Did you go out to a Burns Supper or did you have a quiet one at home? It’s absolutely donkey’s years since we went to a real Burns Supper but I always have haggis, neeps and tatties on January the 25th. So feast your eyes. If you can see it through the steam!
Well, maybe not. Haggis is not the most appetising of foods and it doesn’t do to dwell too much on the ingredients, but this haggis is a vegetarian one, much more pleasant all round and it tastes much the same as the real thing.
So we had a quiet night in. What about you, were you addressing the haggis – or just eating it?
A new BBC Robert Burns website has just been put up and it includes videos of actors reciting the poems.
Although it’s a long time since I went out to a real Burns Supper we always have the traditional haggis, neeps and tatties on the 25th of January, the anniversary of Robert Burns‘s birth. We’re having vegetarian haggis this year as it’s my favourite. It really tastes very similar to the traditional kind because the same spices are used but instead of being made with a lot of unappetising bits of a sheep’s inside it’s made with pulses, oatmeal and kidney beans and such so there’s no danger of feeling squeamish.
Apart from writing poetry Robert Burns also collected a lot of traditional tunes and wrote words for them, saving lots of music which would otherwise have been lost in the mists of time. This is one of the tunes which he saved and wrote words for.
It’s sung here by Kenneth McKellar who died recently. There doesn’t seem to be a video of him singing it, it was his wife’s favourite song and after she died he didn’t sing it again. He had a lovely voice but he always looked like he came straight off a shortbread tin – kilt, velvet jacket, lacy stock (cravat) and all. He was a one man Scottish cliche and that wasn’t always too popular with fellow Scots. Anyway, it’s a lovely song, have a listen to it if you have time and you’re not averse to a bit of romance now and again!
A Red, Red Rose written in 1794
O, My luve’s like a red, red rose,
That’s newly sprung in June.
O, my luve’s like the melodie,
That’s sweetly played in tune.
As fair thou art, my bonnie lass,
So deep in luve am I,
And I will luve thee still, my Dear
Till a’ the seas gang dry.
Till a’ the seas gang dry, my Dear,
And the rocks melt wi’ the sun!
O, I will luve thee still, my Dear,
While the sands o’ life shall run.
And fare thee weel, my only Luve,
And fare the weel a while!
And I will come again, my Luve,
Tho’ it were ten thousand mile!
This is the oldest building in Dumbarton, it dates back to 1623 and it is situated in the High Street next door to what used to be the good old Woolworths store, now sadly missed.
Most of the time I lived in Dumbarton, Glencairn House was empty and neglected. Believe it or not it has had a bit of a facelift in recent years and at least now it is being used. It seems to be home to a credit union nowadays. The credit union is a great idea but I’m sure they could have found somewhere else for it to be housed. I wish somebody would deal with that buddleia before it does serious damage to the building.
Glencairn House would be the perfect location for a tourist information centre/museum, which as far as I can see, they don’t have in Dumbarton. It has links with Robert Burns as he was made a freeman of the town in the building.
Tobias Smollett and A.J. Cronin also have links with the town and Coleridge and the Wordsworths visited the town and castle too.
A.J. Cronin did the research for his book Hatter’s Castle at the local library, sadly years before I was working there. Like many of his books it was made into a film in the 1950s.
Considering all the history involved with having such an important landmark as the castle/rock, the links with Mary, Queen of Scots and even Merlin, the town council has done absolutely nothing to bring visitors into the town and exploit the treasure which they have on their doorstep.
