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7 January, 2026
Brigadoon organisers name Chieftain of the Day
Preparations for the 2026 Bundanoon Highland Gathering (Brigadoon) are in full swing
Preparations for the 2026 Bundanoon Highland Gathering (Brigadoon) are in full swing with the organising committee naming the Chieftain of the Day for this year’s event.
The honour has gone to Frank MacGregor, High Commissioner and Chiefs Lieutenant for Clan Gregor Australia and the Honorary Consul for the United Kingdom in Tasmania.
Mr MacGregor is well known in the Australian Scottish community and regularly attends Scottish-related gatherings across the country representing Clan Gregor - one of the most ancient and famous of all the highland clans in Scotland.
As Chieftain of the Day, Mr MacGregor will be responsible for officially opening and closing Brigadoon and will participate in a number of different activities throughout the day.
Organisers say the Chieftain of the Day is recognised as the most important person at the event.
Mr MacGregor has an impressive background.
In 2015 he was elected on to the Council of the Clan Gregor Society in Scotland as the Overseas Representative for Australasia.
The Clan Gregor Society SCIO was established in 1822 and is one of the oldest clan societies in the world.
In 2016, Mr MacGregor helped co-ordinate a documentary on the Clan Gregor Society titled ‘No Surrender’ with Charles Wooley from 60 Minutes.
Also in 2016, he became the Honorary Consul for the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland in Tasmania and continues in this role.
In 2018, Clan Chief Sir Malcolm MacGregor awarded Mr MacGregor with the title of High Commissioner for Clan Gregor in the Commonwealth of Australia and Chiefs Lieutenant with the approval and official documentation from the Lord Lyon Court of Scotland enabling him to wear the feathers of the position.
In October 2025, Mr MacGregor was appointed as the new Dean of the Consular Corps of Tasmania with the ceremony taking place at Government House.
Historians believe Clan Gregor to be the purest branch of the ancient Gael of Scotland now in existence – true descendants in short of the native stock of the country.
Known as Clan Alpine or Race of Alpine, they descended from the first known inhabitants of Scotland and were the first people to boil water and create smoke in their ancient lands of Glenorchy.
The Clan claims descent from Griogar, son of King Alpin who was the first united King of Scotland. It was from this that derived the Clan Motto of ‘Royal is our Race’.
In 1589, King James VI, issued an edict proclaiming the name MacGregor “altogidder abolished,” meaning that those who bore the name must renounce it or suffer death.
MacGregor’s were ordered to take on different names and to continue using the name MacGregor openly was to invite an immediate execution. It was practically the genocide of a Scottish Clan.
To hide from their persecutors, they became known as the Children of the Mist.
Famous MacGregor’s include Scottish rogue Rob Roy MacGregor, John McGregor (the piper at the Alamo) and another John MacGregor was one of Bonnie Prince Charlie’s pipers during the 1745 Jacobite Rising.
Clan Gregor has been represented at every Bundanoon Highland Gathering since its inception and regularly outnumbers every at other clan at the event with as many as 70 MacGregor kinfolk in attendance.
This year’s Bundanoon Highlands Gathering will take place on Saturday, April 18 at Bundanoon Oval and is expected to attract as many as 12,000 people.
Brigadoon – which started in 1978 – is now considered one of the region’s most successful events and is widely regarded as one of the finest Highland Gatherings in Australia.
Tickets for this year’s event are available online from ticketbo but will also be available on the day.
Read More: Southern Highlands, Bundanoon