Paul Strachan
Millions of Scots around the globe traditionally celebrate Burns
night and the sound of the pipes filled the air at the Offshore Bar on soi X
ZYTE last Sunday as well over a hundred people gathered for an evening to
remember the 18th century romantic poet, known as ‘The Bard of Scotland.’
An
excellent rendition of The Battle of Killiekrankie.
Roberts Burns’s home town of Alloway inspired some of his best loved poems
and works including the ghost story, Tam O’ Shanter.
He was born in a humble cottage in Ayrshire, Scotland, in 1759 to a poor
farmer, before going on to become one of the world’s most famous
poets.Burns’ work focused on the traditional language, people and folklore
of the Scottish countryside. His song, Auld Lang Syne, is known by
millions and is famously sung as part of New Year celebrations. He wrote
his first version of the song in 1788. The original manuscript remains one
of Scotland’s most treasured possessions.As well as marking Burns’ 250th
anniversary, Scots from around the world are being encouraged to return home
for Scotland’s ‘Homecoming’ year, and join in a year-long programme of
events.As part of the scheme, launched by the Scottish Parliament, ten
famous Scots have combined to record the promotional video and anthem
‘Caledonia’. The stars include the actor Sir Sean Connery, and the singer
Lulu. The advert will be beamed into over 100 million American and Canadian
homes via TV channels including PBS, CNBC the History Channel and the
Discovery Channel.Robert Burn’s legacy includes more than 600 poems and
songs and some of those were rendered at the event in Pattaya last Sunday.
Bob
and Paul toast The Bard of Scotland.
Aberdonian Bob Lawrence from the Offshore Bar organized the themed evening
as a way of having a fun night, a wee bit of poetry, songs, Haggis and of
course a few drams all in aid of the Mercy Center.
The guests were first treated to the ‘Piping in O the Haggis’ by Keith
Stuart and Eric Mathers followed by an exuberant ‘Address to the Haggis’
Fair fa’ your honest, sonsie face,
Great chieftain o’ the puddin-race!
Aboon them a’ ye tak your place,
Painch, tripe, or thairm:
Weel are ye wordy o’ a grace
As lang’s my arm.
The poem continued and when we got to the line “His knife see rustic
Labour dicht,” the speaker drew a knife which he cleaned and at the line
“An’ cut you up wi’ ready slicht,” he plunged it into the haggis and cut it
open from end to end.
The recipe for haggis by the way often includes sheep’s heart, liver and
lungs minced with onion, oatmeal, suet, spices and salt.
Then some of Burns’s songs including The Battle of Killiekrankie were
sung and then as it was dinner time: The Selkirk Grace.
Some hae meat and canna eat,
And some wad eat that want it;
But we hae meat, and we can eat,
Sae let the Lord be thankit.
This was followed by the Immortal Memory, which is a very brief
summation of Robert Burns’s life.
Then I was invited to Toast to the Lassies, which I duly did (and no I can’t
repeat the verses here!) and as the bottle of whisky was nearing an end
there was just time for a reply to the ‘Toast to the Lassies’ by the woman
who prepared our meal and a quick speech from Pastor Fred Doel from the
Mercy Center.
It was great evening and Bob assured me that next year he will put on a
small cover charge that will hopefully bring the folks back to the Offshore
Bar for yet another Burns Night.
Actor Sir
Sean Connery is seen against a backdrop of Edinburgh Castle as part of a
“Homecomming” advertising campaign designed to encourage expat Scots around
the world to visit Scotland for vacations. The campaign comes on the 250th
anniversary of the birth of the Scottish poet Robbert Burns.
(AP Photo/VisitScotland/HO)
Some
Highlanders and a Thailander pose for the cameras.
