h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

"This is what winds me up about This Place sometimes. Someone mentions a tradition that loads of people enjoy, and it's instantly dismissed by people who've never experienced it as being patronising.

I'm glad I've not told my Scottish cousins about this place. They're girls, and they'd feel patronised at having their traditions decried by people who don't know what it feels like to be part of them."

Mr numbers:

I am one of the loads of people who enjoy Burns Night.
I did not dismiss it instantly or otherwise as patronizing or otherwise.

Burns Night and Burns poetry are part of my families heritage. They are our traditions and we know how it feels to be a part of them. I realize it's unseemly for a family to maintain an emotional attachment to their old homeland, but, I'm afraid we do. I'm sorry if that attachment infringes on your Scottish cousins' claim of exclusive ownership of things Scottish.

That's what I love about this place: somebody brings up a small point of criticism and is instantly jumped on for committing genocide.

I'm reassured to see that I'm not the only one who has reasons not to invite friends and relatives here.

My grandad was from Newton Stewart and was Burns mad, force fed it me...kind of put me off.

Yes I've only ever come across men celebrating it with lots of whisky drinking. Just my experience.

I answered anhaga's question honestly from *my* POV.

Oh come on,
its a night of whiskey poetry and a giant sausage thing
of course its mostly a male experience

in our family i read the poems that go along with the meal
why, well because I'm the scottish one who won't absolutely kill the original burns language...

I enjoy burns night as a time to gather with the family and sometimes do a bit of dancing if we've gone out to celebrate which we don't usually do

I don't understand his poetry..I'm so in love with the English poetry tradition..which seems so much softer and Romantic.

If grandad hadn't rammed Burs into me from a young age I might have found it for myself.

"I answered anhaga's question honestly from *my* POV."


Well, we can't have that, can we?


I consider myself fortunate to not have had any poet force fed. A bunch of them, including Burns, were always floating around while I was growing up, but they were never forced on us wee ones. I'd have to say that today I have favourite poems but not favourite poets.

"its a night of whiskey poetry and a giant sausage thing
of course its mostly a male experience"

Well having a Gers' supporting west coast of Scotland grandad can be difficult

(But he did also give me the Observer's book of wildflowers...which had a much better effect on me.)

Sorry, I have to go. My irony-o-meter just exploded in my hand. Might lose a finger...

That didn't sound so friendly. What do you mean?

(But hey that's nothing unusual here of late.)

Sorry Effers, that was:

a) not aimed at you
b) out of order

I thought it was aimed at me as it came after my post and it hurt...a lot.

I still don't understand why your irony meter exploded but I won't push it.

On a poetry theme, if anyone likes contemporary poetry, I'm currently reading Gerry Potter's The Men Pomes. Well worth a read. He has videos of his work on Facebook - look for one called "F... All".

Sorry, "How Do You Respect F... All" - it's on Youtube here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hIHKf3Q-h1A

I suppose it's all about how 'you' traditionally celebrate it, but as a Scottish girl (though living abroad) I have never known Burns Night to be a male-only thing.

The Toast to the Lasses is an acknowledgement of the hard work that women do that men don't normally see and is very much tongue in cheek about fat blokes who do nowt. The response is always humorous 'knowing' that women are the quiet ones who do all the hard work. It's a laugh, not to be taken seriously at all.

To someone not Scottish, I would imagine that a 'Burns Supper' is seen as a night when the local Masons, Round Table, Businessmens Club et al have a blokes night out to drink whisky (never whiskey - that's from the other side of the small pond) but growing up, Burns Night was a day to wear your best tartan frock to school, recite 'To a Mouse', go home to haggis, neeps and tatties (nutmeg? Not quite sure how that got to 1700's Scotland) with Granny, Grandad and a couple of aunts & uncles around and a good dance to Jimmy Shand!

You can visit a Scottish chip shop and have a haggis supper any day of the year, it's not a special food - the point of Burn's Night is to celebrate his birthday with a bit of fellowship, tradition drink and a bit of his poetry.

You can visit a Scottish chip shop and have a haggis supper any day of the year"

(Locally made)haggis is available year round here as well, thank goodness.

Listen, everybody, I'm really sorry I started this thread. I was just having such a truly enjoyable and full day with friends and haggis (some like it some don't) and sharing together . . .

I should have known better than to try to bring the fun agreement and disagreement and jokes and serious statements and poetry here.



I hope those who enjoy their Burns Day, whatever their tradition, had a fine one this year. I did.

No thank you, Anhaga, it's been an education!

Now, how do we celebrate Australia Day?

anhaga its been fascinating..a h2g2 special really if I think about it. You know what a funny lot we can be.

I'm not sorry.