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St Andrews Ceileigh.


eric byrne

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Good Afternoon Partygoers,

Alas, the severe snowfall in Scotland has prevented my car making the summit of Mt Sutherland drive,and I have to be content to stay at home.Well today is a special day in Scotland its St Andrews day,so I thought we should have a Ceileigh.So lets share some of Scolands culture,of humour,songs and poetry.My first rendition,is of a poem by our National Bard,Rabbi Burns sorry Robbie Burns.The prologue,Robert as you may know, was a bit of a lad with the ladies,he was having an affair with Clarinda,in writing to her he would use the pseudonym,Sylvander,one day Clarinda tells Robert the she has to leave Scotland forever to live abroad with her husband.Brokenhearted Robert pens:-

Ae Fond Kiss

Ae fond kiss and then we sever

A fareweel,alas,forever

Deep in heart-wrung tears Ill plege thee,

Warring sighs and groans Ill wage thee,

Who shall say that Fortune grieves him

While the star of hope she leaves him?

Me,nae cheerful twinkle lights me

Dark despair twinkle lights me.

Ill ne'er blame my partial fancy

Naething couls resist my Nancy

But to see her was to love her

Love but her and love forever

Had we ne'er lov'd sae kindly

Had we ne'er lov'd say blindly

Never met or ne'er parted

We had ne'er been broken-hearted

Fare- thee-weel,thou first and fairest

Fare-thee -weel-thou best and dearest

Thine be ilka joy and treasure,

Peace,Enjoyment,Love and Pleasure,

Ae Fond Kiss and then we sever,

Ae fareweel,alas,forever

Deep in heart-wrung tears ill pledge thee,

Warring sighs and groans Ill wage thee.

Its diffucult for me to read this peom without singing the words in my head.I play accoustic guitar(badly) and enjoy many of Roberts songs and other Folk tunes.There is a folk duo in Scotland should say was,called the Corries,they toured Scotland, made many records and appeared many times on TV,I have recorded many of their concerts unfortunately they are on VHS video,wonder if they can be copied onto DVD?.the duo were made up of Roy Williamson and Ronnie Brown,who not only were superb musicians but they also made all their own instruments.A few years ago,Roy died suddenly with a brain haemorrhage,Ronnie in paying tribute to his musician skills said "The angels must now look to their laurals,since Roy has arrived"For the next part of our ceileigh,you have to refer to You Tube and type in The Corries you should find at least 50 videos of their music and songs,press play on your choice I particularly recommend Glencoe,Killicrankie also our National Anthem (which they wrote)The flower of Scotland,go on indulge me, its only once a year,promise you will enjoy listening to them.

Now later you have to sit down to some delicious Haggis,Tatties and Neeps,and as grace one must recite the following:-

Some hae meat and dinna eat,

Some hae nane that want it,

But we hae meat and we can eat,

So let the Lord be thankit.

Finally,but not least,raise a wee dram of the amber nectar and repeat after me;-

Heres tae us

Wha's like us

Gie few an' there aw deed.

Enjoy the rest of the party,I am off to my guitar,MacPhersons Rant coming up.Byee

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Heres tae us

Wha's like us

Gie few an' there aw deed.

Hey Eric, I was going to try to Americanize this, but have no clue what it says.

Heres to us

Whose like us

And then I am lost! LOL!

Now as for the poem, why on earth didn't he take her from her husband who was moving away? It sounds like he truly loved her!

And I just am pretty sure I am not going to find Haggis, Tattis, and Neeps. Though the guys might find Tattis at a topless bar! HA HA HA HA HA HA HA!!!!!

I did go to Youtube and listened to the Corries, lovely Scottish music. So nice. I'm not sure you can convert VHS to DVDs? Are there even VHS players out there anymore? When I think of all the tech advances over our lifetime, it's mind boggling. I remember 45 records, then albums, then 8 track tapes, from there to a smaller tape that I can't remember the name of, to CD's and MP3's and more! Crazy stuff.

Have fun. Hope you enjoyed the Guitar Rant, whatever that is!

:-)

Judy in MI

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Hi Judy,

Thank you for indulging me on my short flight of imagination,if I can translate,

Heres to us,

Who is like us?

Only a few,and ,who have since passed away.

Oh Robert eloping with Clarinda? just one problem,Roberts wife,Jean Armour (and kids)his love was ephemeral,there wre many more Clarindas to enter into his life,what a rascal,I think even the women were secretly in admiration of his prowess.

Tattis? no Tatties-Potatoes-what on earth is Tattis?

Lastly,McPherson's Rant-He was a musician about to be hanged on a public scaffold,who asked for a last request,which is granted,to play one last tune on his fiddle,love playing and singing this with my guitar, not fiddle.Enjoy the rest of your day,glad you enjoyed the Corries.

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Good Morning All,

Oh boy does my head ache,now where did I put the ibuprofen?,must have been something I ate?.Well thats the last of the guests finally gone,what a party,just all the tidying up to do,dyson(hoover LOL) round the lounge,did you see the pile of dishes in the sink?,you know having parties is great fun,but I hope the next one is in someones elses house.Any volunteers for the Christmas or New Year ones?you are all invited to my next one so mark it in your diaries,25th January-Burns night,promise it will be a great night,its really traditionally called a Burns Supper and in tribute to Roberts drinking nights with his male buddies no ladies,nowadays,things have got a bit more liberal,and women are now invited(to some only)anyway they are always welcome in my home,can you really imagine having a party,and not inviting the Judies,Libby,Becky,Stephanie etc,etc?got to dash,Ive left the tap running in the sink,and the water is all over the kitchen floor.See you.

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