burns and bagpipes

Last monday was the birthday of Scotish poet Robert Burns. He is another somewhat random-seeming historical figure that has a holiday here in England. On his birthday (called Burns Night) many families celebrate with a dinner of traditional Scotish whiskey and haggis (wiki says: Haggis is a dish containing sheep's 'pluck' (heart, liver and lungs), minced with onion, oatmeal, suet, spices, and salt, mixed with stock, and traditionally simmered in the animal's stomach for approximately three hours.) Doesn't that sound DIVINE?

To celebrate, the Visiting Scholars group taught us about Robert Burns and brought in a bagpiper and haggis to sample. Robert Burns wrote many love poems and also addressed many of his poems to more nontraditional recipients like a mouse or a haggis. You will probably recognize an excerpt from the poem he wrote to a mouse whose nest he accidentally destroyed, "The best laid schemes o' Mice an' Men, Gang aft agley," which inspired Steinbeck's "Of Mice and Men."

They read (in genuine Scotish dialect (in which they were written) and accent) the "Address to a Haggis" before we partook. We were assured that it would just taste like sausage so Jill and I gave it a try. It really wasn't that bad. It did taste like a sausage with herbs and a slightly off-putting aftertaste.

The piper played quite a few traditional songs including Auld Lang Syne, also written by Burns. He told us that the bagpipes don't have any happy mediums and that you're either LISTENING TO THEM or you're not. He wasn't kidding. With just one piper in the large room filled with people the music was still extremely loud. Afterwards, I was asking him about how you play and he offered to let me try. I pretty much couldn't get any air to go through them at all so he took over the blowing, and had me try to play the notes. He asked me if I had played the recorder and said it was very similar. I don't think the week of recorder I played in third grade got me very far, what do you think? It was embarrassing enough that it sounded like screeches from a dying animal when I played but it was also so stinking loud that it probably hurt everyone's ears, and definitely drew their attention!

Here is a video Jill took of my horrible attempt. Seriously, if you're going to try and watch this make sure the sound on your computer is down as low as it goes before you press play. :)