NorCal X Marks Burns Supper: plan now!

[Robin]

Have fun guys!

[bunchdescendant]

I will be bringin' a bottle o' 12 yr. auld Glenlivet.

Trying desparately to fight off this #$@&*%@ cold that is trying to settle in. I will be there regardless.....

Mebbe a hot tea with honey and a wee dram to chase it down.

See you there, looking forward to a good time!

Ray

[Robin]

Cold...in California?

[TimC]

Ray - if you're bringing the 12 yr 'Livet, which should I bring; 12 yr Spreyside, 12 yr Macallan or 15 yr 'Livet? I guess the question is, which one will run that cold of yours off quicker? See ya tonight.

-Tim

[Iolaus]

Cold...in California?

I had to hose off the widows of my Bronco with warm water the other morning; the wiper-spray from the on-board tank just froze and the wipers just scraped over it - and that's in Southern California! ...and I heard it snowed at UCLA.

[Robin]

WAKE UP!!!!!!

WE NEED PICTURES AND A FULL REPORT

[Alan H]

The Full Report

First of all, trust me, the Pics thread, when everybody starts posting, is going to be HUGE!

Second of all, I've never seen so many Prince Charlies and dress-formal kilt attire in one place, *ever*.

27 people attended last nights X-Marks (Nor-Cal Rabble) Burn Supper including ten X-Marks members, and one "virtually" X-Marks member. I say "virtual" because Casey is all the Highland Games tents that we hang out at, is good friends with a couple of X-Marks members, and comes to all of our activites (except beer nights). I'll wait for the pics to list everybody's names. There were THREE -X-Marks tartan kilts worn, all of which were pleated differently. Kiltmakers will get a kick out of seeing the different styles.

The hall was opened up at 5:30, and Joan (no longer invisible, now everybody has met her) and I arrived about 5:45 to find folks already setting up. Piper George was entertaining the neighborhood by warming up in the parking lot!

Well, everybody pitched in and we had tables set ( those "oops" poly-vis tartan purchases that don't "quite" work out off of ebay make great tablecloths) in just a few minutes. Six different varieties of single malt magically appeared at the bar. Hiding out in the beer cooler was one, lone bottle of Heather Beer, miraculously located on the shelves of the local high-end liquor store. Food arrived in massive quantities (I have an awful lot of cock 'o-leekie soup left over). The Amazing Madalyn, who is the REAL force behind this Burns Supper, not me.... held forth in the kitchen ably assisted by Mrs Bunchdescendent, Gryphonaire's lovely girlfriend, and TimC's daughter Ashley. 'Round about 6:15 the other two thirds of the band showed up...that's Kathy and Lisa from my Klezmer band (doing double duty as Celtic Dance band for the night) with their tartan'ed spouses.

The Pre-dinner mixer was great. Much single malt was quaffed, the heather beer was mysteriously consumed by a couple of MacNaughton lads (the war cry of the clan is "froech eilean!, or "heathery isle", thus the connection) and shared 'round the table a bit in the interestes of education. A number of seldom-seem spouses and girlfriends got to know the rabble. Pictures were taken, right and left as you will soon see. It appears that much of the picture taking was to the great amusement of our non internet-addled spouses!

At 7:30 PiperGeorge fired 'em up and in came the Haggis (cooked by Yours Truly, and a LOT better than the LAST ones I tried) presented by WalkerK. A bit of parading up and down ensued, and the haggis was deposted on the table. monkey@arms (Jake) annouced that in fact Burns wrote many long works, but this wasn't one of them...and proceeded to recite the Selkirk Grace....all four lines of it.

....Which was Panache's signal to launch into an amazing and highly dramatic Address to a Haggis.

James...I am impressed; thoroughly impressed. The high point were the dagger slashes in the air! The haggis was carved asunder, more pictures taken and dinner commenced. Gentlemen and Ladies of X-Marks, you haven't seen an Address to a Haggis until you've seen Panache deliver it!

Now, as you will see from the pictures, this was done in the American Legion Hall in Pacifica, California. It's a perfect size for our gathering, the Legion knows WalkerK and Madalyn, the price was sure right, and the two folks who helped us out were great. However, to keep costs down (this cost eachparticipant all of $13) we went pot-luck and used paper plates. Admittedly that's a bid odd, paired up with evening gowns and Prince Charlies, but you know.....who says we have to do our Burns Supper any particular way?

As the feasting wound down the call went out to refill the glasses and we started the toasting with Alan H's "Immortal Memory".

Now, I, AlanH, being at heart a teacher, could not release such an educational moment as this. So it was that the bulk of my address was an educational run-down of the highlights of Burns life. We learned that Burns was known more for his songs an song lyrics than for poems. We learned the Burns wrote in the Lowland Dialect of Ayrshire as well as in English. We learned that the Masons were a big part of Burns life and that the second printed of his first work was financed by a Mason who was a friend. We learned about two of his romances, and an encounter with a dog and laundry. And finally we listened to AlanH read "For a'that", followed by PiperGeorge playing the tune on the pipes.

All right, this post is getting longish, so I'm going to hit "send" and proceed to write up some more.

[Monkey@Arms]

Indeed, the First Annual NorCal X Marks Burns Supper was a rousing success.

Kudos to Alan H and Madalyn for putting together this fun and friendly gathering. I'll leave it to those who have the photos and texts to do the detailed report, but can confirm the food was wonderful and plentiful as was the Whisky The toasts and addresses were done with flair, well paced, and well received The bagpiping, and dance music were terrific (dang that Alan H is multi-talented), but alas, I'm afraid I may personally have set back the art of Scottish County Dance so far, that it may never reemerge again on this continent.

