Burn's Supper

Greetings everyone!

Jacob and I have been learning more and more about Scottish culture everyday that we are here. It is really an amazing experience! This past weekend we had another great chance to learn more about how the Scots to things. We attended a few Burns Supper celebrations. These suppers were gatherings of small communities to celebrate the memory of Robert (Robbie) Burns who is Scotland's national poet. Burns was born on the 25th of January 1759, and Burns Night is celebrated every year on and around his birthday all over Scotland and in Scottish communities all over the world. He wrote many poems, the best of which are written in old Scottish (sort of like the language Shakespeare used only for the Scots). We experienced many of these poems recited or sung during the Burns suppers, including but not limited to: "Address to the Haggis," "Tam O' Shanter," and "Will ye go Lassies, go."

 

 

You may not know about Robert Burns as a poet, but I would guess that most of you know at least one of his poems. I'll give you a hint, the New Years song. Yes, he wrote "Auld Lang Syne," the song sung all over the world on New Years, and at the end of almost every large get-together here in Scotland. Jacob and I will probably have the words to all four verses memorized by the time we get back. It is really rather fun actually. You stand around in a big circle holding hands. The speed of the song slowly increases as the verses go on. By the last verse, we've worked ourselves up to quite a tempo. If there is room by the last refrain, we start contracting and expanding the circle. Its slightly stressful, but mostly fun to run into the middle of a circle with the people across from you running right at you. It's a really fun last song to end these events and I wish I would have known about it before our wedding because that would have been the last dance. But oh well.

Anyway, back to talking about the Burns Suppers. Jacob and I attended two. The first was at the Catholic chaplaincy on campus, Turnbull Hall, and the other was at one of the Student Unions, Glasgow University Union (the men's union originally). The second Burns Supper was not really a supper, but just a Ceilidh dance with some Burns' quotes on the tables. Ceilidhs are always fun, but since we have already talked about those in the posts, I won't spend any more time on it. The Supper at the chaplaincy was much more formally structured and traditional.

 

 



 

The evening started off with the Piping in of the Haggis. The haggis, still inside the sheep stomach, was brought into the hall preceded by a bagpiper. It was marched around the room a few times before it was put on a special little table.

 



 

 

After the haggis had been piped in, it needed to be addressed; it was a very important part of the night apparently. A gentleman who had memorized quite a few Burns poems recited the "Address to the Haggis" poem quite nicely. For those of you who are interested, here are some of the best stanzas of said poem:

 

"Fair fa' your honest, sonsie face,

Great chieftain o the puddin'-race!

Aboon them a' ye tak your place,

Painch, tripe, or thairm:

Weel are ye worthy o a grace

As lang's my arm...

 

His knife see rustic Labour dight,

An cut you up wi ready slight,

Trenching your gushing entrails bright,

Like onie ditch;

And then, O what a glorious sight,

Warm-reekin, rich!...

 

Ye Pow'rs, wha mak mankind your care,

And dish them out their bill o fare,

Auld Scotland wants nae skinking ware

That jaups in luggies:

But, if ye wish her gratefu prayer,

Gie her a Haggis"

 

Robert Burns

 

Full Poem Here!

 It really is lovely if you want to read the whole thing. You will appreciate haggis more, or maybe not. =)



 

 

Now that the Haggis had been rightly honored, it was time to eat. The haggis was taken out of the room to be cut open and its entrails spilled like the lovely poem above talked about. While this was happening, we got some lovely soup as our first course. Then we got to actually eat the haggis traditional-like with "neeps and tatties" (turnips and potatoes). You all may be surprised, but it was actually very good.

 

 

 

During and after dinner we were entertained by some of Burns' poems. The gentleman who had recited the "Address to the Haggis" recited two more famous poems. They would have been hard enough to understand with just the accent he had, but since they had been written in old Scottish as well, they were nearly incomprehensible to me. I did catch a familiar word or phrase here and there, and like a good foreign visitor, I laughed when all the others laughed even if I had no idea what was funny. ;) Other poems were put to music and the  band played and sang them for us. We were given a little packet with the words so we could sing along. This was fun, and I still have some of the songs stuck in my head.

