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A mysterious creature
May 29, 2007 | 15 Comments
from the Scottish Highlands.
Our Postcards Series is about extending a handshake across cyberspace. Read about it here.
Please accord a warm welcome to our guest contributors. They will try to respond to comments and questions.
This is the second postcard from Rosie of What’s the recipe today Jim? The first was from her travel to Mexico.
She is a great chef whose repertoire encompasses several world cuisines. From Aloo Bonda and Lamb Biryani to Thai fish cakes and Yugoslavian Lamb Chops, she has it all. She exemplfies the spirit of the Postcard Series.
When Rosie agreed to send us a postcard from her native Scotland, we were thrilled. We love Scotland. We spent our honeymoon there. We fondly remember the breathtaking beauty of the place and the warmth of its people. Then, there was the fabulous line of single malt whiskies we tasted at the micro breweries dotting the land. And the HAGGIS.
We’d heard stories about haggis, and had to taste it. It was mighty good. Just don’t ask how it’s made. Sometimes, ignorance is bliss.
If you are really curious, take a look HERE. Don’t say we didn’t warn ya. :devil:
The Scots love mythical creatures. Think Loch Ness monster. If you ask a Scot about Haggis, he/she will tell you about this mysterious creature with strange attributes. How wild the story is depends on the storyteller’s imagination. 
Here’s Rosie’s version of Haggis for ya. She tells us about Robert Burns night, where the annual day to commemorate Scotland’s national poet involves cooking and eating Haggis amidst recitations of his hilarious “Address to a haggis”.
Pic from here
I was asked by Bee of Jugalbandi to write a postcard with a Scottish theme. There was only one choice of topic as far as I could see and that was a post on that much loved Scottish creature – the Haggis.
author unknown
The haggis season has begun
All over Scotland every gun
Is taken down with loving care
Though some prefer the haggis snare
For haggis are a wily lot
That’s why they are so seldom shot
“We’re the haggis, aye, hooray;
We’ll live until next Hogmanay”
Its flying upside down and low
The guns all fire, but they’re too slow
And though it’s rather old and fat
It’s awfully hard to hit like that
And as it flies off in the mist
Great hairy clansmen shake their fists
And scream their curses to the crags
And stamp on empty haggis bags
And so the haggis gets away
To live until next Hogmanay
“We’re the haggis, aye, hooray;
We’ll live until next Hogmanay”
When the wee yins ( babies) are born, the female haggis, like all aquatic, avian animals, suckles her young. Haggis however are sticklers for protocol, and the male wee yins suckle on the left side, while the females are restricted to the right side. (In the very few instances where all the wee yins are of one sex only, this does cause the odd little problem).
The effect of this is for the male legs to develop in such a way that when they mature, they run in a clockwise circle, while the females run in anti-clockwise circles. (I say circles here, but really, it’s only when a haggis finds flat ground that it runs in circles).
As the above two are quite innocently going about their daily foraging, it is a certainty they will meet, because as the male forages in a clockwise direction, while the female goes anti-clockwise, provided they are at the same level, they will shortly meet, and the inevitable courtship ritual ensues – the male asks her out, gives her a box of chocolates, a bouquet of flowers, and takes her to the pictures. (Just joking actually – Haggis don’t go to the pictures – they don’t have any money).
Now before I depart this subject, I must mention the puir (poor) wee yins where the whole family are unfortunate enough to be of one sex only. Well, the mother requires relief (like all mammals) in this situation, so she sets up a rota where some suckle one side one day, and then move over to the other side the next. The unfortunate results of this procedure are two fold. First of all, the puir wee yins don’t know what sex they are, and grow up with a major identity crisis, but even worse, they grow up with three equal length legs.
Many years ago, these strange beasties did not survive long, but in more modern times, provided they manage to find a road, they will make their way down from the hills, into the towns and cities, provided they don’t get flattened by passing traffic.
Here they forage in dustbins, and get what food they can from passing kind hearted people, but alas, they will never find the joys of mating, as they are destined never to meet another haggis, and even if they do, they would be too embarrassed to say anything, because they are never quite sure whether it’s a male or a female.
Taken from Electric Scotland
But mark the Rustic, haggis-fed,
The trembling earth resounds his tread,
Clap in his walie nieve a blade,
He’ll make it whissle;
An legs an arms, an heads will sned,
Like taps o thrissle.
Verse from Address to a haggis - Robert Burns
Although haggis is eaten any time of the year in Scotland it is mainly associated with Burns night where it is the main ingredient of the Burns night supper.
