Algy greets the West Highland dawn with his wee saltire, and wishes Scots everywhere a very Happy St. Andrew’s Day!
Month: November 2012
St. Andrew’s Day 2012
On St. Andrew’s Day, Algy woke at dawn and flew up into a patch of early morning sun at the top of his tree, to wave his saltire and sing his rendition of Scotland’s unofficial national anthem to the other West Highland birds:
O flower of Scotland
When will we see your like again
That fought and died for
Your wee bit hill and glen
And stood against him
Proud Edward’s army
And sent him homeward
Tae think again
The hills are bare now
And autumn leaves lie thick and still
O’er land that is lost now
Which those so dearly held
And stood against him
Proud Edward’s army
And sent him homeward
Tae think again
Those days are passed now
And in the past they must remain
But we can still rise now
And be the nation again
That stood against him
Proud Edward’s army
And sent him homeward
Tae think again
Flower of Scotland was written in the 1960s by Roy Williamson of The Corries. Listen to this original recording of the song performed by The Corries themselves back in 1968. The video quality is poor, but the sound is fine. The Corries first met and started performing while they were students at Edinburgh College of Art 🙂
Frustration! A very kind friend sent Algy a new book, and he desperately wanted to read it. But poor Algy just couldn’t manage to get into the packaging …
For those people who like to know more about the person behind the blog, Algy has created a new page Meet Jenny, where you can learn random facts about his assistant and read some of her thoughts about her work on Tumblr.
As a bird, Algy has certain reservations about the American tradition of Thanksgiving. However, he decided to enter into the spirit of the festival, and sent overseas for a genuine pumpkin pie.
When it arrived he took it down to the jetty in front of the post office, and settled himself comfortably on the fishing nets. But he thought that maybe pies didn’t care to leave their native land, as his seemed awful hard to bite …
Algy wishes all his American friends a Happy Holiday!
Algy Tries Pumpkin Pie on Thanksgiving Day
Algy wasn’t sure that he entirely understood the American festival of Thanksgiving, as his pie didn’t seem to have quite the intended effect when eaten on a jetty in the West Highlands of Scotland. But he tried his best to appreciate it, and hoped that his friends in America would enjoy their own pies in the true spirit of Thanksgiving.
Ah! on Thanksgiving day, when from East and from West,
From North and from South come the pilgrim and guest,
When the gray-haired New Englander sees round his board
The old broken links of affection restored,
When the care-wearied man seeks his mother once more,
And the worn matron smiles where the girl smiled before,
What moistens the lip and what brightens the eye?
What calls back the past, like the rich Pumpkin pie?
[From the poem The Pumpkin by John Greenleaf Whittier.]
The wild west wind was relentless. Algy had a wee bit of bother trying to maintain his sangfroid …
These Hearts Were Woven of Human Joys
The sun came out for a while, but the wild west wind raged without pause. Algy clung on to a sturdy branch of his favourite silver birch tree and prayed for a ceasefire in the Middle East. He thought:
These hearts were woven of human joys and cares,
Washed marvellously with sorrow, swift to mirth.
The years had given them kindness. Dawn was theirs,
And sunset, and the colours of the earth.
These had seen movement, and heard music; known
Slumber and waking; loved; gone proudly friended;
Felt the quick stir of wonder; sat alone;
Touched flowers and furs and cheeks. All this is ended.
[From the poem The Dead by the WWI poet Rupert Brooke.]
No Child Born To Die
For those kind people who, regardless of their politics, want to help the innocent children suffering in the Gaza conflict, Algy would like to suggest a donation to Save the Children’s Emergency Fund. Every little helps.
You can make a donation on this page of the Save the Children web site.
Remembrance Day 2012
On Remembrance Day, Algy perched on a low stone wall by the loch and thought sadly of the terrible damage done to the world and its creatures by war.
He quietly hummed An Eala Bhàn – The White Swan – a haunting Gaelic song with lyrics written by a poet from the island of North Uist while in the trenches of WWI during the Battle of the Somme in 1916.
Listen to this lovely version of An Eala Bhàn sung by North Uist’s own Julie Fowlis.
The Adventures of Algy 