 

After dinner there were some fundraising activities carried out by one of the societies connected with the church. They had a raffle for prizes such as: a wash and dry from a local salon, a little pewter statue, a dinner for two at a restaurant on Bank St., and a dinner for two with the priest, Father Ross. Jacob and I didn't win anything, but we only bought two tickets so the odds were not really in our favor.

 

The more interesting fundraising event of the night however was the Whisky Roll. For this activity someone had bought a very expensive bottle of single malt whisky (named after Burns fittingly enough). They put said bottle of whisky at the end of a long room. People then threw, slide, or rolled 1 pound coins at the bottle. Whoever got a coin to land closest to the bottle got to take it home. Jacob and I could not participate because Jacob had emptied all the coins out of his wallet just before we left. This was not so unfortunate, however, because, while it would have been fun, it would have been really awkward if we had won. What would we do with a whole bottle of whisky?

 

All in all, the night was really fun. It was just a good night of good Scottish culture. We had some good food, listened to some good music, met some good people, and had some good fun. And Jacob got to wear his kilt, yet again, which is always enough to make him happy.

 

 

Cheers! "Lang may yer lum reek!" (long may your chimney smoke)

 

Jessie and Jacob Wilkerson 

 

My Sweet Lady

Hello all, Jacob here.

I just have a quick post for today. I'd like to share a song with you. After the wedding, it occurred to me that I had forgotten to request a song to be played at the reception. Too much was going through my mind as it was, I suppose. It really is a beautiful song, and since we missed it then, I thought I might share it with you now.

My Sweet Lady, by John Denver

Lady, are you crying? Do the tears belong to me?
Did you think our time together was all gone?
Lady, you've been dreaming. I'm as close as I can be.
And I swear to you our time has just begun.

Close your eyes and rest your weary mind. I promise I will stay right here beside you.
Today our lives were joined, became entwined.
I wish that you could know how much I love you.

Lady, are you happy? Do you feel the way I do?
Are there meanings that you've never seen before?
Lady, my sweet lady, I just can't believe it's true.
And it's like I've never ever loved before.

Close your eyes and rest your weary mind. I promise I will stay right here beside you.
Today our lives were joined, became entwined.
I wish that you could know how much I love you.

Lady, are you crying? Do the tears belong to me?
Did you think our time together was all gone?
Lady, you've been dreaming. I'm as close as I can be.
And I swear to you our time has just begun.

I wish that you could know how much I love you, my beloved Jessie.

~Jacob

The moment you've all been waiting for!

No, we are not pregnant; the other moment you've all been waiting for: Jacob got his kilt!



 

 

Jacob's official highland outfit includes an eight yard kilt in a blue plaid tartan. Neatly tucked into this kilt is a black ghillie shirt, held together at the neck with a leather thong. Over the top of his kilt, you can see the pouch called a sporran. It is made of leather and fir and is attached to the kilt with a nice sporran chain. Not only is this sporran perfect for holding a wallet and maybe a flask, but it would also provide a wee bit of protection for certain delicate areas. =) Over the sporran, Jacob is wearing a thick leather belt with a fancy silver buckle. The buckle has a picture of a thistle, which is the national flower of Scotland. On his legs, you can see some nice black hose (the manly kind). These manly hose are secured up by manly garters sporting some nice "hose flashes" (bits of tartan matching the kilt). We did not buy special shoes, but the black dress shoes that Jacob already had actually look similar enough to the shoes they were trying to sell us.

