Europe on 5-10 Nervous Breakdowns a Day (34)
DAY 37 – SATURDAY, JUNE 1, 1974 – YOU GOTTA TRY THE HAGGIS!
My “to-do” list for Saturday morning in Edinburg was rather complicated: We had to be out of the rooms by 11:00; there was a bagpipe performance we wanted to see at 11:00; I had a list of places to see; and Jo needed to do laundry.
We started with the laundry. The maid said there was a “coin-operated” dry-cleaner and laundry nearby. We hauled a suitcase full of dirty clothes there. Turns out it is not a facility where the customer does his own laundry. Apparently “coin-operated” means something different in Scotland.
Next: Check out of our rooms. We packed up and rode a bus to the train station. We couldn’t use the lockers because of a bomb scare in Great Britain, so we left five pieces in the “left-luggage” office—including the suitcase of dirty clothes.
Next: Bagpipe performance. Bus to downtown. Turned out to be one young man. We listened awhile.
Next: Visit some places. One of the British pre-restoration groups was the Sandemanians. Some of them were supposedly meeting on a certain street, but I couldn’t find the place.
Time to eat. One of my books had recommended a salad place, but there was a long, long, long line. Woolies (Australian for “Woolworths”) has a cafeteria, so we went there.
Haggis was on the menu. I thought we should try it since we were in Scotland. When I asked the serving lady which entrée was haggis, she pointed to some dark hash-looking stuff. I told the woman to give us four servings of it. She looked uncertain and asked if we had ever had it. I said “No” and she put a little on a plate and had me sample it. I thought we could handle it, so I repeated my order. A Scotsman standing next to us was encouraging me, telling me how great it was. (I later noticed that he had gotten fish and chips!) Debbie heard some Scottish people behind us saying “Ugh!” so she added her protest.
Jo, Cindy, Debbie, and I finally got our haggis (Angie had a child’s plate of a sausage with chips). Haggis is ground meat (probably mutton) and oatmeal and is heavily spiced. In olden days, it was cooked in a sheep’s stomach. The Scotsman who had encouraged me to get it was seated nearby. He told us, “Of course, haggis is supposed to washed down with whiskey.” I don’t know about whiskey but I would have appreciated a great big jug of cold water!!
After we ate, the womenfolk decided to shop in Woolies, so I wandered around town without finding what I wanted to find.
It had turned cold and everyone was tired so I didn’t suggest we do any more sightseeing. We went back to the station, got our luggage, and caught the next train to Kirkcaldy. We arrived at Kirkcaldy about 3:30. It was raining some now. Our destination was nearby Glenrothes. One of the preachers there, Alex Strachen, had told me to call him. I did and he was there in twenty minutes.
I told Alex I would like to visit the Kirkcaldy meeting place before I left Scotland so he ran us by before we left town. This was originally a Scotch Baptist group but Alexander Campbell preached there on his trip to Scotland and they had become a church of Christ. The old building had been torn down several years earlier, but they still had the original furniture, including the pulpit where Campbell preached. I wished for a flash attachment, but did the best I could taking slides.
We traveled on to Glenrothes. Jo and I and Angie stayed with Alex and his wife Moyra. Alex is a 39-year-old Scotsman who trained at the Sunset School of Preaching in Lubbock, Texas. Friendly, friendly folks. Cindy and Debbie stayed with Paul MacGregor and his wife. Paul is a 55-ish Kentucky farmer who had also trained at Sunset.
We had tea. Then Alex and I visited while Jo and Moyra did our laundry (finally). Eventually to bed.