Best regards,

Jake

[Alan H]

After dinner and the refilling of the glasses.........

I, Alan H once again took the floor and alluded very briefly to other Scottish Authors. I pointed out that Robert Service actually wrote a poem to the Kilt. It was then time for the unveiling of a new poem, humbly penned by me and offered to all, and a toast to that which brings us all together...THE KILT!

To The Kilt


Step up, Me Lads and strop on yer kilt
In noble colour and mighty swing;
of leather and wool, and right stoutly built
that keeps all fresh, aye there's the thing.

It's blue for the skies that spread out wide
o'er the lands that we remember dear;
and blue for the sea that stands beside
the land, and the far horizon, clear.

It's green for the grass in the stony glen,
for the tread of the cattle, the cry of the swan;
the memory of forests that stretched far, back then
nigh lost to us now, but in memory, ne'er gone.

And yellow for the sun on the summers day
and the way your lass looks in the early morn.
Oh, let not that memory fade away
for of such is our humanity, daily born.

Red for the blood that our fathers have shed
on fields at home or under a foreign sun.
Forget them not, nor their hearts that bled
for Freedom and the Right, 'til our day is done.

Black for the night, and the end of the day
when brothers hands lower the lid of the ghastly tomb
and silent we go, and with bowed heads we pray
into that everlasting and sacred gloom.

But then, White for the purity of soul and heart
and white for the snows upon Ben Dubh.
For remember that death shall not us part
and love and memory shall see us through.

Whe'er braw, muckle man or keen, sprightly lad
whe'er youth of slight age, or a great weathered yew
bring out then, the tartan, and be ye glad
to strap it round your waist, and wear the colors, true.

Aye, buckle it tight and clear-eyed look out;
step up me lads and strop on yer kilt.
Wear it with pride and be memory's redoubt
and be ye a Man, and proud, to the hilt.


January 2007

ah, but I digress...........

BTW, who brought the Caol Isla 18????

Ah, I neglect the necessary. What Whisky was in attendance?
Caol Island 18, Speyside 15, Macallan 12, Balvenie double-barrel, Glenlivit 15, Ardbeg 12...........gaaa, there was at least one more, but I'm blanking out!

ANY-way, moving on.... way2fractious delivered the toast to the cook, which I had intended to be a toast to Madalyn, our Organizer Extraordinaire, but wound up being a toast to Yours Truly...I am humbled....not just by the toast, but also by the really nice sporran flask that Richard gave me. It's GREAT! Thanks, Richard!

Here is Richards toast....

Some of us can make our stuff
(with reference to a needle):
Some just have to buy our things
(or beg, or borrow, or wheedle).
Then comes the one, who with aplomb,
can do whate'er is wanted,
and do it with such flair and flash
that we suspect he's *haunted*!

Now, I have that text 'cause way2fractious handed it to me, and I've kept it. Bunchdescendent delivered the toast to the lasses and garned a few laughs and giggles by pretending to read the Gettysburgh Address...shuffling papers and starting out again "accidentally" with a facilities report. ....and then finally proceeding on to verse (which I don't have a copy of).

But let it never be said that the lasses let the lads have the last word! The elegant and thrifty (ask Panache about his ladys dress) stood up to reply.

Now, you must understand that Panche and the FHBCAG are not your everyday pair. Nobody else I know can dress up as a Highwayman and Jessica Rabbit and still have people take them seriously. The FHBCAG admitted that in fact Panache had written her toast, had assured her that limited editing was acceptable, but no more than that, and she DID after all memorize it....which she did.

I don't have the text here, but I HOPE...**HINT HINT* that it will find its way onto this website in this thread, soon!....Because the line about the how "I shall love thee 'till our checkbook all gang dry" is a screamer.

[Alan H]

Finally it was time for music and dancing. Panche and the FHBCAG gathered up several willing participants... Gryphonaire and his lady, the no-longer Invisible Joan, way2fractious, monkey@arms and his wife...and took the floor.

The Band... Yours Truly, Lisa Ratner and Kathy Sherman (all from our Klezmer band) tore through a Reel set...of which all the tunes actually were from Ireland, but *what the heck*...While James got everybody initially set up. We then proceeded on to a somewhat more moderate reel, and the chosen eight danced....

...and while monkey@arms claims that the art of Scottish Country Dancing shall never be the same, I shall say that *I* didn't see anything wrong out there. Ha!

After that, the band lined up a nice, genteel waltz "Leaving Lismore", to which a number of people took the floor. Whent hat was over, Panache retired to take the airs (he was glowing red) and with all enthusiasm, the band ripped through another reel set.....which totally exhausted our repertoire!

After recovering from dancing it was time for the All X-Marks The Scot, Nor-Cal Rabble (and visitors) "Hamish" pose picture!...truly a memorable event.

PiperGeorge played Auld Lang Syne as a warmup, the words were circulated, and to the accompaniement of the band, the Gathered Company sang the famous words.

And with that came the end of the first Annual Nor-Cal Rabble X-Marks-The-Scot Burns Supper.................

It was a rousing success, a smashing great time was had by all, and I've no doubt that this will not be the LAST X-Marks-The-Scot, Nor-Cal Burns Night!
In closure I'd like to say, LOUD AND CLEAR.........

Thank You, Madalyn!!!
....because without the Amazing Madalyn, naught would hae' come to pass.