Page 15 - What's In A Name - The Barry Pipes Canon

WHAT’S IN A NAME? The Barry Pipes Canon • 2005 - 2018 Flowers of Edinburgh 029-2009-December-Set&Link
We’re back, having missed last month. At the deadline, I was with family in Kingussie enjoying the surrounding Cairngorms. Now let’s get on with this floral tribute... Ah! The Flowers of Edinburgh! Imagine strolling on a fine summer’s day through an empty loch, now the beautiful park that runs parallel to Princes Street, overlooked by the castle. Is this a floral tribute that perhaps gives some strong competition to Aberdeen’s Blooms of
From Set&Link, newsletter of RSCDS Toronto
Cathedral clock struck the evening hour of ten. That was the signal for the upper-floor tenement windows to be thrown open. Then, to shouts of “Gardy-loo”, each home’s liquid refuse in buckets, basins, and chamber pots was tipped out into the streets below. Suffice to say, in-house plumbing of any kind did not exist in those more primitive times. Edinburgh diarist James Boswell referred to this as the “evening effluvia", although the locals preferred the expression the “Flowers of Edinburgh”.
Gardy-Loo? It was derived from the French garde a‘ l'eau (beware of the water), or perhaps, gardez l’eau. These days we would probably say “heads up”. In 1750, dashing to the shelter of the nearest doorway, instead of trying to dance a poussette, would have been the most sensible course of action.
That said, whatever its history, let’s enjoy the ever-popular reel Flowers of Edinburgh, which will be included in the December Family Christmas Program. ◼︎
A vintage porcelain chamber pot
Bon Accord?... or a beautiful panorama that certainly deserves to have a dance devised in its honour?
Well, let’s not be too hasty! If we transport ourselves back to Edinburgh two or three hundred years ago, “Athens of the North” it certainly was not. Carefully picking one’s way through the sewage of Edinburgh’s unpaved streets among the tenements could be a hazardous undertaking, especially when the St. Giles
The Wild Geese 030-2010-January-Set&Link
Many of us are familiar with that popular jig, The Wild Geese, from RSCDS Book 24. I just wish that I could determine the name of its devisor. We are of course very aware around Toronto of the ubiquitous Canada geese that are well known for fouling parks and recreation areas wherever they decide to congregate. Could these be the wild geese celebrated earlier in Book 24?
A more likely possibility has to do with Irish military history. For centuries, Irish mercenaries have been found fighting the wars of other countries. Even Hannibal’s armies crossing the Alps to surprise the Romans from the rear included Celtic warriors from Hibernia. In time, the French learned the value of including Irishmen in their armies, and a ready supply of recruits always seemed to be available to become part of
“The Irish Brigade”. . . dubbed in Irish Gaelic Na Gianna Fiaine — The Wild Geese.
Origin? Well, French smuggling vessels bringing wines and brandies to the Irish coast would illegally carry military recruits on their return journey. The customs paperwork described them routinely as wild geese. Foie Gras in the making perhaps?
When the Stuart monarchy was driven into exile in France in the mid-17th century, sure enough, many of the soldiers that “emigrated” with them were Catholic Irishmen, ready to die in support of their king. So it should be no surprise that Irish mercenaries, or “wild geese”, were to be found among Bonnie Prince Charlie’s army in 1745. At that time, however, they were more likely to be called Irish piquets. The French word piquer is well-known in military circles through its English version, picket, meaning “a small ad hoc unit of soldiers doing guard duty”, for example.
So with The Wild Geese, we may have yet another Scottish country dance with an Irish background.
Irish Rover, anyone? ◼︎
1. Officer, Gardes Irlandais, 1680
2. Private, Regiment Clare, 1692
3. Ensign, Regiment Roth, 1718