On Friday Fives on National Holidays

1. What is one of your favorite things about your country?

 I like the way Scotland has balanced both intellectual and more physical endevours, our desire to be more intrinsically democratic and how close to our own soul we are.

Also the fjords are nice.

2. What is your favorite thing to do on your country's national holiday?

Jings! and also, also as well, too, Crivens!

Which of our national holidays are we talking about? We have our official national holiday, on St Andrew's Day on the 30th of November, our semi-official national holiday on 1st January, what other people think is our semi-official national holiday on the 31st December, the national holiday on the 2nd of January we have to have to recover from your version of our semi-official national holiday and our version of our semi-officialnational holiday, our de facto national holiday on the 25th January and the private chuckle we have to ourselves whenever England start singing "Three Lions" by Baddiel and Skinner and we know, we're just sure that England's going to throw it away. Or the one we're all expecting to be adopted when Billy Connolly dies?

Whisky is a given, but I like the poetry of Burns, and his mix of intellectual and physical, carnal and spiritual and his intrinsically democratic nature.

3. What do you usually do for your country's national holiday?

St Andrews Day 30th November - try to work if it is actually a Bank Holiday or not, deal, in an embarrassed way with American's wishing me well.

31st December, prepare for drinking, stay up all night.

1st January, drink whisky and watch fireworks, stay up all night.

2nd January, go to the cottage, carefully.

25th January, host a Burns' Supper, eat haggis, drink whisky.

4. What is your favorite national/regional ethnic dish?

Of my own nation, haggis. Particularly with some sort of sauce to go with the haggis. It can be a little dry if eaten with neeps and mashed potato.

Of other nations, the thing I look forward to most is chilli on nachos which MLW makes often for a weekend dinner. I think that is ethnically Texan?

5. Who is your favorite national hero and why?

Of my own nation, Byron.

Former FP of my school, Poet, drinker, shagger,  freedom fighter, radical politician and father of Ada Lovelace.

Of other nations, whaddaya got?