Tag Archives: Scottish

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Where’s yer kilt? Everyone’s Scottish during Tartan Week!

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Scottish bagpipers by Corinne Whiting
Are you a fan of Irn-Bru, neeps and tatties and wee drams of whisky? Did all that sound like a load of gibberish? Nae bother. Regardless, dust off those kilts and sporrans, Tartan Week is coming our way. Sadly, Scotland Week doesn’t seem to be making too many appearances in the nation’s captial this year, but good old Alexandria will be getting in the spirit this Saturday.

On April 3 from noon to 6 p.m., a National Tartan Day Celebration takes over Market Square (at 301 King Street). Think piping, drumming, kilts, shopping and live music by The Devil’s Tailors. I, for one, cannae think of a better (free!) way to spend a sun-kissed Saturday.

The Features, We Love Drinks, We Love Food, We Love Music
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St. Patrick’s Day: What’s the craic?

Irish banneSign of the times at Bottom Line by Corinne Whiting

St. Patrick’s Day seems to fall at a good time of year—just after we’ve groggily “sprung forward” and just as we’ve been teased out of our winter hermit holes by the sweet promise of spring. Winter vacation seems a lifetime ago; Memorial Day beach treks couldn’t feel farther out of reach. Truth be told, we’re ready for some good craic.

This holiday always seems an ideal time to check in with Irish mates I haven’t properly caught up with since my last trip to Éire. I write friends based in happenin’ Dublin and off “busy” getting sunburned in fabulous places around the globe to wish them a happy Paddy’s Day. (Note: if you accidentally let slip “St. Patty’s Day,” prepare to be scolded for incorrectly feminizing the legendary saint!) This year I surveyed my friends’ March 17 plans, knowing that the night before would be the big night out thanks to a national holiday on St. Patrick’s Day. Over there March 17 seems a day, at least for my friends, to take it easy—catching up over pints and coffees, cycling into the country and, most importantly, avoiding the chaos of city centre. The downtown Dublin parade, it seems, can be saved for the kids and tourists.

So what then does March 17 (unfortunately not a holiday here) mean for Washingtonians? Perhaps the Obamas will dye the White House fountain green again (touch wood). And while the holiday will no doubt give venues an excuse to charge covers to droves of bar goers on a random Wednesday night, it will also give bar goers an excuse to spend a Wednesday night clinking glasses of green beer, downing Irish car bombs and flaunting real or feigned ancestry (“Kiss Me, I’m Irish” buttons, anyone?). It’s also a day when cultural traditions get a wee bit muddled here in the “melting pot” of America—Scottish and English customs become Irish; anything Celtic goes….

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