• Welcome to BellGab.com Archive.
 

Scottish Independance - bollocks or shite?

Started by BobGrau, January 20, 2012, 10:55:03 AM

Avi

What I always found weird about my visits to Scotland (and Ireland, too) was the willingness of the natives to do down their own cultural brilliance and to deny that they've ever made any great contributions to civilization. At a musicology gathering in Glasgow some years ago, here is the toast I made at a Burn's Nicht supper:

QuoteThe best harpists, singers, fiddlers, pipers and drummers come from blessed Alba, as everyone knows. Here is a toast to the poet whose wit, daring revelry and human soul preserved and preserves their memories.

The Scots in attendance told me I was a fool to take it seriously. Really? It's almost as though the Scots subscribe wholeheartedly to the Sassenach caricatures. I don't know if independence would right this - maybe not. Maybe in those far northern latitudes, folks are just not getting enough sun, and a dark, self-loathing, Ingmar Bergman sort of deranged depression has set in. Joking aside, I hope Scots view their choices as more than bollocks or shite.

The amazing longing, that peculiar Scottish tenderness, in this melody and poem, put together by Robert Burns, is truly astounding:

Aye Waukin-O - Eddi Reader

A tender poem about the creatures of the landscape, and against hunting for sport, a sensibility we could use (written in the 18th century, btw):

Dick Gaughan - Now Westlin Winds



BobGrau

QuoteWhat I always found weird about my visits to Scotland (and Ireland, too) was the willingness of the natives to do down their own cultural brilliance and to deny that they've ever made any great contributions to civilization.

This does seem to be a recurring theme with the 'celtic' peoples (don't forget the Welsh!).
In terms of 'culture' I am astonishingly proud of my gloomy peers. A quick glance at the music thread should confirm this. But I'm always surprised at that pride. It may come down to a wish to avoid prejudice against others leading to a certain glee in self-deprecation.

QuoteMaybe in those far northern latitudes, folks are just not getting enough sun, and a dark, self-loathing, Ingmar Bergman sort of deranged depression has set in.

This is scientific fact. It's called Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD), I think. I have repeatedly demanded that the NHS fly us all to Spain every winter, but they just tell me 'da fash yersel, loon!'

Avi

Quote from: BobGrau on January 24, 2012, 06:36:42 AM
This is scientific fact. It's called Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD), I think. I have repeatedly demanded that the NHS fly us all to Spain every winter, but they just tell me 'da fash yersel, loon!'

Maybe I shouldn't have spoken so in jest (but there I go fashin' ma'sel). My piping teacher, Gordon Duncan, committed suicide, a great loss to us all. He was the absolute master of the instrument.

Thunderstruck-Gordon Duncan

Gordon Duncan- The Belly Dancer

BobGrau

Sorry to hear that. I've occasionally wished death on bagpipe players, but I didn't mean it.

PS also sorry for my inability to take anything seriously, except my own ego.

Avi

Quote from: BobGrau on January 24, 2012, 09:45:35 AM
Sorry to hear that. I've occasionally wished death on bagpipe players, but I didn't mean it.

Ha! Ha! Do'an' fash yersel', laddie. It's funny, but when Americans hear me talk, the first question they ask is, "Are you from Scotland?" Usually, I just say "yes," to avoid the knee-jerk opprobrium heaped upon my actual country of origin, but also to avoid the long explanation of significant Scottish settlement in Donegal, and how my mother came to sojourn there, etc., etc., etc. When Scots hear me talk, they say, "You have an Orkney accent!" and then they wait for me to admit guilt. I just go along with it, else they might see fit to burn me in a giant wicker structure or to sic that George Gall-Bladder eejit upon me.


b_dubb

Quote from: Avi on January 24, 2012, 10:46:31 PM
Ha! Ha! Do'an' fash yersel', laddie. It's funny, but when Americans hear me talk, the first question they ask is, "Are you from Scotland?" Usually, I just say "yes," to avoid the knee-jerk opprobrium heaped upon my actual country of origin, but also to avoid the long explanation of significant Scottish settlement in Donegal, and how my mother came to sojourn there, etc., etc., etc. When Scots hear me talk, they say, "You have an Orkney accent!" and then they wait for me to admit guilt. I just go along with it, else they might see fit to burn me in a giant wicker structure or to sic that George Gall-Bladder eejit upon me.
so you're Jewish and Scottish? that's got to be a good thing cause haggis isn't kosher. and any good excuse not to eat haggis has to be a good thing, right?

BobGrau

Quote from: b_dubb on January 27, 2012, 06:31:32 PM
so you're Jewish and Scottish? that's got to be a good thing cause haggis isn't kosher. and any good excuse not to eat haggis has to be a good thing, right?

the secret with haggis is to combine it with scrambled eggs.

Quote from: BobGrau on January 27, 2012, 01:13:29 PM
Shit Scottish Guys Say To English Guys

"Dyu Know wot thay call Fabio Capello back in It-lee?..."

Classic.  That and "John Terry is a fuckin' wank!" = w1n

Avi

Quote from: b_dubb on January 27, 2012, 06:31:32 PM
so you're Jewish and Scottish? that's got to be a good thing cause haggis isn't kosher. and any good excuse not to eat haggis has to be a good thing, right?

Not exactly. My mother learned English from a Scottish foster-father and from an Irish, Letterkenny Scots-speaking foster-mother. Her own parents were murdered. Although I can serve as a translator for Trainspotting and The Commitments, I remain a Yemenite, Kurdish, Jewish Israeli.

Haggis is both bollocks and shite (although, in fact, it can be kosher), but Scottish oatmeal with treacle (translation: toffee syrup) is the bomb - or whatever the chef fookin' says it is.


blackshap9

1)So silly, of course haggis can be Kosher. Why not?

2) A lot of countries are following the Scottish Independence saga very closely for example; Quebec in Canada.


blackshap9

point is well taken however if they can make liver Kosher they can make Haggis Kosher. In fact if memory serves me correctly there is a European dish that is very similar

blackshap9

all they do is soak the organ in salt water and dance and sing and it is kosher



Avi

Quote from: The General on February 29, 2012, 11:23:15 PM
Kosher or not, it's still haggis.

Yeah, but it's Scottish Tradition, Church Lady!

Harmness

Quote from: Avi on March 01, 2012, 05:36:43 AM
Yeah, but it's Scottish Tradition, Church Lady!

Yeah, but so is running around in a skirt to be a manly man.

The rest of us do it because it makes us feel pretty.

BobGrau

Quote from: Harmness on March 01, 2012, 05:04:47 PM
Yeah, but so is running around in a skirt to be a manly man.

The rest of us do it because it makes us feel pretty.

Scottish legs are never pretty.


Powered by SMFPacks Menu Editor Mod