NorCal X Marks Burns Supper: plan now!

[Alan H]

After dinner and the refilling of the glasses.........

I, Alan H once again took the floor and alluded very briefly to other Scottish Authors. I pointed out that Robert Service actually wrote a poem to the Kilt. It was then time for the unveiling of a new poem, humbly penned by me and offered to all, and a toast to that which brings us all together...THE KILT!

To The Kilt


Step up, Me Lads and strop on yer kilt
In noble colour and mighty swing;
of leather and wool, and right stoutly built
that keeps all fresh, aye there's the thing.

It's blue for the skies that spread out wide
o'er the lands that we remember dear;
and blue for the sea that stands beside
the land, and the far horizon, clear.

It's green for the grass in the stony glen,
for the tread of the cattle, the cry of the swan;
the memory of forests that stretched far, back then
nigh lost to us now, but in memory, ne'er gone.

And yellow for the sun on the summers day
and the way your lass looks in the early morn.
Oh, let not that memory fade away
for of such is our humanity, daily born.

Red for the blood that our fathers have shed
on fields at home or under a foreign sun.
Forget them not, nor their hearts that bled
for Freedom and the Right, 'til our day is done.

Black for the night, and the end of the day
when brothers hands lower the lid of the ghastly tomb
and silent we go, and with bowed heads we pray
into that everlasting and sacred gloom.

But then, White for the purity of soul and heart
and white for the snows upon Ben Dubh.
For remember that death shall not us part
and love and memory shall see us through.

Whe'er braw, muckle man or keen, sprightly lad
whe'er youth of slight age, or a great weathered yew
bring out then, the tartan, and be ye glad
to strap it round your waist, and wear the colors, true.

Aye, buckle it tight and clear-eyed look out;
step up me lads and strop on yer kilt.
Wear it with pride and be memory's redoubt
and be ye a Man, and proud, to the hilt.


January 2007

ah, but I digress...........

BTW, who brought the Caol Isla 18????

Ah, I neglect the necessary. What Whisky was in attendance?
Caol Island 18, Speyside 15, Macallan 12, Balvenie double-barrel, Glenlivit 15, Ardbeg 12...........gaaa, there was at least one more, but I'm blanking out!

ANY-way, moving on.... way2fractious delivered the toast to the cook, which I had intended to be a toast to Madalyn, our Organizer Extraordinaire, but wound up being a toast to Yours Truly...I am humbled....not just by the toast, but also by the really nice sporran flask that Richard gave me. It's GREAT! Thanks, Richard!

Here is Richards toast....

Some of us can make our stuff
(with reference to a needle):
Some just have to buy our things
(or beg, or borrow, or wheedle).
Then comes the one, who with aplomb,
can do whate'er is wanted,
and do it with such flair and flash
that we suspect he's *haunted*!

Now, I have that text 'cause way2fractious handed it to me, and I've kept it. Bunchdescendent delivered the toast to the lasses and garned a few laughs and giggles by pretending to read the Gettysburgh Address...shuffling papers and starting out again "accidentally" with a facilities report. ....and then finally proceeding on to verse (which I don't have a copy of).

But let it never be said that the lasses let the lads have the last word! The elegant and thrifty (ask Panache about his ladys dress) stood up to reply.

Now, you must understand that Panche and the FHBCAG are not your everyday pair. Nobody else I know can dress up as a Highwayman and Jessica Rabbit and still have people take them seriously. The FHBCAG admitted that in fact Panache had written her toast, had assured her that limited editing was acceptable, but no more than that, and she DID after all memorize it....which she did.

I don't have the text here, but I HOPE...**HINT HINT* that it will find its way onto this website in this thread, soon!....Because the line about the how "I shall love thee 'till our checkbook all gang dry" is a screamer.