Archive for January, 2008
The majestic sound of bagpipes introduces a frugal dish - and so begins a Burns Supper, held on January 25th to celebrate the date of the Scottish poet Robert Burns’ birthday (1759-1796).
The tradition originated in 1780, when Robert Burns founded the Bachelors’ Debating Club in Tarbolton for any “cheerful, honest-hearted lad, who if he has a friend that is true and a mistress that is kind, and as much wealth as genteely to make both ends meet - is just as happy as this world can make him”. A sentiment that still seems to ring true more than two centuries later.
January 31st, 2008
From Livingstone in Zambia named after the missionary-explorer David Livingstone (you can visit his birthplace in Blantyre, that’s Blantyre in Scotland rather than Blantyre in Malawi!) to Macquarie Harbour in Tasmania (Lachlan Macquarie, one of the most popular colonial Governors of NSW), the names of famous Scottish explorers, scientists and missionaries have been used as place names right across the globe.
Many other places were named by early settlers after a town, village, river or a mountain in Scotland to remind them of home.
I find place names (and not just Scottish ones) can provide a fascinating trail of the history of exploration and emigration, reminding us of who has gone before, although sometimes I have to admit it’s too easy not to stop and consider where names might have come from. The large number of place names around the world that have direct or indirect connections with Scotland is an enduring legacy of the history of Scotland and her people.
January 19th, 2008
In 1901 the Scottish company A. G. Barr developed a new caffeinated soft drink with a wonderfully radioactive looking orange glow, Iron Brew. Its formula remains a closely guarded secret - only two people in the company know it (the formula is kept in a bank vault) - but apparently it’s made “from iron girders”, hence the rusty colour, and great for young men who feel the need to add a bit of iron to their muscles.
In 1946, proposed new food labelling regulations (now where have we heard that before) stipulated that brand names should be ‘literally true’. Barr’s Iron Brew did contain iron (from the girders of course) but was not brewed, so a new spelling evolved and Irn Bru was born.
January 16th, 2008
