was also held with aid from the Freeman’s Auctioneers and Appraisers.
The Hay House has a Scottish heritage, as the Johnston family who built the house and the Hay family who gave the house to the Georgia Trust both had Scottish ancestry.
The Hay House is one of Macon’s historic houses.
The house was built in 1855-1859 by the Johnston family.
It was donated to the Georgia Trust by the Hay family in 1977.
The Hay House is one many historical places for students to visit if they are interested in touring Macon.
Complete with bagpipes, the First Annual Scottish Heritage Festival began with Senior Curator of the National Trust for Scotland Ian Gow speaking on the Brodick House.
The Brodick House rests on Isle of Arran and belonged to the Dukes of Hamilton for 400 years.
It passed into the ownership of the Scotland Trust after the passing of owner Duchess of Montrose in 1957.
The castle is now in need of help, like many other institutions, because of tightness in the economy.
Gow came to Macon from Edinburgh as a graduate of Trinity College Cambridge.
He became Curator of the National Trust for Scotland in 1998.
He manages a collection of over 50,000 works of art in 26 locations, including palaces and castles like Brodick.
“It was an invitation I could not refuse,” Gow said, regarding his invitation to speak at Macon’s First Scottish Heritage Festival.
“Macon is a very beautiful city, especially when it is spring and flowering. There is a richness of architecture as well.”
The speech was followed by a reception containing Scottish fare.
“Any Mercer student interested in architecture or history would be enlightened by a speaker of this caliber,”
Hay House Director Jonathan Poston stated. Poston was essential for planning the event, which was primarily created for the Macon community.
“The goal of this event is to celebrate the story of this house and to celebrate Scottish heritage,” Poston continued.
The National Trust for Scotland was founded in 1931.
The USA group of the National Trust for Scotland has donated $6.7 million in the 2000s.
Americans have helped to steward 129 properties. Both of these groups aim to support education about history and to support conservation of historical properties.
It is hoped that this event will be the first of many other events celebrating Scottish Heritage at the Hay House with other speakers and events.
The Scottish Heritage Festival hopes to encourage and grow in the Macon cultural community.
In addition to Scottish Heritage events, the Hay House is the home to many interesting events in Macon.
On April 28, the students of the Robert McDuffie Center for Strings will perform a Chamber Ensemble Concert including works by Mozart, Ginastera, Beethoven and more.