Robbie Burns, the Bard, is Scotland’s national poet and each year, sometime during the week of January 25th, a supper is held to honor his birthday. The supper can be held on any day of the week as nobody is really sure exactly which date the Bard’s birthdays falls on. People from all over Scotland gather together and the evening is spent reciting poetry, eating haggis, drinking whisky and dancing.
It is an evening of great ceremony where the haggis is carried into the room on a silver platter led by a kilted piper.
Before the haggis is served the Bards own poem ‘Address to a haggis’ is read and at the lines “an cut you up wi ready slight,
Trenching your gushing entrails bright”
the haggis is stabbed with a ceremonial dagger so that the filling spills out.
Poems read at a Burns night supper are not necessarily the Bard’s own, they are more likely to be tributes written each year in his honor. Two of the poems written for this occasion are Toast to the Lassies, which is read by the men as a tribute to their womenfolk and Toast to the Laddies, which is where the women return the compliment.
Wi’out our lassies what would we do
We canna cook or mak as stew
An it’s not for the want o’tryin
We never learned to wash or iron
Wi’out our lassies we know darn well
We’d all be in domestic hell!
Related Links:
Robert_Burns
Save the Haggis Campaign
Haggis Recipes
Join the Haggis Hunt
This post was written for Jugalbandi and appeared here.
Scotland in Pictures here and here.
History of Scotland
Music of Scotland
The Scottish Terrier
Filed Under: haggis, lifestyle, MUSINGS, Postcards, robert-burns, Scotland, TRAVEL, vegetarian recipes
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15 Comments
“they are destined never to meet another haggis, and even if they do, they would be too embarrassed to say anything, because they are never quite sure whether it’s a male or a female.”
that cracked me up.
rosie, this postcard was a real fun read. thank you.
- bee
Rosie, B & J this post was enjoyable. I am getting to know a little more abot my friend Reva’s adopted culture! Emailing this page to her. Thanks.
Quite interesting post. Enjoy reading it. Viji
Rosie, girl – gotta give it to ya! This was a fun read
Methinks, that is no ‘typical’ village scene – more like a tourist place…?
Lovely Photographs and an interesting read.
I love Wales and Scotland,breathtaking beautiful nature.Of course whole Europe is like that!We lived in England for 5yrs.
I agree with Anita!Scottish villagers don’t hang around on the front yard,more like B & B tourists!:)
No comments on Haggis(Bleh!) but used to love Scotch though.Love the pics,great article.Thanks Rosie:)
asha, it doesn’t look like a front yard. more like a village tea and pastry shop. when i lived in england, i used to hang around such places a lot.
thanks rosie, bee n jai,
but there was vegetarian version of haggis too.
i thouroughly enjoyed this post. i love scotland for its breath taking beauty. i guess it is the most beautiful place in europe. last year when it was very summery here in england we escaped to scotland for one week. and please, dont ask abt haggis
Wonderful pics Bee.Love Scotland..wanna holaday there…so badly.
And me just turned back after a holiday,needed time to settle back home…a valid reason for not participating in JFI..:)
and bee u wont believe..yesterday evening my hubby got me a bowl of cleaned deseeded jackfruits,from our farm in our native village..I was much tempted to take part,with my recipe for JFI,.but immediately ate up before my mind wud change…Sorry Bee for my lazyness..
And in the morning again,Today!…received a pair of tender fresh jackfruit greens,freshly plucked from her garden,near the banks of CAUVERY…
Well,I visualised BEE,telling me…Ok !comeon, NOW! cook up something…You LAZY BUM and send me the entry…I had always visited you so prompt…right from the beginning you had been blogging…and this is the way you return your gratitude eh???Bee..Vanished now!
Sorry DEAR!!!Next time..
WISHING YOU ALL THE VERY BEST and looking forwrd to your wonderful!! wonderful Round up!!!
post a pic, atleast, bharathy. good to see you back. – b.
(Morning jackfruit greens were sent over by my Mother in law…)from HER garden..
A banshee, I thought, initially.
hey awesome pics of Scotland. looks like a must visit place.
Thanks for an enjoyable and edifying post. I’ve always wanted to visit Scotland, and you’ve just inspired me more.
I have heard and read about the beauty of Scotland. Hope to visit one day.
Thanks Bee, Jai & Rosie
Beautiful photographs, I’d love to go to Scotland, my ancestors are from there but I’m afraid haggis is beyond my mental capacity, in that the only thing that will prevent me eating it is my mind lol.