Weekly Meeting

25 January 2018Burns Supper Celebration with Bruce Liddle (Piper) and Jim Costello (speaker)

The Club Officers excelled themselves with a great night of fellowship and entertainment, what organisation, the tables were beautifully dressed in keeping with the theme (tartan everywhere and with a ‘wee dram’ and chocolate at each setting!). The menu was sorted, the ladies received a ‘thistle cortege’ to add to their Scottish attire. As people arrived Piper Bruce was puffing and blowing to warm up his pipes for the evening’s main event of ‘piping in the haggises’, accompanied by Chef Mark and speaker Jim. After a couple of circuits of the restaurant, Jim “addressed the haggis” with some gusto and enthusiasm (which most of us could not follow due to his exaggerated Scottish accent, using many of Burns’ words, as appropriate for such an event, finishing with the request for us all to toast to the haggis with our wee drams.

The excellent meal followed and then more entertainment, with the closest we have to a Scotsman, Geordie Jordan, who rendered his version of ‘My love is like a red, red rose’.

It was then Jim’s turn to regale us with his rendition spoken to the immortal memory of Robbie Burns and quite a character he apparently was, often referred to as The Bard of Ayrshire.  A farmer, who couldn’t farm, but turned out to be an excellent ‘wordsmith’, whilst additionally, a good looking philanderer, siring 12 children in his short 37 years of life. 

Burns joined the Royal Dumfries Volunteers in March 1795. As his health began to give way, he began to age prematurely and fell into fits of despondency. The habits of intemperance are said to have aggravated his long-standing possible rheumatic heart condition and on the morning of 21 July 1796, Burns died in Dumfries, at the age of 37.

Bruce returned to play us further tunes on his bagpipes, additionally delivering a couple of amusing anecdotes. The Valentines concluded the formal entertainment, with David ‘toasting the lassies’, highlighting some of the delights of the female species and educating the male contingent with some of his amusing interpretations of what lassies actually meant when they used certain common phrases (generally the opposite of what was indicated!!). But Jackie, as usual, had the last word, with her ‘toast to the laddies’, also amusing us with examples of why men are considered to come from Mars!

The evening was concluded with a single verse of ‘Auld Lang Syne’, sang in the traditional ‘crossed arms’ style, a great evening, enjoyed by all!                                                           AR