Scottish Pottery and Robert Burns

Posted on 25 January 2013 by Katrina

I can hardly believe that it’s that time of the year again – Burns Night that is. I’ll spare you the sight of my dinner this year, we’ll be having the less traditional vegetarian haggis, neeps (turnip) and tatties tonight. Not because we’re vegetarian but because it’s tastier than the offal/awful! version.

I thought it would be nicer to let you see some very old Scottish pottery, the sort which would have been recognised by Robert Burns when he was around and imbibing a fair quantity of whisky, which he seems to have been quite fond of.

As you can see, it’s fairly chunky stuff, the large bowls are called toddy bowls and they measure about 10 inches across the top of them so they can hold a lot of toddy in them. Toddy is of course a mixture of whisky, sugar and hot water, for me it’s the only possible way of enjoying whisky, but I haven’t had it since I was a child when my dad used to make it for me if I had a bad cold or toothache.

I took this photo to try to show you that they are also decorated inside. The jugs are actually two different designs but they’re quite similar as you can see. One design is for wine and it has vine leaves on it, whilst the beer jug is decorated with hop leaves and flowers. The pottery is at least 150 years old but this sort of pottery was made for a long time, it could be a lot older, and the bowls would originally have been sold in pairs, people used to have one at each end of a long table or sideboard. The small two handled pewter drinking vessel is a quaich, the ‘ch’ pronounced the same as in the word ‘loch’. It’s a reproduction one.

The top left hand toddy bowl has very large pine cones in it which make the bowl seem really small. My favourite bowl is the bottom left hand one, I love the design but it has been in the family since it was new which makes it more precious to me.

Have a listen if you want to hear David Rintoul reciting the Burns poem: –

Scotch Drink

Well, are you any the wiser? Burns didn’t write many short poems, I know that because I looked for one when I had to choose one to memorise for reciting at a Burns competition when I was at primary school. The town’s Burns Society held a competition every year and all schoolchildren had to take part in it. I ended up reciting this one.

“John Anderson my jo, John”
By Robert Burns

John Anderson my jo, John,
When we were first acquent,
Your locks were like the raven,
Your bonie brow was brent;
But now your brow is beld, John,
Your locks are like the snaw,
but blessings on your frosty pow,
John Anderson, my jo!

John Anderson my jo, John,
We clamb the hill thegither,
And monie a cantie day, John,
We’ve had wi’ ane anither;
Now we maun totter down, John,
And hand in hand we’ll go,
And sleep thegither at the foot,
John Anderson, my jo!

I didn’t win. Jack did win though, but he was in a different year from me and he recited To A Mouse. What did he win ? I hear you ask. A volume of the complete works of Robert Burns of course – he still has it.

Ghosts x Ghouls = Tam O’Shanter

Posted on 31 October 2012 by Katrina

Just because it’s Hallowe’en.

Alloway, Ayrshire, Scotland

Posted on 27 July 2012 by Katrina

As I said before, by the time we got to Alloway, which is just a short hop from Culzean Castle, Robert Burns’s birthplace was shut. But here is a photo of it anyway, thatched roof and all. Hopefully the next time we’ll get there earlier.

This one is of the main street in Alloway, speed bump and all! You can just see the gable end of Burns’s cottage at the top right hand side.

If you carry on walking past the cottage it isn’t long before you reach the Auld Kirk which was already a ruin by the time Robert Burns was a wee boy (he was born in 1759). It’s this church and graveyard which inspired him to write his poem Tam O’Shanter, which you can read here.

This sarcophagus is actually situated within the ruined kirk, it’s obviously very ancient.

Just along the road again a very short distance and you reach the River Doon. This is the famous Brig o’ Doon which features in the poem, with the witch pulling the horse’s tail as it gallops across the bridge to escape, of course witches can’t cross water!

I took this photo actually on the bridge which is very steep and the garden beyond is the Robert Burns memorial garden, sadly it was shut but from what I could see it looks beautiful.

This is a view from the old bridge to a newer bridge which isn’t all that new really. The pretty area of planting to the right belongs to a local hotel, it looks like a good place to relax and watch the river.

And this is the river from the other direction and yet another bridge.

I must say that Alloway was never a place which featured high on my list of ‘must visit’ places, but I was very agreeably surprised. The River Doon is really beautiful, fast flowing and clear and having been to the Burns house in Dumfries, I think he must have been pining for his beloved Alloway all the time he was there. Maybe that was why he wrote this song.

Culzean Castle, Ayrshire, Scotland

Posted on 26 July 2012 by Katrina

This is Culzean Castle from the front, the right hand side of the building is the oldest part, dating from the 15th century and the building has been added on to and redesigned over the centuries. The famous Scottish architect and designer Robert Adam made a beautiful job of the whole place, particularly the interiors, some of which you can see here. You can read about the building of the castle here and more about Robert Adam here. He was actually born in Kirkcaldy, not far from where I live but sadly his home, Gladney House, was pulled down some years ago. They’ve got rid of everything which would have been of interest to visitors to the town, including the economist Adam Smith’s home and Pet Margery’s home and the school which Thomas Carlyle taught in. Shame.

The photo above is the view from the castle, over to the isle of Arran, on a very clear day you can apparently see down as far as Ireland, but not on the day we visited, despite it being a beautiful day.

Culzean is set in beautiful parkland with gorgeous trees but there’s plenty to be seen in the way of formal gardens. These are a couple of photos showing the fountain.

At first we thought that this cormorant was a model but it eventually moved. I can’t make up my mind about it, it is a sort of mixture between comical and sinister, a wee bit vulture-like somehow. It was crouched over Swan Pond, we didn’t see any swans at all though.

The walled garden below is quite a walk away from the castle but it’s worth visiting and there are nice benches to have a rest on.

The top storey of the castle has ben turned into a very upmarket hotel. It’s handy for the golf course at Turnberry but I think it would be a bit too expensive for my liking. President Eisenhower was given a set of apartments for his lifetime, as thanks for his wartime contribution, but since his death it has been incorporated into the hotel.

This was a really enjoyable castle to visit, although here’s quite a lot to see, unfortunately they don’t allow you to take photos inside the castle. I can’t understand why the National Trust has this policy at all of their properties. They would get more publicity if people could see what the interiors are like. It costs £15 to get in but you can easily spend the whole day there. Joining the National Trust is the best way to go about it because at a cost of £64 or so for a double membership, we’ve already saved ourselves a lot of money just in the last month.

Unfortunately we didn’t realise that there was too much to see in this area in one day, otherwise we would’ve arranged to stay overnight. We could have visited Robert Burns’ birthplace and Souter Johnnie’s cottage too. Alloway turned out to be a lovely village, as you’ll see tomorrow.

Burns Supper

Posted on 25 January 2012 by Katrina

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?

Robert Burns

Posted on 25 January 2011 by Katrina

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!

Glencairn House, Dumbarton

Posted on 27 July 2010 by Katrina

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.

Pining for the West

Meanderings about recipes, books, craft and more

Tag Archives: Robert Burns