Ae fond kiss

Wednesday, January 25, 2012

I'll ne'er blame my partial fancy;
Naething could resist my Nancy;
But to see her was to love her,
Love but her, and love for ever.
Had we never loved sae kindly,
Had we never loved sae blindly,
Never met—or never parted,
We had ne'er been broken-hearted.
From Ae Fond Kiss

Robert Burns wrote this ode to unrequited love in 1791 (read the rest, and a snippet of scandalous backstory, here). As with all of Burns' best bits, his words are lovely to read, but better to listen to, especially when sung by the incomparable Eddi Reader.

Tonight is Burns Night, which means haggis for tea. To those of you who might balk at the idea of eating haggis, I have three things to say:

1. It's delicious.

2. What exactly do you think is inside a sausage?

3. Did I mention IT'S DELICIOUS?

Don't worry, though. If you really can't stomach it, vegetarian haggis is also, fortunately, delicious. Fun fact: my dad's friend invented vegetarian haggis. That's right, I move in exalted circles.

Anyone else celebrating Burns Night? And does anyone else get really quite upset when people cross their arms at the wrong bit of Auld Lang Syne, or - horrors - sing "for the sake of"...?

P.S. If haggis and poetry aren't your thing (in which case, we need to have a serious talk about our friendship), might I recommend this old but hilarious post by an altogether different Burns.

P.P.S. Thanks for all of your comments yesterday. You're the best.

Image by Chloe Aftel from this beautiful polaroid wedding over on east side bride.

9 boats moored

  1. Rosie (aka Kirsty's Mum)25 January 2012 at 08:17

    Ae Fond Kiss is one of my favourite poems too

    "Had we never loved sae kindly,Had we never loved sae blindly. Never met-or never parted- we had ne'er been broken hearted." Aw.

    What a romantic man,yes a bit of a rogue, but who doesn't like a rogue? And yes, on the "help, my daughter and are clones debate", I too hate when people cross their hands at the beginning of Auld Lang Syne - only at final verse "And there's a hand my trusty fiere (brother) ..." At Colin's wedding last week, I nearly slapped the hand of the guy next to me when he did it!

    And finally,I am having that very vegetarian haggis tonight!! Thank you Donald.

  2. I absolutely refuse to cross hands with someone if it isn't the right line. I don't care if you're not scottish, you've got to do it right. And the only way people will ever learn is if we staunchly refuse to give in!

    And haggis is delicious (can't believe you are related to vegetarian haggis - almost!). Husband has a major haggis-crush: haggis lasagne, haggis pizza, haggis pie and burritos. Personally I think it's better just haggis.

    And I think it's nice that haggis doesn't try and hide what's inside, not like a sausage or a cheap burger. It's honourable that way.

    Happy Burns night!

    1. I've never thought of haggis as being honourable before, but I like it.

  3. I really do love haggis but we wont be having some this Burns night - last year we fried it, which was delicious but I have been told to be careful with my heart by the GP so we are having a year off. Next year we will be back with gusto though, and I agree - listening to Burns is so much better than reading (though reading is great too)

  4. What is all this arm crossing business?? Also,you actually do haggis? Fascinating! I thought that was an American myth.

    1. Oh, yes we do indeed. It's honestly very tasty. When you come to Scotland, I'll make it for you.

      The arm crossing thing - whenever we sing Auld Lang Syne (usually at the end of the night at a wedding or a ceilidh, it's not really a New Year thing here I don't think) everyone stands around in a big circle and holds hands as we sing the first verse. Then at the second verse, you cross your arms across your body and hold hands again, so your right hand holds the hand of the person on your left, and vice versa. Then for the final chorus everyone skps/runs towards the middle of the circle and back again, still holding hands, back in and back out until it all gets chaotic and someone usually falls over. It's brilliant. But sometimes people cross their arms at the BEGINNING. Which is WRONG. And we all know I can't just let that slide.

    2. My favourite bit of Auld Lang Syne is the running in. I love starting it early. I am a child I know

  5. Ok so us here south of the border (I live in Wales, from England) get it all HORRIBLY wrong... and yes, I have only ever sung it at New Year and dont really know the words... fail

  6. We are all about the haggis tonight (meatatarian version please) plus neeps, tatties, whisky sauce and the contraversial skirlie option, because that stuff is like Mel crack! I got picked to toast the haggis when I was in 6th year, purely because of my ridiculous half American accent. Yeah, I can't pronounce 'puddin' properly.