Two items that you cannot see in this picture are the kilt pin and the sgian-dubh. The kilt pin is used to weigh down the right corner of the kilt to avoid any embarrassing Marilyn Monroe moments (especially since tradition dictates that nothing should be worn underneath a kilt). This pin is in the shape of a sword with a thistle over it, to match his belt buckle. The sgian also has a matching design, but instead of being in the shape of a sword, it actually is a sword, a small one, more like a dagger, but close enough. Actually, according to a Scottish spectator whom we gained at the shop, it isn't even a real dagger, because "it is too wee." Wee though it may be, it is quite a pretty little thing. It has a nice red jewel on the hilt and a nice little black sheath, also sporting the thistle design. It is typically worn in the right hose for easy access.

The sgian and kilt pin can be seen a little better from this angle

Jacob is very proud of his kilt, and I must admit, I think he looks quite nice in it myself. After doing some research on kilts (before we bought the kilt of course) we learned that the idea of certain clan tartans isn't too strict. Really this idea only came about in the Victorian Era (a relatively late development in the long life of kilt wearing). So while there are specific tartans for certain clans, anybody can wear any kind of kilt they like as long as they pay for it. Jacob was pleased to hear this, seeing as he has no Scottish blood that he knows of.

We also learned that a traditional kilt was not tailored like the one Jacob bought is. What this means is that the pleats in the back had to be hand folded every time someone put one on. The excess could then be thrown over the shoulder to cover the top half of the man's body. This kilt was a traditional hunting and fighting outfit because it could serve multiple purposes. It was worn during the day, providing plenty of warmth with all its fabric, and then at night it could be rolled out and used as a sleeping bag. The kilts you can buy today are obviously much different, but still carry this tradition with them.

Even though the kilt has undergone many changes and not really connected to any sort of clan ties for us, it does have a certain something about it. The kilt, along with the men who wore them, has a long and proud history that seems to shine through. It is said that a man in a kilt is a man and a half. Certainly putting on a kilt makes a man remember the brave Scots who fought for their land and their people, the rugged highland men on the hunt. It is a really cool piece of Scottish culture, but it is much more than just a cool souvenir. Here in Scotland, the kilt is worn like a tuxedo on special and fancy occasions. So even though Jacob doesn't have any Scottish blood he will be wearing the kilt at least a few more times here in Scotland, and for many special occasions even after we get back.

God bless the Scots,
Jessie and Jacob

Ps. This is my favorite picture. Jacob didn't want me to put it in, but he's not writing this blog ;)

Scottish Right of Passage

Greetings from Glasgow! It's Jacob's turn to write the blog tonight.

Now that Jessie and I have more or less settled in to our Scottish apartment (complete with posters; we found a half-off deal in the Queen Margret student union and got four), we are beginning to sample the Scottish culture. We are planning another day trip to Edinburgh (pronounced edinburrow, by the way) tomorrow, during which I'll be buying my kilt. I am planning on a light-blue, and will be getting a full outfit to go with it, with hose and hose flashes to boot. You will get pictures tomorrow evening, don't worry.

We also attended our first Ceilidh (pronounced "kaylee," for reasons unbeknownst even to the locals), which was great fun. We had a drink or two, had some small appetizers, and learned several traditional Scottish dances while lovely, live music was played on the accordion and fiddle. We also visited a fairly fancy Scottish restaurant called the "Ubiquitous Chip," in which Jessie ordered, you guessed it, haggis as an appetizer. She talked me into trying some, and it actually wasn't bad at all.

A Traditional, Scottish Ceilidh for the International Students

Sheep Organs Inside Sheep Stomach??

After that, there remained one more major aspect of the Scottish culture to try:

Jessie and I went out to a pub nearby, called Tenant's, this evening. We went for dinner, and planned to get a shot of whiskey to share afterwards. The food was amazing; I ordered a rack of ribs, and Jessie had a steak pie, which we both immensely enjoyed. We each got a slice of chocolate fudge cake for dessert as well, which was a great deal as a two-for-one. And then the time came. I had seen some posters for Jack Daniel's, and it had sounded like it might be stomach-able.

Whoo-wee, I am definitely not a whiskey man.

Neither is Jessie.

