Why I love Scotland...

[fajrdrako]

Happy Burns Day to all!

I should have bought some haggis for the occasion. Or single malt. I wonder if I have anything particularly Scots in my cupboard for celebration this evening. Shortbread? Thistles? Now that makes me feel like Eeyore....

Reasons I Love Scotland and Burns' Birthday

1. Robert Burns himself. Good looking, smart, talented, oversexed, eighteenth century guy whose poetry and songs I like. I can't think of a downside there. On my first visit to Scotland, when I was seventeen, we saw Burns' birthplace. A nice memory.



2. Genetics. Ancestry. Now, like most Canadians, I'm a hodge-podge of nationalities and my father's ancestry is Anglo-Welsh, but the side of the family that won my heart is the Scottish branch - perhaps because my mother loved it too, and used to talk to me about it. Her great-grandmother used to quote pithy Scots proverbs to her about saving money - "mony mickles mack a muckle" is an aphorism I used to hear often as a child, and was quite delighted with, though I never took it to heart. But even that great-grandmother was born in Ontario - it was one Thomas Grant who sailed from Orkney to Canada in 1820, or so I remember from the family lore. I'm not sure whether he actually lived in Orkney, or it was simply his port of departure.
   
   So for some reason I feel a family link to Scottish Grants greater than that of any of my other ancestors. Maybe Scots genes get into the psyche and stay there. Maybe, like many New World people, it's a romantic attempt to connect to the distant past. As a teen, I had a kilt in Clan Grant tartan, and I've always loved the family motto: "Stand Fast".



3. Haggis. Love it. Tarditional on this day, at least in Ottawa. I bought some frozen in November, when walkingowl was visiting. I suspect real people in Scotland don't eat it all that much - aren't they all into pizza and curries now? Like the rest of the world?



4. Dorothy Dunnett, my favourite author, who loved the country and its history and imparted that in her books.



5. David Tennant.



6. John Barrowman.



7. Kilts. Men in kilts, women in kilts, whatever. The Scots kilt is the sexiest garment ever. (Yes, I know its origins are not Scottish, strictly speaking - but an adopted garment is good enough for me.)



8. Pictish art. Spirals on upright stones. Men with sheilds and spears. Circles and dots. Pictish history in general - insofar as it's known - thank goodness for Bede.



9. Orkney: a beautiful, unusual, fascinating place, where I once had one of the best holidays of my life. Memories of Skara Brae, Maes Howe, the Old Man of Hoy, eagles nesting on megaliths, the Stones of Stenness and the Ring of Brodgar, the feel of the wind, the drama of the cliffs.... The charm of the Italian chapel and its story.



10. Memories of a wonderful Dunnett dinner seven years ago in Sterling Castle.



11. Arthur's Seat: a wonderful place for a walk. I've been to the top every time I've visited Edinburgh. Each time, thinking how Shelley did that when he was there on his first honeymoon.



12. Michael Scot. One of my 12th-13th century guys.

It feels kind of corny to do a list like this but I loved doing it anyway.

Comments

[jkluge.livejournal.com]

I still remember you as having a faintly Scottish (to my unaccustomed ears) accent. :-)

Kilts are lovely, and I'm a huge fan of bagpipes. I've never had haggis, but the recipes at your link above sound interesting. I'd probably like better the one with the lamb meat in addition to the organs; it sounds a bit like meatloaf. I'm not usually a fan of meatloaf, but I love oatmeal, and I love lamb, so I might like the flavor of haggis much better.

The Scots do currently have a bit of a reputation for eating a lot of "junk food."

Your description of Orkney evokes such a strong image -- I'm longing to go there myself, now! . . . oooh, and an actual photo, too! I don't need to just imagine it.

Pictish art *is* amazing, isn't it? I love it and Celtic art.

[fajrdrako.livejournal.com]

I still remember you as having a faintly Scottish (to my unaccustomed ears) accent. :-)

That's wonderful to hear. I wish I really did!

Haggis has its resemblances to meatloaf but doesn't taste like any meatloaf I have ever had.

The Scots do currently have a bit of a reputation for eating a lot of "junk food."

I'm tempted to think... don't we all.

