{"id":349,"date":"2014-01-24T15:47:03","date_gmt":"2014-01-24T14:47:03","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.parkvintners.co.uk\/blog\/?p=349"},"modified":"2014-01-24T15:47:48","modified_gmt":"2014-01-24T14:47:48","slug":"fair-fa-your-honest-sonsie-face-great-chieftain-o-the-puddin-race","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/parkvintners.co.uk\/blog\/?p=349","title":{"rendered":"Fair fa’ your honest, sonsie face, Great chieftain o’ the puddin’-race!"},"content":{"rendered":"

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Fellow Wine Lovers,<\/span><\/p>\n

Three weeks ago we were dancing around the living room belting out<\/span><\/p>\n

Should auld acquaintance be forgot, And never brought to min’? Should auld acquaintance be forgot, And days o’ auld lang syne?<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

…or in fact we were trying to sing this, but in fact were shouting unintelligible faux-Scottish words which only became clear for the chorus bits before disappearing back to mumbled gobbledygook.\u00a0 <\/span><\/p>\n

Then Jools\u2019 Hootenanny was put on and more fake Scottish accents were adopted for all The Proclaimers oeuvre \u2013 is it significant that we know more of the words to Letter From America than Auld Lang Syne? \u2013\u00a0 then suddenly it was 3am, it was January 2014, and I felt like I had walked 500 miles (could I walk 500 more? Maybe)<\/span><\/p>\n

Anyway, this is all a longwinded way of showing that January belongs to Rabbie Burns, the man voted Greatest Ever Scot in 2009.\u00a0 So we start the month with Auld Lang Syne, we then have a few quiet weeks respite before the big day, January 25th<\/sup>, Burns Night.\u00a0 Scots and non-Scots alike, all around the world will be tucking into haggis, neeps and tatties tomorrow evening.\u00a0 Bagpipes will be squawked, sporrans will be worn; cheeky girls will ask if it\u2019s true what a Scotsman keeps under his kilt; cock-a-leekie, whisky and smoked salmon will be in abundance and then the Haggis will arrive and some poor soul will struggle to their feet and try to recite the following:<\/span><\/p>\n

Fair fa’ your honest, sonsie face, Great chieftain o’ the puddin’-race!\u00a0 Aboon them a’ ye tak yer place, Painch, tripe, or thairm: Weel are ye wordy o’ a grace<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

Address to a Haggis \u2013 a Robert Burns masterpiece and totally appropriate on what would have been his 255th<\/sup> birthday.<\/span><\/p>\n

As you can tell I have indulged in a fair bit of internet research about the great man and have come up with a short checklist of key Burns facts, should the dinner conversation dry up:<\/span><\/p>\n