{"id":327,"date":"2015-03-03T16:05:20","date_gmt":"2015-03-03T16:05:20","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.burnshowffclub.org\/howffblog\/?p=327"},"modified":"2015-03-05T16:10:36","modified_gmt":"2015-03-05T16:10:36","slug":"ellisland-soiree-feb-2015-presentation-to-les-byers","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.burnshowffclub.org\/howffblog\/?p=327","title":{"rendered":"Ellisland Soiree Feb 2015 Presentation to Les Byers"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"\"

Les Byers receives a portrait from President John Clark<\/p><\/div>\n

On Saturday 28th Feb 2015 a fine body of men gathered to pay homage to one of the Burns Howff Club’s most popular members. It was remarked that Les was well kent as a ‘Global entertainer of some distinction<\/em> ‘ Les was presented with an original drawing, mug and fine bottle of Malt whisky in appreciation of all the work he has done over the years for the club and in respect of his pending retirement from Ellisland Farm. A tasty supper of soup was followed by Haggis\/Chicken pie ceremoniously piped in with due aplomb by Calum Watson and addressed with a special poem created for the evening. Mushy peas were added and a sumptuous cheese board was washed down with copious amounts of wine and whisky which kick started the singing. Fine accordion playing and piping was provided by Lee McQueen and Calum McQueen. Recitations were given by Gordon Johnston and singing was provided by Les, David Miller, Colin Gibson, Danny Cook and myself. A most ambient evening was enjoyed by all present and compliments must go to the hosts Les and May for providing such a tasty supper. Jokes were provided by Bert Hastings, Calum and David Smith (the famous Lions joke)!!
\nA braw night in good company.Best wishes to Les who still has quite a few miles left in the tank yet!! <\/p>\n

Tae a \u2018Haggis\u2019 Pie
\n<\/strong>Now some wad boast o high cuisine
\npheasant , quail wi whisky cream
\nI hear them sigh
\nlet’s no forget the pleasures guid
\nand virtues o that simple feed
\nthe haggis pie.<\/p>\n

Wee crusty Haggis Pie
\nI look at you and fondly sigh
\nwhen I\u2019ve been hunger\u2019d.
\nHoo many times ye\u2019ve got me by
\nwhen I\u2019ve been
\nweel an truly scunnered.<\/p>\n

Hoo clever is that tasty crust?
\nfrae pastry lid, it upwards thrusts
\ntae tempt an tease-
\nleavin a receptacle , purpose built
\ntae harness delicacies, such as pickles
\nchips,(wae HP sauce) and mushy peas!<\/p>\n

There was a time, some smugly state
\nye wer’nae worthy o’ a plate
\nIt\u2019s sad but true- Some toffs remark
\nthat such a piece o meat
\nA mongrel dog wad loathe tae eat
\nIn fact its presence
\nwad barely make it in a stew.<\/p>\n

But frae Scotia\u2019s deepest past
\nwhen hunger pangs, lang months wad last
\nan’ death, frae malnutrition loomed
\nnecessity decreed that each wee scrap o meat
\nere cut frae hoof, or tap o heid
\nwad be consumed.<\/p>\n

An’ frae the darkness o depression
\n\u2018necessity\u2019, the mother o\u2019 invention did quietly form
\nan’ so it was, through process of progression
\nand sadly, centuries o’ indigestion
\nthe simple haggis pie\u2026\u2026..was born!<\/p>\n

An tho’ its simple \u2018saunsy’ face
\non royal tables rarely grace
\nit\u2019s nae surprise, tae be informed……………..
\nthanks tae Kerr Little’s skilful hands
\nthis simple pie, wi chicken twists
\nand floury wrists
\nhas been transformed!!!<\/p>\n

So thanks must go tae Les and May
\nfor their hospitality
\nso cronies, rise!
\nand raise oor glasses in a toast
\ntae sing the praises of oor hosts
\nin paying homage tae the haggis……
\nKing O’ Mealy Pies!!<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\t\tJohn Clark<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

On Saturday 28th Feb 2015 a fine body of men gathered to pay homage to one of the Burns Howff Club’s most popular members. It was remarked that Les was well kent as a ‘Global entertainer of some distinction ‘ … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[1],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.burnshowffclub.org\/howffblog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/327"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.burnshowffclub.org\/howffblog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.burnshowffclub.org\/howffblog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.burnshowffclub.org\/howffblog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/5"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.burnshowffclub.org\/howffblog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=327"}],"version-history":[{"count":7,"href":"http:\/\/www.burnshowffclub.org\/howffblog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/327\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":336,"href":"http:\/\/www.burnshowffclub.org\/howffblog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/327\/revisions\/336"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.burnshowffclub.org\/howffblog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=327"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.burnshowffclub.org\/howffblog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=327"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.burnshowffclub.org\/howffblog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=327"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}