Orkney is one of the most beautiful places I have ever been. And one of the most interesting. Having a passion for Pictish and Celtic art does no harm.

[silverwhistle.livejournal.com]

The Scots do currently have a bit of a reputation for eating a lot of "junk food."

I wish people wouldn't generalise about Scotland on the basis of what the urban underclass eats, smokes, and drinks! One sees this all the time in the media here. Where I live in Glasgow (West End), you can choose goodness knows how many different types of olive in the shops, and I have never seen (or would touch with a bargepole) a deep-fried Mars Bar. But when the media discuss this kind of thing, they always talk about it as a "national" issue, rather than one of poverty and ignorance.

[fajrdrako.livejournal.com]

It's my impression that all nations are alike in this - all the ones I've been to, anyway. I suspect Glasgow is more cosmopolitan in its foodstuffs than Ottawa is, if only because of ease of import. I might be wrong. We do have highways that connect us to the wider world. But in terms of distance alone, we are comparatively isolated.

[jkluge.livejournal.com]

Oh, I agree. There is a lot of generalization about that sort of thing, and that's why I said "reputation" rather than saying it was fact. The funny thing is, the average American might still think of traditional Scottish fare if they were asked what Scottish people eat--and a lot of them would probably not even have heard of haggis, either. I've mostly heard the junk food thing on *British* media, and took it with a grain of salt.

There are a very few places here (like maybe 5 in the whole USA) that make deep fried candy bars/Twinkies/etc. I'm not opposed to the idea -- it's a "gilding the lily" kind of over-the-top dessert that one might try once in a lifetime -- but it's not something I'm rushing out to find. I think it'd have to be the sort of thing where you split the thing with 3 or 4 other people -- one bite'd be sufficient.

Is it actually possible to get deep fried candy bars readily in places in Scotland? Or is that just media bullshit?

[monsieureden.livejournal.com]

Team Scotland!

[fajrdrako.livejournal.com]

Yes!

[acampbell.livejournal.com]

Have you got some oatmeal?

[fajrdrako.livejournal.com]

Yes, I certainly do. Almost had it for breakfast.

[acampbell.livejournal.com]

Well, then. There's your Scots meal!

[silverwhistle.livejournal.com]

Sorry, but I think Burns is grossly overrated.

Robert Fergusson, although he died at only 24 in Edinburgh Bedlam after suffering brain damage falling downstairs, was a far better poet in Scots (as were the Renaissance court poets, such as Dunbar). His use of language is far more exciting and terrific for its sketches of 18C urban life. Burns admitted a debt to him, and paid for a gravestone for him, but I think he knocks Burns into a cocked hat.

But of all Scottish poets, I think Somhairle MacGill-Eain (Sorley MacLean) is the best of all. (And let's face it; anyone who can slip a reference to Bertran de Born into Gaelic poetry in the 1930s has got to be tops!)

[fajrdrako.livejournal.com]

I think Burns is grossly overrated.

Perhaps, but I give him bonus marks for being fun. Both in terms of readability and in terms of biography.

I do not argue that there are not better poets, both in and out of Scotland. But he is ... a winsome package.

[silverwhistle.livejournal.com]

Nah. I think he's a bit of a jerk. Anyone who thinks it's possible to strike both Jacobin and Jacobite poses at the same time... (Boggle.)

[vervassal.livejournal.com]

Oh, goodness! BIG seconding for Somhairle MacGill-Eain. The title of my journal is from one of his poems. Yes, definitely look him up.

[fajrdrako.livejournal.com]

I assume you mean "Baile glas gun ghathadh gréine..." - ? What does it mean?

[silverwhistle.livejournal.com]

I had the privilege of meeting him a few times at readings. He was a lovely man.

[silverwhistle.livejournal.com]

I like An Dithis and Irisleachd.

[vervassal.livejournal.com]

2. In all probability he would have lived in Orkney, and then emigrated. No one really went to Orkney/the Islands unless they lived there or owned land. The big ports were in Glasgow and further south.'


(Ha! My degree is useful!)

[fajrdrako.livejournal.com]

Okay, thanks for the comment on my ancestor - so he probably did live in Orkney! Cool. I like that, since I loved the place so much on my visit.