(A Whiskey Woman, that is)

The fellow next to us couldn't help but notice the Jack I had brought back, and that Jessie and I were making a bit of a deal out of drinking it. Having had a couple of beers himself, he surprisingly brought Jessie and I back two more "proper" whiskeys, as well as a glass of water (kind-hearted man, he was).

Well, long story short, we drank the three whiskeys, much to our surprise and discontent. We did learn that Jack Daniels is actually a very mild whiskey in comparison to the two others, "extreme," "real" whiskey, we were told. One was very smoky, and the other tasted like cough medicine, rubbing alcohol, etc.

We learned from Ivan (the kind whiskey-donor) that Tenant's had been around for almost 150 years, was one of the last pubs to allow women entry, and was in fact his favorite pub (due to its proximity to his bus stop). He gave us a few other local hints on what to see, talked to us about our studies at the university, and told us a bit about his own life as well. He wished us well several times, and told us to enjoy ourselves and our time in Scotland. It was our first real experience of the fabled Scottish hospitality, and we were very much impressed and gratified by Ivan's generosity and personality.

We have drunk of the Scottish drink, whiskey, and survived. I doubt we will ever again, for it is a rather unpleasant drink. I honestly don't know how it ever came to be so popular. But for us, for now, after sharing a strawberry daiquiri, two pints (I actually enjoyed the apple ale), and I guess three whiskeys, we are ready for bed. Good night all. Go enjoy yourselves, wherever you are. You don't need to be abroad and on your honeymoon to enjoy the life God has given you (although I must admit, our circumstances lend themselves rather well to enjoyment). ;)

Much love to you all,

Jacob and Jessie

University of Glasgow!

Good day everyone! Jessie here.

Today was our first day of classes at Glasgow University. The campus is definitely different than Regis. The buildings are spread out along a street rather and all clumped together around a rectangle like at Regis. This makes the campus seem much bigger and the makes classes a little more difficult to find. The student body also looks bigger when you are walking around. Glasgow has about 15,000 more students, but also not all the people you see walking around campus are students. Many people walk University Ave to get around the west end of Glasgow. But one of the rules for studying abroad is to not compare, so I will stop doing that now.

Pearce Lodge with gate from original University

 

As different as University of Glasgow is from Regis, it is a beautiful university in its own right. The campus used to be located in the center of the city near the cathedral, but it moved to the west end only in the 1800s. The main building was built at this time, but made to look like it was built in the 1400s when the university was founded. In the above picture you can see Jacob and I and some of our new friends standing by the Pearce Lodge which has one of the two things that were moved with the university when it moved from the town center. This gate under which all of the old students and professors who attended Glasgow University before the 1800s and the Lion and Unicorn staircase.

As for classes, I think we finally have them figured out. I attended two classes today and Jacob only had one. The first I attended was entitled Texts and Cultures of the Bible. While interesting, this class had anti-Catholic tendencies. Because it would have to count for a Catholic Studies credit in order to help me any, I think I will have to drop it. The second class Jacob and I had together, and was called Scottish Enlightenment. This was part of the Principia Consortium, the international honors program. We both have high hopes for this class. We are certain to learn quite a bit about Scottish culture.

Still to come, Jacob has his bagpiping class and lessons which he is very much looking forward to. We also both just signed up for a Scottish Literature class focusing on identity writings post WWII. Finally, I am trying to get registered for an American history class that will focus on technological developments between 1830 and 1930. Both should be quite interesting and I am excited to start them. We will be sure to let you know how they go.

Thanks for reading! Cheers,

Jessie and Jacob Wilkerson

Edinburgh

Hello all! Greetings again from Scotland!

What an amazing country. So many buildings are so old. We went on a day trip to Edinburgh yesterday (Friday), and the tour guide told us about a law in Scotland prohibiting the destruction of old/historical buildings. And so Edinburgh has the largest collection of Georgian buildings in the world. It is hard to find a building much more modern than the 1800s.

