Piper

In Edinburgh on the last night of our main trip, we were told to bring our cameras to dinner. I presumed that this was because many of the people in our group were leaving the next day (I was spending another 6 days to explore Scotland in more depth). But suddenly we heard the skirl of a pipe, and a piper appeared to pipe us in to dinner.

He obligingly posed for pictures, and patiently waited for me to take pictures of his sleeve and pipes,

And bonnet

He then performed the traditional “address to the haggis”, reciting the famous poem by Robert Burns

Then, drawing his short sword, he stabbed it

And then drank a toast in (what else) Scotch Whisky!

Yes, I have eaten lots of strange things in my travels (grubs, guinea pig…) but haggis is one strange thing that I can honestly say would take some getting used to! For those of you who are not Scottish, Haggis consists of finely minced heart, liver, and lungs of the animal, minced with onion, oatmeal, barley, suet, herbs and spices. Originally it was incased in a sheep’s stomach. (Now it’s in an artificial skin like that of a sausage) Traditionally it is served with “neeps” (turnips) and “tatties” (potatoes). O.K., it doesn’t sound so great, but many people survived on it during hard times over the years.

Mary

Typed on route home 9/19/18

Published over Cleveland at 36.000 ft.