Tartan @ MindSay

I simply love the Scottish-American church parade known as the "Kirking of the Tartans". This event took place last Sunday at one of our local Presbyterian Churches and featured the St. Andrew Society of Baton Rouge, Caledonian Society of Baton Rouge and the wonderful bagpipe music of the Baton Rouge Pipes & Drums of the Caledonian Society.

CuldeeDeacon +

How did I forget?

thesolidrock posted the reminder that today is Robert Burns' birthday!  Burns' poem, To a Louse, is one of my favorite poems ever.

Written upon seeing one of these crawling creatures upon a pretty young woman in church on Sunday morning, I believe...

Ha! whaur ye gaun, ye crowlin ferlie?
Your impudence protects you sairly;
I canna say but ye strunt rarely,
Owre gauze and lace;
Tho', faith! I fear ye dine but sparely
On sic a place.

Ye ugly, creepin, blastit wonner,
Detested, shunn'd by saunt an' sinner,
How daur ye set your fit upon her-
Sae fine a lady?
Gae somewhere else and seek your dinner
On some poor body.

Swith! in some beggar's haffet squattle;
There ye may creep, and sprawl, and sprattle,
Wi' ither kindred, jumping cattle,
In shoals and nations;
Whaur horn nor bane ne'er daur unsettle
Your thick plantations.

Now haud you there, ye're out o' sight,
Below the fatt'rels, snug and tight;
Na, faith ye yet! ye'll no be right,
Till ye've got on it-
The verra tapmost, tow'rin height
O' Miss' bonnet.

My sooth! right bauld ye set your nose out,
As plump an' grey as ony groset:
O for some rank, mercurial rozet,
Or fell, red smeddum,
I'd gie you sic a hearty dose o't,
Wad dress your droddum.

I wad na been surpris'd to spy
You on an auld wife's flainen toy;
Or aiblins some bit dubbie boy,
On's wyliecoat;
But Miss' fine Lunardi! fye!
How daur ye do't?

O Jeany, dinna toss your head,
An' set your beauties a' abread!
Ye little ken what cursed speed
The blastie's makin:
Thae winks an' finger-ends, I dread,
Are notice takin.

O wad some Power the giftie gie us
To see oursels as ithers see us!
It wad frae mony a blunder free us,
An' foolish notion:
What airs in dress an' gait wad lea'e us,
An' ev'n devotion!

By current swift change of theme is in honor of one of the clans from which I descend:  McNaughton.  The plaid is the McNaughton hunting tartan. I have a kilt myself in this same tartan in my closet. :)

I Hope in God is McNaughton's clan motto. I've always liked it.

Well our St. Andrew Society had it's Kirking of the Tartan this morning at one of the local Presbyterian Churches. After the service we all went to the church's activity building and had fish and chips complete with malt vinegar. How come one cannot get proper fish and chips this side of the Atlantic?
Here is a photo of me afterwards:

Yours aye,
CuldeeDeacon †

"The Highland dress is essentially a 'free' dress -- that is to say, a man's taste and circumstances must alone be permitted to decide when and where and how he should wear it... I presume to dictate to no man what he shall eat or drink or wherewithal he shall be clothed." -- Stuart Ruaidri Erskine, The Kilt & How to Wear It, 1901.

CuldeeDeacon †

Yes! I do have two sons! Here is a photo that was taken in the Summer of 1991 by my father. From left to right, Ian age 3, Tom, (thirty something) and James age 5. Mungalls all! Ian is wearing a kilt in the Royal Stewart Tartan, Tom is wearing the Stirling and Bannockburn District Tartan and Jamie is wearing the MacBeth Tartan. My parents painted a large oil painting portrait from this photo that summer which now hangs in my office.
CuldeeDeacon †