St. Andrew is the patron saint of Scotland.
The British Consulate of Vancouver held a reception to mark the occasion of the visit to Vancouver of the Presiding Officer of the Scottish Parliament, The Rt Hon George Reid MSP and to celebrate
I was fortunate to recieve an invitation to this event. held at the Vancouver Club.
Which kilt should I wear? The invitation said "business casual." I asked my Scottish friends, and they agreed that the Maple Leaf Tartan would be appropriate. But alas... one of our dragon boat paddlers still has it after a Kilt Night at Doolin's Irish Pub... so I wore the Ancient Fraser of Lovat tartan. It is the first kilt that I ever wore - pure wool - and perfect for a wintry Vancouver night. Definitely helped to keep my bum warm on Tuesday night when I went to the Vancouver Opera performance of Macbeth... but my knees sure were c-c-c-cold.
I walked up the steps to the third floor of the Vancouver Club. I could hear bagpipes playing. One of the Burns Club of Vancouver members Strachan recognized me, and introduced me to Donald and Wilma Paton. Both had heard about me and Gung Haggis Fat Choy. It just happens that Wilma is a wonderful singer of Scottish song... I offered to feature her for next year's (2008) Gung Haggis Fat Choy World Poetry Night at Vancouver Public Library, as the January 2007 program is pretty well set.
It's great to meet so many people who work hard to keep Scottish culture alive in the Americas. I met Michael Corish of Scottish Development Internationa, based in Toronto. It was great to see my friends from the Burns Club of Vancouver: Robert Barr, Tony Breen, Harry McGrath and Strachan. Tony was there with his wife Lori (who is Chinese-Canadian).
I met James Baron, of Friends of Scotland, while based in Saratoga CA, told me about the Dressed to Kilt event that they host in New York. James was very interested in the concept of Gung Haggis Fat Choy, and was very excited to tell me about Sean Connery's participation in Dressed to Kilt.
Harry McGrath gave a good introduction about Scottish history in Vancouver and BC. I first met Harry at a Burns Club of Vancouver meeting. While he researched his doctrate on Scottish history of BC, he also worked as coordinator of Scottish Studies program at Simon Fraser University.
The Hon. George Reid gave a very good address about the role that Scotland plays. He talked about how important Scotland's inventors and explorers have been, but also how important contemporary Scotland is for Health Research and academic scholorship - as well as it's oil rich reserves. The Scottish diaspora is important in the continuation of Scottish culture on a global scale, and Canada, particularly BC, does very well, with it's annual BC Highland Games and many other activities.
When I was able to introduce myself to Mr. Reid, and said that I organized Gung Haggis Fat Choy, his eyes lit up as he said, "I've heard of you! You are getting well known in Scotland."
It turns out that Harry McGrath has been telling everybody back home in Scotland about Gung Haggis Fat Choy - even if they didn't hear me on BBC Radio Scotland last year, when I was interviewed for St. Andrew's Day.
But if Scotland can embrace haggis wontons, and a character known as Toddish McWong, while at the same time celebrate their status as a "nation" within a United Kingdon - then there should easily be hope for both Quebec and to be recognized as a "nation within a United Canada," as recognized in the Conservative government's recently passed motion. Hmmm.... but could BC also be recognized as a "nation within a United Canada?" Afterall... the two solitudes of BC, are not so much English and French, but more likely Scottish and Chinese.... and First Nations!
