The Dutch, the Germans, and the English I think you mean. Along with a large smattering of Scottish lowlanders, and a smattering of Scottish highlanders.

The English are not so foolish as to fight their own battles. There was only one English infantry division in the Normandy campaign of 1944. For instance.

TisILeclerc wrote: Well, until they cleared the lands of their people they weren't.

Yes, it's still amazing to me that the English think the slave trade was stopped with Wilberforce, but know nothing of how the Highland Clearances worked.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_A ... y_Campaign

There may have been more.

You may have seen too many American moving pictures about it. That's my diagnosis.

TisILeclerc wrote:The clans were destroyed by their own clan chieftains who were living it up in Nice and other exotic places and wanted more rent from the tenants to pay their gambling debts. That's how empires are destroyed.

S'funny you should say that, I was just trying to recall my own clan's sorry history, with the clan chief moving to London and pissing the clan's inheritance away in gambling and holidays abroad.

Mick and others might rightly demand evidence, on the other hand Mick might not give a toss. I'm sorry to say it's on issues like this where "academic history" or rational debate lose out, because it all starts to get personal.

MacBorry you're a freend I'm sure.

As for MacGillenaClarsaich who cares?

By the way there were English fighting for the Polish, French, Italian Prince at Culloden. Well, they were from Manchester so who cares?

The big question is this, is Stornoway black pudding better than black pudding from Lancashire or Yorkshire?

Stornoway black pudding?

That might depend on whether they were using left or right legged Haggis.
We often have to explain this to Sassanachs in Wiltshire on Burns Night.

The explanation is simple.

A right legged haggis runs around the mountain one way and you run round the other.


A left legged haggis runs the other way and you run in the opposite direction.

Unless the haggis is bigger than yourself you're quite safe and you've got your dinner for the night as long as you've got the tatties and neeps.

Aye laddie, that the way we explain it. That reminds me, it's not long until the next Burns Night down here. M'Lady Boreades and I will be dragged into the occasion, because the locals have noticed we've got a proper Scottish name (not Campbell)

We will, once more, try to teach them the proper version of Auld Lang Syne.

The rehearsal usually goes something like this:
No you don't keep saying the same bloody chorus over and over again.

Er. it's a year to the next Burn's night.

However there's no reason to wait for haggis and whisky, or for Stornoway black pudding for a' that.

You are right, but we plan a long way in advance, and it takes a long time to explain some things to the English.