'Tis the Day!

January the 25th, of course, marks Burns Day, which is observed by folks who either are of Scottish descent or wish they were to mark the birthday of Robert Burns (1759-1796). It's also observed by people who love poetry.

Burns wrote poems and also songs, and was responsible for bringing quite a few traditional songs into print. He wrote in Scots, a mixture of Scots and English, and in standard English, and often used his poetry for social and political commentary. One may pause for a moment to snicker at the thought of Jon Stewart or Bill O'Reilly being able to fit their gas-baggery with rhyme and meter.

I will probably not have a haggis tonight, but I will leave you with a chorus from "The Braes O' Killiecrankie," one of the traditional songs which Burns is credited with standardizing and setting down in print. The singer suggests that a bold young man might temper his boldness were he to have endured actual combat and witnessed its impact:

An ye had been whare I hae been,
Ye wad na been sae cantie, O;
An ye had seen what I hae seen,
I' the Braes o' Killiecrankie, O.

Burns himself never served in the military or saw combat, and though he wrote plenty of words in a combative air, he knew enough to know what he did not know. That also might set him apart from many social and political commentors of our day.