To A Haggis

[The haggis is a dish peculiar to Scotland, composed of minced offal of mutton, mixed with oatmeal and suet, and boiled in a sheep's stomach.  The following composition was first published in the Scots Magazine for January, 1787.]

FAIR fa' your honest sonsie face,                                                befall, plump
Great chieftain o' the puddin' race!
Aboon them a' ye tak' your place,
                  Painch, tripe, or thairm:                                              paunch, gut
Weel are ye wordy of a grace                                                       worthy
                  As lang's my arm.

The groaning trencher there ye fill,
Your hurdies like a distant hill,
Your pin wad help to mend a mill                                                 would
                    In time o' need,
While thro' your pores the dews distil
                    Like amber bead.

His knife see rustic labour dight,                                                    wipe
And cut you up wi' ready slight,
Trenching your gushing entrails bright
                     Like ony ditch;
And then, oh what a glorious sight,
                     Warm-reekin', rich!

First three verses taken from "To A Haggis" ~ THE POETICAL WORKS OF ROBERT BURNS
edited by John and Angus MacPherson, London: WALTER SCOTT.

Date published not stated.  Personal inscription January 7, 1895.

           

Before writing TheFountainhead, author Ayn Rand spent six months working, without pay, in an architect's office. "Ayn's friends were aware that her social shyness had made it difficult for her to approach a stranger and request a favor; but they also knew that when her work was involved, she allowed nothing to interfere."
Lawyer, Ely Jacques Kahn, was the only one to know that Ayn's real purpose was research for a novel.

Source:  The Passion of Ayn Rand A Biography by Barbara Branden, Doubleday & Company, Inc., 1986.

Cayuga Downtown Businesses ~

The Cayuga retailers have planned for you an attraction ~ Friday & Saturday, January 31 - February 1.  Prizes, specials ~ smiles are free.

Watch for the details in a flyer in your mailbox or visit Cayuga Chamber of Commerce on Facebook.

[Photo:  The old Cayuga P.O. - files lbw]

On Writing ~

Smile for Today ~

"Why don't you write books people can read?"
~ Nora Joyce to her husband James

"The covers of this book are too far apart."
~ Ambrose Bierce

"I find television very educating.  Every time somebody turns on the set, I go into the other room and read a book."
~ Groucho Marx

"There's many a bestseller that could have been prevented by a good teacher."
~Flannery O'Connor

~ I always have a quotation for everything--it saves original thinking,* A COLLECTION OF QUOTABLE QUOTES, AURA, 2004.

*Dorothy L Sayers

Business as Usual in Cayuga ~
The river is frozen over.  Most of the action is on the riverbank and on the new structure.

Highway traffic is flowing freely over the old bridge.  Visit the village and watch this amazing marvel of engineering rise--parallel with the old.  When completed, the old will be torn down and the new moved into place.

[Photo: January 21 lbw]

South of The New Bridge ~
Ouse Street Looking South

Sign reads:  "BEWARE OF MOVING EQUIPMENT"

[Click on photo for larger image.]

Progress ~ Tuesday January 21

The New Bridge over The Grand River