Stars expected at Big Yin's highland party

A galaxy of stars will be enjoying caber tossing and sword dancing at a Highland Games today after being invited by comedian Billy Connolly to his local event.

The Scots comedian, known as the Big Yin, traditionally invites a crowd of celebrity friends to join him at the Lonach Gathering and Highland Games in Strathdon, Aberdeenshire.

This year’s invitees are rumoured to include Sean Connery, who has been in Edinburgh for the International Film Festival this week, and Dame Judi Dench.

Mr Connolly, who owns the 15-bedroom Candacraig House near Strathdon, starred alongside Dame Judi in the movie Mrs Brown, set on the nearby Balmoral Estate.

The games are expected to attract about 12,000 spectators and feature a marching band as well as traditional Highland pursuits and athletics competitions.

They kicked off with a six-mile procession by about 150 local people, some playing the pipes, in traditional Highland dress.

As they make their way through the glen towards Strathdon, the marchers stop at a number of houses along the way, including Mr Connolly’s.

As the games got under way, assistant secretary Graham Thomson refused to speculate on which big names would be in attendance.

But he insisted that any celebrities who did make it would be treated in the same way as any other visitor.

“We treat them as any other guest,” he said.

“They are just left to do their own thing – that’s why they like it.

“We are very happy to have them but they just blend into the crowd.”

Last year Mr Connolly and his wife Pamela Stephenson, author of the best-selling biography of her husband, Billy, brought Irish actor Aidan Quinn and former Monty Python star Eric Idle to the games.