I have a bit of a mystery in my head about that. I remember, at the age of 10, meeting my mother's great-aunt at a party held for her 100th birthday. I remember 100-year old Auntie Garner showing me a picture on her wall, and she said it was a picture of Orkney, and that she had painted it when she was young. I guess I assumed that meant when she was young and lived in Orkney, but when I told this story recently in my aunt's hearing, she said that Auntie Garner had never been to Scotland in her life; she was born and bred in southern Ontario. So I wonder in what way I got the story wrong? It could just be that Auntie Garner painted the picture of Orkney from a picture she saw in a book or magazine, and I misunderstood her story.

I suppose she'd have all the more reason to paint a picture of Orkney if she thought the family had come from there. She'd have been born around 1852 and probably knew Thomas Grant, who would probably only have been about 40 years old when she was born, though I don't know what their relationship with each other would have been.

[vervassal.livejournal.com]

Ties to the homeland were usually very strong- I mean, look at Nova Scotia!

[duncanmac.livejournal.com]

Hear hear! :-)

Sigh. I would have liked to seen much more of the British Isles ... but things did not work out when I went there in 2004.

As for poets, there's a reason why Robbie Burns is well known -- his poetry was aimed at the average people. I'm sure that some other Scottish poets also wrote poetry that was not solely about the rich and powerful, but the court poets wrote little that was not aimed at the nobility and the King ... which would tend to make their poetry unpopular nowadays.

I suppose it does help that I have a bit of a soft spot for "sentimentality" ... much like fajrdrako does.

Inasmuch as one of the primary ingredients of haggis [IIRC] is oatmeal, a good bowl of it should give one [part of] the right taste.

While I am at it, a happy Saint Andrew's Day to everybody as well ...

[silverwhistle.livejournal.com]

his poetry was aimed at the average people.

So was Fergusson's. But it's far more cleverly written, funnier, and more inventive. I think Burns appeals to people who otherwise wouldn't be seen dead with a poetry book (and think it's "poncy"), because he's sentimental (even maudlin at times), sometimes bawdy. And there's nothing more ridiculous than people dressing up in pseudo-Highland dress to celebrate someone from Ayrshire.

but the court poets wrote little that was not aimed at the nobility and the King ... which would tend to make their poetry unpopular nowadays.

Why? Take that kind of blinkered view, and you chuck out most mediæval literature. It was Hugh MacDiarmaid (Chris Grieve), a rampant Marxist, who advocated "Dunbar, not Burns" as the greatest poet using Scots: William Dunbar, a poet at James IV's court. He's stunning.

There are great modern poets, too. Besides MacLean, there's Edwin Morgan (now in his 80s), MacNiceail, and others who died not so long ago: besides MacLean, there was MacCaig, Mackay Brown (from Orkney), MacDiarmaid, Goodsir Smith (a New Zealander originally, I think) - who were part of a wonderfully vibrant 20C literary scene that got going from the 1930s-50s.

[fajrdrako.livejournal.com]

there's nothing more ridiculous than people dressing up in pseudo-Highland dress to celebrate someone from Ayrshire

You mean, because Ayrshire is lowlands? And by pseudo-Highland dress do you mean kilts? I'm afraid that in Canada we don't make much distinction - 'kilt' to me doesn't imply 'highland' any more than it implies 'historical'.

I like Dunbar too, but I find him more difficult to understand than Burns.

[fajrdrako.livejournal.com]

I am fairly selective about what I am sentimental about, but I guess Scotland is one of those things that fit.

On a whim, I was reading about St. Andrew on wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/St._Andrew. I like the word 'Protocletos'.

[silverwhistle.livejournal.com]

I am fairly selective about what I am sentimental about, but I guess Scotland is one of those things that fit.

It's an unfortunate affliction to which the diaspora are prone. Sadly, the tourist industry and popular histories here pander to it. We're expected to be a living theme-park of tartanised clichés.

I'd rather we had parties for David Hume. It might create a climate in which the (minority) Catholic Church, which is excessively influential over the Labour Party in Scotland, wouldn't be threatening political blackmail over gay equality. See here (http://www.guardian.co.uk/gayrights/story/0,,1999096,00.html).