Great night
A Burns Supper in Spain? You scoffed, at my last post, I know you did. Well you should try it. An absolutely great night, put together by Alan and Fergus, with the co-operation of the mayor of Rupia who gave them the venue on condition that some tickets were available for locals who fancied it. Quite a few did. I do not know what they made of Holy Willie’s Prayer, or Fergus Muirhead’s word-perfect and energetic Tam O’Shanter, but they were no more bemused than the very sociable English and Dutch couples who shared our table, or indeed than my dear wife. They now know that ‘Cutty Sark’ is more than the name of a clipper ship.
Thanks Alan, and thanks, Fergus. You may know him as BBC Scotland’s money expert, but he’s much more. You can find him on
http://www.fergusmuirhead.com/
Pics from Rupia on my Facebook page.
Quintin Jardine's blog 
I was so disgusted with my English A level result, I decided to do it again the following year, by which time they had changed the entire syllabus. BUT one of the fun bits was studying Burns’ poetry and, 40 years on I can still smile at the memory of Holy Willie’s Prayer including the bit about his lawless leg.
Why were you disgusted? Burns in an A-level syllabus. English? Impressed.
I was disgusted because after two years of dredging through bloody Wordsworth and boring Keats – if only I had known that half his stuff referred to sex! – I got the lowest possible pass mark. So, I decided to have another go. Three new Shakespeares, a new Austen, new poetry, including Burns. Didn’t decide to take it again until February and was working fulltime before going to college, so did the whole thing in 5 months and got a B. Made me wonder what I could have done if I’d pulled my finger out in the preceding two years!
The trick with Keats is knowing which half. I just took a look at Chapman’s Homer: JK was taking the piss, yes? What could you have done? Got an A, undoubtedly, but don’t fret about it. I did, and much good did it do me in later life.