Evening all. Here is a rather belated immortal memory for Burn's night (I have decided to make it into something of a tradition). Sorry it's a bit late. Uncharacteristically, I was actually doing stuff!
It's that time of year again when we are celebrating the birthday of Robert Burns; Scotland's national poet. Again I am going to take the opportunity to examine why we do this. my post on the subject last year focused on celebrating greatness. This year I am going to take another tack and suggest that in Burns night, we celebrate the ordinary.
Being ordinary seems a bit of an odd characteristic to celebrate but I think it's worthwhile. Burns was a fairly normal Scottish bloke (excluding the successful poetry leading to well... an immortal memory). However in being ordinary, he exemplified large swathes of the Scottish character and for this, we use him as a vehicle to celebrate Scotland and Scottishness.
So what are these characteristics we celebrate annually? Well firstly, he was hard-working. If you had a look at his CV, it would be extensive ranging from menial farm work to tax collection. Now a lot of Scots are known as tough, sturdy and not averse to a bit of graft. Unlike some, hard work doesn't scare us. What's impressive is that, as well as the day job, he wrote so extensively as well.
Secondly, he was a poet. This, to me, indicates profound romance of the soul. Indeed, when you are surrounded by the true, undeniable beauty of the Scottish countryside, it is easy to imagine one's mind and heart being filled with love and passion. If that isn't good enough, he had a reputation for a love of liquor and women in great quantities too. Holding a drink while being suave and attractive are traits that come easily to most Scottish men I know (hopefully including yours truly). Despite this, we are usually big softies at heart.
Perhaps the best example of this link between Burns and Scottish character comes in my last example. The celebration of Burns night is the celebration of the Scottish tradition of hospitality, warmth and friendliness (to those we want to be friendly to). The warmth and fun atmosphere of a ceilidh (literal translation from the gaelic being gathering) is a great example of this. We have a long tradition of spending time together; sharing food, a few drams, stories, poetry, music and dancing. In fact pretty much everything that happens at a Burns supper.
So with that I urge you to don yer kilt, have some haggis and raise a dram to the immortal memory of Robert Burns.
Sliante
JR
No comments:
Post a Comment