SPFL Tier 4, The Rock, 24/12/22.

A very good way indeed to celebrate the club’s 150^th anniversary.

From the reports I’ve read it sounds like we fully deserved the win. Goals from Gregor Buchanan and David Wilson did the job.

I can’t remember ever being top of the league at Christmas before. Ditto at New Year. (Our four point lead means we wil achieve that accolade too.) Mind you our next game – on Hogmanay – will be tough. We’ve found Albion Rovers to be difficult opponents this season.

My latest review book for Interzone is Beta Life: stories from an A-life future, an anthology dealing with the impact on society of new technologies in computing, which plopped onto my doormat on Hogmanay. My allotted word count this time is 1100, up from 800.

Interzone 256, with my review of Irregularity, another anthology (inspired by the history of Science,) ought to be out soon.

For reasons to do with the Calvinist traditions of Scottish Presbyterianism Scotland’s national day of celebration actually covers two days, Hogmanay and New Year’s Day. (Christmas could not be celebrated riotously due to its religious nature, besides it was tainted with Catholicism.) Everyone, though, needs a blow out at the depth of winter to rejoice at coming through so far and look forward to the turning into light.

Today, however, is your other national day, if you’re Scottish.

It marks the birthday of Robert Burns, Scotland’s most renowned poet, lauded worldwide – most notably in the US and Russia.

Though the tradition may be dying out a little there will still be hundreds of Burns’ Suppers taking place around the world today, and in the days around, in his memory.

I shall not be addressing the “great chieftain o’ the puddin’ race,” nor toasting the lassies (only the good lady will be present,) nor even proposing the immortal memory, but I will be supping on haggis, neeps and tatties tonight.

Burns’s contribution to Scottish letters and culture lies not only in his own verses but in the collection of traditional songs which he sometimes revised or adapted. Without him many of these might have been lost.

He may have treated the women in his life badly, or off-handedly, but there is a concern for common humanity, and indeed for animals, in evidence in his work.

This is Is There For Honest Poverty (A Man’s A Man For A’ That) sung by Ian Benzie.

A Man’s A Man For A’ That

A couple of supermarkets – Morrisons and, I think, Sainsbury’s – I visited between Christmas and the New Year had signs up saying, “Happy Hogmanay.”

Happy Hogmanay?

No-one ever says that.*

My local Tesco made a better fist of it. Their sign – above the alcholic drinks isle, natch – said, “Celebrate Hogmanay,” which is more like it. But even then drink isn’t usually taken till after the bells, by which time Hogmanay is past.

So, now it’s here.

Happy New Year.

* Edited to add: except, oddly, Catriona Shearer and Craig Hill on Scotland’s Hogmanay Live last night.

Well. I’ve got some shortbread in (thanks to son no. 1) and I bought a cherry cake. Also on the table will be some cider for the good lady, beer and Irn Bru – my favourite advert for which remains this one:-

Hogmanay’s all sorted then.