A Scottish influence

Please forgive me for making Monday’s post a wee bit of an indulgence!

I read yesterday that whether Alexander Graham Bell  – a Scot- really did invent the telephone is being questioned. A couple of weeks ago I listened to a debate about whether Alexander Fleming – a Scot – really did discover penicillin ( apparently it was a team effort – which is probably what we would expect from scientists?). Either way Scots have been influential throughout the world in so many ways.

I am not writing to score points though.

I want to talk about a Scot who never left these shores – as far as we know – yet his work can be found the world over.

Have you ever sung along to “Auld Lang Syne”?

The poet who wrote the words was Scotland’s most famous poet – Robert “Rabbie” Burns – and all over the world “Burns Suppers” were held on or around his birthday last Friday. To put this into context we will celebrate 250 years since he was born in 2009!

My husband and I went along to a Burns Supper hosted by the University of Edinburgh Business School. The University’s reputation attracts students from the four corners of the globe. Before we even got to dinner I was chatting to a young man from Shanghai who said many of his fellow students investigated coming to Scotland to study on the back of the movie Braveheart. (I have commented before on my thoughts on that movie – but if it means that someone’s awareness of Scotland is raised enough to merit coming here to visit/study/work then I can cope – really.)

Inside the hall there were some 200 guests – of such a variety of nationalities. The format of a Burns supper is that we eat haggis, tatties ( potatoes) and neeps ( turnip) and listen to someone talk about the man himself, sometimes recite some of his poetry. There is always a toast to the “lassies” from a brave man and usually a robust response from a “lassie” as a bit of fun. On Saturday the lad was Welsh and the lassie was Canadian.

Burns poetry and songs are written in Scottish and even to someone who has lived here all their life they often need a bit of translation. But Burns’ message is clear

• he believed in the equality of men – regardless of wealth and background
• he loved women – and I mean loved them! He has many many descendants from the numerous children he fathered. Not and ideal role model I know but I think  his love poetry is beautiful so it is little wonder that he was such a wow with the ladies.

Burns Suppers are held where Scottish expatriate communities exist – in obvious places like Australia, New Zealand, US and Canada. They are also held in places where a Scottish connection is not quite so clear. I recall my Russian teacher telling me that Burns was widely read in the old USSR ( when I was learning Russian in the eary 70s).

Rabbie’s influence is most obvious in Auld Lang Syne and that is one very proud and long standing Scottish contribution.