St Andrew`s Day.

As I can see the Saltire flying proudly over the LSF, it`s time to wish all the Scots in our midst a very happy St Andrew`s Day.

Much merriment will be seen in that land with ceilidhs aplenty and Haggis and Tatties and Neeps and maybe a wee dram or two to help things along. Enjoy yourselves !

May I add my good wishes to all who celebrate, may the land be good to you, your children grow rich and may you never be caught with your pants down, unless of course that is your thing, then go right ahead.

May I be the first Scot on the site - and there are quite a few of us - to thank you for your good wishes. I just wish we weren't celebrating our special day with industrial action!

We share St Andrew as a patron saint with Russia and Greece and, years ago, I wrote a poem to send to Moscow with some of the above-mentioned haggis. The last stanza went :

" Sae let the toast now loud resound,
Frae Scotia's shores tae Kremlin's mound,
A' nations under Andrew's flag
Should share moist hurdies* frae a bag!"

(moist hurdies* loosely translate as succulent pieces of offal!)

I raise my glass of Jura malt to you all - slainte!

I also thank you for your good wishes. As corncrake says, we are celebrating amid picket lines and protest marches, but let that not put a damper on the merriment. Here's tae us!

And I raise my glass of Royal Lochnagar or of Balblair...unfortunately I'd better postpone that since I've just been to the local winter ale beer festival.

Greetings, if the hangover is gone and the day is past, can I please ask a translation? First a translation of "Sae", does that mean "now?" What is "Frae", I gather is means "from" but not sure. What is "tae Kremlin's mound?" And lastly what is "offal"?

Please forgive the ignorance of a poor western Canadian but this might as well be written in Greek to me. That said I speak all the languages in the world except Greek, and that is because all other language besides "Canadian and American English" is all Greek to me...LOL.

Thanks for the translation services!

CS

Good morning, CS! With head clear as a bell, I'm happy to translate the few problem words :
'Sae' means 'so', as you guess, and 'frae' is indeed 'from'.

'Frae Scotia's shores tae Kremlin's mound' would translate as 'From Scotland's shores to the hill on which the Kremlin stands.' (not so poetic!)

At the risk of giving the show away/putting you off haggis for life, various cheap or otherwise unusable pieces of the digestive tract of the sheep (heart, liver, kidney, lights - known as offal - mixed with suet, oatmeal, onion and crucial spices and seasonings) are chopped together and stuffed sausage-like into a section of the animal's intestine. This delicacy is known as haggis, beloved of Scots – and others - around the world!

I do hope the above helps. Should you have any similar queries please don't hesitate to shout.
Thanks again for your interest and good wishes,
corncrake.