Planning a Burns Night Supper

We like any excuse for good food and after all the sadness that Christmas being over causes, it's nice to have something in January to look forward to. It can be a fun homeschool project.

We generally start with the decorations. The kids enjoy helping set the table! It generally involves their dad's horn drinking cup and a few weapons.

The food

January is an excellent month for hearty, filling food. The must-haves at a Burns Night Supper are:

• haggis
• neeps (mashed turnip or swede)
• tatties (mashed potatoes)

Last year we experimented and added:

• cranachan which my church friends taught me how to pronounce (emphasis on the beginning)
• selkirk bun which my mum-in-law calls 'just a really fruity loaf' and this is the perfect description for it. It doesn't even have cinnamon in it! The shock of having sultanas and no cinnamon actually makes it surprisingly original. You can really taste the sultanas and you really feel you're eating carbs. 

The Rituals

Robert Burns is known for his poetry after all. I don't know if these things are original Burns or if they are things he wrote down or just Scottish things but this is what we do.

We always say the Selkirk Prayer:

Some hae meat and canna eat,

And some wad eat that want it,

But we hae meat and we can eat,

Sae let the Lord be thankit.

For our kids we generally do an abbreviated form of the Address to the Haggis:

Fair fa' your honest, sonsie face, 
Great chieftain o the puddin'-race!
Aboon them a' ye tak your place,
Painch, tripe, or thairm:
Weel are ye worthy o' a grace
As lang's my arm.

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 [thistle].

and my husband will show the boys how to cut the haggis with a dirk - see picture below, it is a knife about the length of a newborn baby.

Celebrating Reformation Day in Scotland

What better way to spend Reformation Day than to see some great Reformation-history sites?

Here are our favorites!

In Edinburgh:

1. Spiritual History of the Royal Mile Tour

2. John Knox's House and St. Giles - these are within direct line of site of each other so that's why I've lumped them together.

3. New College Exhibition ... 10 days late https://www.ed.ac.uk/divinity/news-events/events/exhibition-in-observance-of-500th-anniversary-of-m

4. See the Museum of Scotland's printing press which allowed the spread of the Reformation and the Book of Common Order aka Knox's Liturgy


In Scotland:
1. St. Andrews' Castle exhibition, cathedral, walk to find the PH and GW in the pavement

2. Haddington - possibly the birth place of John Knox, you can see a statue of him in the front of a building and visit the site where he once defended George Wishart with the two-handed sword!

3. John Knox's tree

Durham

Durham is famous for its cathedral which was recently ranked the top cathedral in the UK. This city is on the fast train route to London so it is easy to access. With the cathedral, castle, and riverside walks there feels like loads to cram into a day trip - or a series of day trips!

Fast facts:

• Distance from Edinburgh: 125 miles
• Using public transport: 1 hr and 46 minutes
• History: It has been in continuous use as a city since at least the 900's with the body of St. Cuthbert being brought to rest and the eventual rise of the cathedral and castle following this.
• What there is to do: visit the cathedral and the castle, many beautiful walks, Krispy Kreme's

Pros

• One of the best cathedrals in the UK to visit
• great castle tour available
• lots of quaint, English brick houses
• good transport links
• clean bathrooms
• lots of places to eat
• wonderful walks
• not too busy

Cons

• lots of hills - quite tiring to get lost here!
• lots of construction - including work on a new Odeon cinema - which caused the area to be harder to navigate and of course smelled very much of pollution
• the signage and street layout could be marked a little better
• it's a student town and there were parts that felt like they weren't kept up very well

one of my favorite attractions - a Krispy Kreme's on the hill road up to the old part of town!

beautiful riverside walks

Day Trip: Linlithgow

Linlithgow has the most interesting church in terms of blending old and new. Within easy striking distance of Edinburgh, Linlithgow castle is a fun one to go to on a medieval tournament day! 

Fast facts:

• Distance from Edinburgh: 19 miles
• Using public transport: 20 minutes
• History: Mary Queen of Scots was born here
• What there is to do: visit the church and the castle

Pros:

• The castle is an easy walk from the train station
• The train is quite direct
• The castle is on the Historic Scotland pass
• It does not feel like an overwhelming amount to see and do - unlike Stirling Castle for example

Cons:

• The castle is so ruinous that it is hard to imagine it ever being a cozy home - it is freezing even in June!

Day Trip: Holy Island, Lindisfarne

Holy Island is the site of the first Viking attack. With a castle, a ruined monastery and several beaches complete with an icecream truck, what more could you want in a day trip? This is one of our favorite places to go for the day.

Fast Facts:

• Distance from Edinburgh: 70 miles but some of it is under water periodically so check your tide schedule carefully when planning this trip!

• Using public transport: 2 hours and 12 minutes

• History: St Aidan established a monastery in 635 AD

• What there is to do: explore the hills surrounding Lindisfarne Castle, stack pebbles on the rocky beach, visit the church and the ruined monastery and imagine the Viking attack!

• Tip: after getting of the train in Berwick-upon-Tweed, coerce all family members especially kids to use the toilet before getting on the bumpy bus to Holy Island!

The church is well worth a visit - and free! This awesome live-size sculpture didn't impress our youngest but we thought it was a fascinating nod to the history.