Evening in Edinburgh

Some of the main attractions included two royal palaces. One of them is still in use, and houses the Queen when she stays in Scotland once a year in July. This castle was also the home of Mary Queen of Scots, where she was known to bathe in wine. She was kind enough to allow the servants to drink the leftovers. The other is the original castle which was more of a military stronghold because it was so close to the border between Scotland and England, and so often changed hands between the English and the Scots. As often as the castle changed hands, so too did the rest of Scotland.

Original Castle

Mary's Bathhouse

Also on the list of future trips was Arthur's Seat, a now-extinct volcano that looms high above the city. We look forward to taking a picnic up there when the weather clears, and getting some amazing views of the city after the long hike up. Hopefully we can catch it before the tourists get too thick. Edinburgh is much more of a tourist city than Glasgow.

Arthur's Seat

On a related note, while in Edinburgh, I think we found the kilt I'll be buying. There were so many kilt shops there, probably to appease all the tourists. We did some shopping around, and have a good price range to look for. Now I'm just debating what color and pattern I want to get. Rest assured that there will be pictures of me in full kilt-attire once I have one. Look for them in the coming weeks.

Amidst all these old, traditional buildings, culture, accents, food, and whatnot, it is also exciting to note that yesterday was our official one-week-iversary. One week of married life, and all is new to us. It is good to keep these two things in mind, juxtaposed together to help inform our life and thought. Tradition and Innovation, as the honors folks from Regis will appreciate (or groan at, as the case may be).

Thanks for reading, everyone. Stay thirsty, my friends.
~Jacob

P.S.
We found this little gem in Edinburgh. I thought some of you might enjoy it.

Random Cow Butt

First Days!

Greetings from Scotland! Jessie here.

 

Getting here was quite an adventure, but so far we have been more successful than I had anticipated. We waited in line at customs, but not for an inordinate amount of time. We weren't sure what the customs lady was asking, but we figured it out after about four times. We got on a bus and were only lost until about five streets before our stop so we didn't miss it (this one was really a miracle). Then was the fun part: lugging our five bags through what seemed like all of Scotland trying to find our apartment. But really we made it without needing to turn around once, which for Jacob and I is a miracle.

 

 

After we unpacked all of our bags and got our apartment (or what the scots call our flat) all set up, we realized that it had been nearly twenty-four hours since we had had a substantial meal. We checked one of the university buildings, but they had nothing but snack food, of which we had had our fill. We decided to just walk until we found some place that had food. Luckily we didn't have to walk far. Just down the street from our flat was a nice restaurant called Little Italy. This restaurant quickly became my favorite restaurant in the history of restaurants, but you know what they say: hunger is the best gravy. I had a calzone and Jacob had some delicious chicken pesto.

 

 

Today was the beginning of the orientation. This was very exciting and helpful. I've never been so out of my comfort zone (Jacob says he has and that this is just a mild experience, but who knows if he is to be believed ;) ), because at Regis we both had many tours and information sessions before actually starting school there. We sat through a 3 hour information session. Jacob got to sign up for bagpiping lessons which he is very excited for. Then we were taken on a walking tour of the campus and surrounding areas. This tour was, in my opinion, more focused on the surrounding area and not very thorough because I still have no idea where my classes could be on campus. We saw a beautiful and very old building that, according to our tour guide, we "probably won't have any classes in," but that doesn't really help us. Hopefully we will have it figured out before classes start on Monday. For now we are just looking forward to our bus trip to Edinburgh on Friday.

 

In other news, married life is great! I'm not sure if it has really sunk in yet, but I'm sure it will soon. One thing is for sure, I am so glad that Jacob is here with me! I would be infinitely more nervous without him, and goodness knows I would not have been able to haul all my luggage up countless hills and 4 flights of stairs =)

 

All in all, everything is going about as perfectly as possible. We will keep you all posted when anything exciting happens, which will be often I'm sure!

 

Love from Glasgow!

Jacob and Jessie