My Heart's in the Highlands

My heart's in the Highlands, my heart is not here
My heart's in the Highlands a-chasing the deer,
A-chasing the wild deer and following the roe
My heart's in the Highlands, wherever I go!

Farewell to the Highlands, farewell to the North
The birthplace of valour, the country of worth!
Wherever I wander, wherever I rove
The hills of the Highlands for ever I love

Farewell to the mountains high cover'd with snow
Farewell to the straths and green valleys below
Farewell to the forests and wild-hanging woods
Farewell to the torrents and loud-pouring floods!

Tune - The Musket Salute

Hope you have had a good Burns Nicht. Picture taken in Cairngorms August 2006. 

(this year I wasn't able to serve work colleagues my traditional haggis lunch today while explaining how I had personally hunted and prepared this "Great chieftain o' the puddin-race" according to an ancient Gray family recipe - but hopefully I will be able to do so soon.)

Edinburgh Fringe (Performances and Pickets)

Spent a week doing the “fringe” in Edinburgh. More my better half’s idea of fun than mine. As I use to live in Edinburgh I feel entitled to be a little sniffy about the “fringe”. However, Edinburgh is a smashing place to spend a holiday anytime of the year. Apart from the weather… one comedian compared Scotland with having a “stunningly beautiful girlfriend… who dribbles all the time”.

While I was there on Thursday (23 August) there was even a 24 hour strike by Edinburgh Council workers over proposed cuts to staff and services. I went to the main picket held outside the Council Offices in the High Street (Royal Mile) to offer support. It was the strangest picket line I have ever been to since it was held only a 100m or so from the main fringe ticket office, the area was full of performers touting for business and tourists. The pickets (UNISON) themselves were articulate, well motivated and confident that they will be able to reverse the cuts. Good luck!

The fringe is now over - my top tips for 2008:-

Don’t believe any reviews
Try out the Free Fringe events first (sampler events) then if you like what you see then you can pay for a ticket to see that show.
Don’t bother to go and see acts in Edinburgh who are well established and who you can see in your home area anyway.
Remember the art exhibitions and musical shows as well as the comedy acts.
Walk up Arthur Seat regardless of the weather.
Have a “Haggis supper” from a local fish and chip shop

The last show we saw was a late night alternative comedy venue off London Road which ended with the comedian telling a roomful of about 40 people that he was going to recreate the “Battle of Madrid” 1939 from the Spanish Civil War. He divided the room into two groups and made everyone stand up and move. The right hand group he called the Fascists or nationalists and the left hand group the Republicans or communists. He called on the Fascists to stand up and advance towards the republicans while the republicans had to remain sitting and argue amongst themselves. The Fascists won.