10th (and Final!) Nor Cal Rabble Burns Night Supper

[Panache]

Salutations All!

The Nor Cal Rabble have been proud of the series of Burns Night Suppers we have put on through the years. This past Saturday we hosted on our tenth one. As much fun as they have been, they are still quite a bit of work to do. We also had wondered "how long should we keep doing them?". It was decided that rather wait until we became tired of putting them on, or our attendees became tired of coming to them, it would be better to end on a high note. So we voted that this should be our swan song.

Our group was born of xmarksthescot and we have enjoyed sharing our Suppers with you all. They may not have always been the most conventional, however I can say that we have followed Todd (formerly Cajunscot) 's advice to "never throw a Burns Night Supper that Robert Burns himself would be bored at". We have not been boring I assure you! In the process of the fun however, I think we all have come up with a good understanding of Burns and why he is so beloved. At heart, Burns and the celebration of his works is all about the common man. He is perhaps the "Most uncommon common man" of them all.

It is my pleasure to share one last set of Burns Night Supper Photos on behalf of the Nor Cal Rabble of XMTS

Cheers

Jamie ith:


Three generations with Mr. Burns



Farlanders!



Piper George and a group of the Red Thistle Dancers!



My lovely Flame-Haired Celtic Amazon Goddess recites (and sings!) Burns' Afton Water at my request during the reception/whisky tasting



My friend Bill led us in song for the one non Burns piece of the evening "The Star of Robbie Burns"



Here are the lyrics of the song, more photos to follow!


The Star o' Rabbie Burns

There is a star whose beaming ray
Is shed on ev'ry clime.
It shines by night, it shines by day
And ne'er grows dim wi' time.
It rose upon the banks of Ayr,
It shone on Doon's clear stream -
A hundred years are gane and mair,
Yet brighter grows its beam.

Chorus
Let kings and courtiers rise and fa',
This world has mony turns
But brightly beams aboon them a'
The star o' Rabbie Burns.

Though he was but a ploughman lad
And wore the hodden grey,
Auld Scotland's sweetest bard was bred
Aneath a roof o'strae.
To sweep the strings o'Scotia's lyre,
It needs nae classic lore;
It's mither wit an native fire
That warms the bosom's core.

Chorus

On fame's emblazon'd page enshrin'd
His name is foremost now,
And many a costly wreath's been twin'd
To grace his honest brow.
And Scotland's heart expands wi' joy
Whene'er the day returns
That gave the world its peasant boy
Immortal Rabbie Burns.

Chorus

(words by James Thomson)

[Panache]

Piper George in action!



Bill and Star



X Mark's favorite Monkey and lovely ladies



Bunchdescendant and Chris!



Dale in his amazing period outfit and yours truly



(Side note: I had always been informed that it was acceptable to wear a dirk with a formal doublet so I decided to try the look with my outfit for the night. As for the results...well it is a neat (somewhat theatrical) look, but I found it a little awkward and as a dancer I had to ditch it the moment I heard the band warming up. So my verdict is "Cool looking, but neither practical nor comfortable")

Close up of Dale's garter ties




TimC and MrsC



Alan gave the Immortal Memory



Big Crowd (90 plus!)



More to come!

[Panache]

Me as Master of Ceremonies



The haggis is piped in! (My friend Bob is carrying the haggis and my children are the honor guard)









Unfortunately I have no photos of our Monkey@arms giving an excellent rendition of "The Address to a Haggis" (hopefully others will be able to add their photos to this thread)

Family portrait!



Toast to the Lassies and Response from the McFarlands





More to come!

[Panache]

Walkerk recites! (Kent doesn't present often, but when he does he is great at it!)



Cynthia presents the Amazing Madalyn the "Toast to the Cook"



She received much praise (and many fuchsia-related gifts!)





My Dad and my Daughter!



Salute to our friend, the one and only Hamish!

Men first...



..then, not to be outdone, the Ladies!



One more set of photos to come!

[Panache]

My friend Deborah and I before the dancing



Star photo bombs Mindy and Bob!



Dancing!





Alan gets excited!



Way2Fractious (Richard) and me



Lucky Piper George!







Ok, I lied. One more set to come!

[Panache]

X Markers







Our wonderful band "Border Skirmish" who played for the dancing!



George teaching the flautist for Border Skirmish some basics about the pipes



Without Kent and Madalyn this event, like the ones before it, couldn't have happened!



That's all! G'Night Folks!



Cheers

Jamieith:

[ASinclair]

Wonderful photos Jamie! Thanks for sharing!

[Profane James]

Ah yes, great pics! And another great Sheriffmuir!

[Barb T]

*smiles* I predict that y'all will get a wee bit nostalgic around December next year and might be given to reconsidering this year as the last......

[Jock Scot]

Oh what fun! Even I, with my distaste of haggis and Mr Burns could not fail to have had fun with that bunch of errrr, well, ummm--------- bandits! Great to see so many familiar faces again.