Farewell to all our Scottish fame
Farewell our ancient glory
Farewell even to our Scottish name
Sae fam’d in martial story
Now Sark runs over the Solway sands
And Tweed runs to the ocean
To mark where England’s province stands:
Such a parcel of rogues in a nation!
What force or gile could not subdue
Through many warlike ages
Is wrought now by a coward few
For hireling traitor’s wages
The English steel we could disdain
Secure in valour’s station
But English gold has been our bane:
Such a parcel of rogues in a nation!
I would, or I had seen the day
That treason thus could sell us
My auld gray head had lain in clay
Wi’ Bruce and loyal Wallace!
But pith and power, till my last hour
I’ll make this declaration
We were bought and sold for English gold:
Such a parcel of rogues in a nation!
***********
Brig O’ Doon which featured in Tam O’Shanter
Wherever you’re celebrating, have a good one. Remember …“Here’s tae us, wha’s like us? Damn few, and they’re a’ deid.”
I was just getting ready to post this when I noticed an email from Kay, Munguin’s Bulgaria Correspondent.
She remembered it was Burns Nicht and sent me a photo of her, her other half, and Claire drinking a toast to John, “the most amazing Scottish man we ever knew. We miss him so much. “
I’ll drink to that.
My thanks to Kay and to Morego.
MUNGUIN'S NEW REPUBLIC 
Unfortunately none of us drink whiskey so we raised a toast to John with a wee dram of rakia, the local spirit. Which actually was a bit of a project that John wanted to get involved in but didn’t happen.
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Welcome to the Republic, Kay, and although I’ve said it to you in private, publicly I’d like to say how much we appreciate you continuing to send posts from Srem.
I’m sure neither Rabbie nor John would mind you toasting John with rakia (which I’ve drunk in Bulgaria and enjoyed).
Whisky… Black Ram… isn’t the only spirit, although our boy did drink rather a lot of it! 🙂
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Thank you Tris.
Yes John certainly did love his Black Ram! I will do my best to keep up with the pictures from Srem for SS. 😊
Hope you all had a good burns night!
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Thanks, Kay.
Black Ram is a top brand of whisky.
https://vp-brands.com/news/black-ram-ranks-among-the-best-whiskies-in-the-world.
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Wow!! That’s amazing!
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Nadhim Zahawi
@nadhimzahawi
🏴 A very happy Burns Night to all who are celebrating- especially to those in Scotland 🏴
https://pbs.twimg.com/media/FnVidw5WYBcUzTK?format=jpg&name=900×900
LOL LOL… Ass.
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In my nearly thirty years of living in England, there was no real knowledge of Burns night, or celebration on the 25th of January. The Tories are attempting to hijack Scotland’s cultural history, and it’s meant to undermine and deny Scottish identity as being distinct from England. All part of their assimilation of Scotland into England again. No thanks.
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Burns nights are, however, celebrated all over the world, so, if England doesn’t celebrate it, it’s their bad luck!
Antarctica does, however.
https://www.dailyrecord.co.uk/scotland-now/haggis-shipped-antartica-biggest-ever-29038793
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We had a Caledonian club in Dar es Salaam and British Airways would fly out Haggis and occasionally a piper if we didn’t have one living in Dar at the time.
They had other events throughout the year. Any excuse for a get together, even had a Stovies night! Always good fun. There were a lot of us Scots living there.
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I seem to recall that Burns was popular in Russia too.
Again from the net:
“Robert Burns first became popular in Russia in the 19th century. His works were translated into Russia and he was seen as a great source of inspiration for ordinary Russians. Post the Russian Revolution, he became known as the people’s poet and today he is still taught in schools alongside their own national poets.” 3 Nov 2017
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Its a scientific fact!!!
Abstract
To find out if the Scottish national dish, haggis, contributes to the high incidence of coronary heart disease in Scotland the lipaemic effect of a meal of 200 g of haggis was measured in six Scottish and 10 Sassenach men. The Scots had higher fasting cholesterol and triglyceride concentrations and a lower proportion of high density lipoprotein cholesterol than the Sassenachs. Four subjects were found to have hyperlipoproteinaemia, which had been unrecognised previously. Serum cholesterol concentrations did not change after haggis was eaten (mean dose 2.6 g/kg body weight). Serum concentrations of triglycerides increased by 51% at 90 minutes in the Sassenachs but were unaltered in the Scots. There were no serious adverse effects. This study shows that Scots have higher lipid concentrations than Sassenachs but seem to be resistant to the lipaemic effect of haggis. The haggis tolerance test may be useful in Sassenachs.
and here’s the full paper from the British Medical Journal
Click to access 1632.full.pdf
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LOL LOL LOL.
It is comforting news! (I think)
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Robert Burns was never ever called Rabbie. We Scots should know better.
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Oh.
My humble apologies. 🙂
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Sorry trispw, one of my pet hates. Would an Englishman ever call Shakespeare, Billy Shakespere?
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My bad, Ronnie.
It’s what my granny called him. But she would never have used the English version of anything, ever… all Scots, all the time.
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Wasn’t he a Burness rather than a Burns anyhoo?
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Correct.
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Fro the Internet:
“While his father was William Burnes, sometimes referred to as Burness (1721 – 1784). of Glenbervie in old Kincardineshire, his son Robert changed the spelling of his surname to fit in with the local style of Ayrshire, the place of his birth, in 1759.
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Been meaning to ask you, Tris. Did you get anywhere with the wild garlic butter?
(Mine – made in mid-May – finally ran out last week. But it’s less than four months to go before I can make the next batch. If I find then that my usual patch has been raided, I discovered last June that there’s a small wood at the very bottom of the village which is absolutely snithing with it).
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I only made a little, Nigel. Very nice it was too, but it didn’t last like yours… 🙂
I’ll make more this year now that I know it works.
I’m really looking forward to walking though Spinky Den again, with it covered in white flowers and smelling like a French bistro!!!
Once it starts growing, it gets everywhere.
I brought a couple of plants home from the Den, and it’s in a pot. Hopefully it will stay there!!!!
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Native garlic, or few-flowered leek?
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https://www.woodlandtrust.org.uk/trees-woods-and-wildlife/plants/wild-flowers/wild-garlic/
That’s then, Derek.
I’m assuming Nigel’s is the same.
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Aye, that’s them.
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🙂
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