Happy Birthday, Bobby Burns!

Like any person of Scots ancestry, the bagpipes are the music of heaven to me. When I was a teenager, I worked at a summer camp, where I met several new friends who attended a high school here in Spokane where the mascot is a Highlander. One of my new friends played the bagpipes and would practice them at camp. He taught me how to dance a few steps of the Highland Fling while he played...what fun! Now that I'm an adult, my children attend this same high school, and every public event, whether an all-school assembly or Parent Night, begins and ends with the Pipe and Drum Band marching into/out of the auditorium while playing Scotland the Brave with the Highland Dancers accompanying them. It sends chills up and down my spine every time I hear it!

Needless to say, I was thrilled when I came across the non-genealogy blog, Piping Girl. During this month of January, she's been blogging about the Burns Supper, traditionally held around this time of year as a commemoration of the January 25th birthday of Robert Burns, Scotland's famous poet. She also wrote about the Kirkin' of the Tartan, and I was interested in learning that Peter Marshall, U.S. Chaplain, revived this tradition in the United States. (He was also the husband of one of my favorite authors, Catherine Marshall, who wrote Christie among many other titles.)

If you are a Scots descendant, or merely interested in Gaelic traditions, you'll want to check out Piping Girl's blog. Perhaps you'll even be able to find a Burns Supper to attend in your community!