Do not miss out on the lovely beaches - some sides of the island are all pebbles but near where the monks went out to pray there is a lovely sandy beach.

The toilets are reasonably clean and free at the bus stop. We have never actually gone into the castle, which is of Victorian origins, but it looks beautiful.

Day Trip: Arniston House

Arniston House is a hard-to-find gem tucked away in the wilds along the Border Railway. What is really special is you get a guided tour by the owner so it is a must-see! Full of rich history and everything a historic house should have - amazing artwork, tapestries, painstakingly redone wallpapers. Sir Walter Scott dined here. Much of the stonework which might have been discarded and lost forever from the old Scottish Parliament has been preserved at Arniston. When the new parliament building reopened, Arniston re-gifted stonework.

Fast Facts:

• Distance from Edinburgh:  13 miles
• Using public transport: 1 hour and 20 minutes but quite a lot of this is walking from the train station!
• History: this land originally belonged the Knight Templar and then the Knights of St. John. Their stone keep was knocked down to be replaced with the beautiful house which has been in the Dundas family for 400 years! They were one of the most influential families in Scotland in the 1700's.
• What there is to do: walk the fairytale woodlands, explore the stream, play spot the stonework, admire ancient trees, walk around the outside of the house (the owner has stashed some guided tours on printer paper in the foyer which we read while we walked), and take the tour of the house! The owner and her daughter take turns doing parts of the guided tours which are fascinating and riddled with family lore!

Pros:

• Beautiful gardens and woodlands
• Historic house
• Famous artists
• Convenient benches out front for picnicking
• Clean bathrooms attached to the stableyard
• the owner herself guides the tour

Cons:

• This would not be a good day trip on a rainy day as there is a long hike involved and most of what you can see is outside - you only go inside for the scheduled tours
• Also not good if you are having problems walking long distances. I am sure we must have clocked at least 7 miles between walking from the train station to the house, all around the gardens and house for hours, and then back to the station.
• Tours only take place during summer months on certain days of the week and at certain times - it can be tricky to schedule it in!

Medieval Dress

Golden Gown

I found the fabric in a charity shop - it used to be curtains. Edinburgh ceilings are high, with windows and curtains to match, so I think there must have been 6+ yards in between the two curtains. Unfortunately I realized when I got home that they were dry clean only. I threw the curtains in the washing machine anyway and it did fine on the gentle cycle.

Someone told me once that medieval dresses were usually only two pieces of fabric, cinched at the sides with lacings. I found a record of a dress with multiple pieces - separate for bodice and skirt - which belonged to Queen Margaret of Denmark, Norway and Sweden.

I eventually put leather cord in to hold it together as the fabric is HEAVY!

I took a photo of the lady I made it for but the photos were lost!

Surgical Strike Day Trip: Stirling Castle

The Gateway to the Highlands, this castle is arguably the most important in the history of Scotland. It takes hours if not days to do Stirling, so it can be tricky to plan a day trip.

Fast Facts:

• Distance from Edinburgh: 42 miles
• Using public transport: 1 hour and 42 minutes
• History: Robert the Bruce ordered the castle defenses destroyed so the English could not take it again like every cool medieval defensive structure in Scotland, but it was rebuilt and many Scottish kings and queens were crowned there including Mary Queen of Scots
• What there is to do: explore the walls and the interiors, especially the ones redone to the era of Mary Queen of Scots' father, James V, and the workshops with tapestry-making and other arts and crafts. There are a lot of places to picnic and buy a cup of coffee!
• Website: http://www.stirlingcastle.gov.uk/
• Other things to do in the area: 
• Argyll's Lodging is included in your Stirling Castle ticket
• church of the Holy Rude and chuchyard just on the other side of the car park wall to Stirling Castle are a great place to explore and/or picnic
• the Wallace Monument (but this is a separate ticket)
• Doune Castle is just a short bus ride away
• Battle of Bannockburn visitor centre and site

Tons of statues of Robert the Bruce and William Wallace all over Stirling

Pros:

• easy to get to on the train unless there are train works
• lots of history
• 'living history' spin with the reconstruction of the castle how it was supposed to be back in James V's era
• lots of helpful guides in costume
• 75% clean bathrooms
• picnic space
• easy access to coffee
• costumes for kids to dress up
• a lot of interactive learning opportunities
• there are also bugs at the castle, we learned, which was my toddler's favorite part

Cons:

• HUGE hill from train station to castle
• Wallace Monument is a good trek and can look like a quick excursion but can actually take all day
• a lot of Stirling is open to the elements
• rather pricey unless Historic Scotland member (29 pounds for two adults on a Saturday)

Timings:
8:30 leave the house for the bus stop
9:30 train to Stirling, 51 minutes
10:24 arrive in Stirling
11:00 arrive at the castle, picnic
11:30 run all around the castle
2:37 catch train home
3:32 arrive in Edinburgh - catch bus or taxi home
4:00 home - if anyone napped on way home they are in the clear for a 7 pm bedtime!

Spendings:

• £18.80 train tickets
• £29.00 castle tickets
• £2.50 coffee

Stirling Castle is one of our favorite castles in the UK and therefore the world. Its unique approach to reconstruction takes it back to its glorious past. It is the ideal place for history lovers and for children with tons of energy alike.