Basics - The Rough Guide to Scotland - page 34

will home straight in on the Highland
Games and other tartan-draped theatri-
cals, but there's more to Scotland than
this: numerous regional celebrations
perpetuate ancient customs, and the
Edinburgh Festival is an arts celebration
unrivalled in size and variety in the
world. A few of the smaller, more obscure
events (particularly those with a pagan
bent), do not always welcome the casual
visitor. The tourist board publishes a
weighty list of all Scottish events on its
website ( W visitscotland.com).

Radio 2 (mainstream pop, rock and light music),
Radio 3 (classical music), Radio 4 (current affairs, arts
and drama) and Radio 5 Live (sports, news and live
discussions and phone-ins). Only the award-
winning BBC Radio Scotland offers a Scottish
perspective on news, politics, arts, music, travel and
sport, as well as providing a Gaelic network in the
Highlands with local programmes in Shetland,
Orkney and the Borders. Note that in large areas of
the Highlands and Islands, some or all of these
stations are impossible to receive.
A web of local commercial radio stations helps to
fill in the gaps, mostly mixing rock and pop music
with news bulletins, but a few tiny community-
based stations such as Lochbroom FM in Ullapool -
a place famed for its daily midge count - transmit
documentaries and discussions on local issues. The
most populated areas of Scotland also receive
UK-wide commercial stations such as Classic FM,
Virgin Radio and TalkSport. With a DAB digital radio ,
you can get all the main stations crackle-free, along
with special interest and smaller-scale stations.

Events calendar
DEC JAN
Dec 31 and Jan 1 Hogmanay and Ne'er Day. Traditionally more
important to the Scots than Christmas, the occasion is known for the custom
of “first-footing” (see box, p.38). More popular these days are huge and highly
organized street parties, most notably in Edinburgh ( W edinburgh
shogmanay.org), but also in Aberdeen, Glasgow and other centres.
Jan 1 Stonehaven fireball ceremony. Locals swing fireballs on long
sticks to welcome New Year and ward off evil spirits. Also Kirkwall Boys'
and Men's Ba' Games, Orkney: mass, drunken football game through the
streets of the town, with the castle and the harbour the respective goals.
As a grand finale the players jump into the harbour.
Jan 11 Burning of the Clavie, Burghead, Moray W hogmanay.net/
events/burghhead. A burning tar barrel is carried through the town and
then rolled down Doorie Hill. Charred fragments of the Clavie offer
protection against the evil eye.

Events and
spectator sports
Scotland offers a huge range of cultural
and heritage-themed events as well as a
packed sporting calendar. Many tourists

BURNS NIGHT
To celebrate the birthday of the country's best-known poet, Rabbie Burns (1759-1796), Scots
all over the world gather together for a Burns Supper on January 25. Strictly speaking, a piper
should greet the guests until everyone is seated ready to hear the first bit of Burns' s poetry,
The Selkirk Grace :
Some hae meat and canna eat,
and some wad eat that want it,
but we hae meat and we can eat,
and sae the Lord be thankit.
At this point the star attraction of the evening, the haggis , is piped in on a silver platter,
after which someone reads out Burns's Ode to a Haggis , beginning with the immortal line,
“ Fair fa' your honest , sonsie face/Great chieftain o' the pudding-race! ”. During the recitation , the
reader raises a knife (“ His knife see Rustic-labour dight ”), pierces the haggis, allowing the tasty
gore to spill out (“ trenching its gushing entrails ”), and then toasts the haggis with the final
line (“ Gie her a Haggis! ”). After everyone has tucked into their haggis , tatties and neeps ,
someone gives a paean to the life of Burns along with more of his poetry. A male guest then
has to give a speech in which women are praised (often ironically) through selective
quotations from Burns, ending in a Toast to the Lassies. This is followed by a (usually
scathing) reply from one of the Lassies, again through judicious use of Burns's quotes.
Finally, there's a stirring rendition of Burns's poem, Auld Lang Syne , to the familiar tune.