Partying With the Haggis Part 2

(If you missed Part 1, it's here)

Yes, I really ate Haggis!

So, to finish telling you about our evening of everything Scottish, besides the presenting of the esteemed haggis, there was plenty of other entertainment.  There were bagpipers, two troops of dancers, a guest speaker, singing and LOTS of toasting!  Oh we toasted the President, the Queen, Scotland, the Lads and the Lassies, the artists, and I think there were even a few more toasts in there.  I especially loved the bagpipers, though I've never really seen bagpipes up close and I am curious how exactly you play them.  (Are they even held on to your body by a strap or mounts?  Or do you just hold them as you play?  I've always thought bagpipes would be a really fun and interesting instrument to learn, but I am aware that the sounds that come out of that thing if you don't know what you're doing could drive people to insanity.)

One of probably my favorite parts of the evening was when we said grace.  As I mentioned, I'm not Scottish, so all the memories I have of anything Scottish only begin from the time I met my husband.  Probably my fondest "Scottish" memory is of his grandfather and his standard response to any suggestion of spending money, which was, "Ye nay be needin' tha!".  But my second fondest memory is when we were dating, and first married, before the family grew to unmanageable size with all the marriages and children - it was Thanksgiving dinner at my husband's Aunt's house.  It was the one time a year the whole clan gathered, and they would always say this grace before eating - I believe it's known as the "Selkirk Grace":

Some hae meat, and cannae eat,

And some wad eat that want it,

But we hae meat and we can eat

And sae the Lord be thankit.

Years ago I even had bought a little framed picture with this grace that hangs in my dining room.  If we host Thanksgiving again next year, I would love to try to remember to say this as the grace.  (If any family members are reading this and agree, TRY TO REMIND ME TO DO THIS NEXT YEAR!)  Especially to teach it to the kids, and give them that memory too...

All in all, it was a wonderful evening, and it was also just so nice to have my husband's "clan" all together for a fun evening celebrating their Scottish heritage.

Do you have any special ways you celebrate your family's heritage?

The end.