Haggis and bagpipes on Fedje

Haggis was honoured and devoured on Fedje, to the tune of bagpipes.

Haggis and bagpipes on Fedje
Bergen, 12 November 2010

Bergen Scottish Society and Bergen Pipes and Drums were invited to Fedje to help arrange a Scottish evening at Pernille Café. The evening was arranged by local resident and Scot Mac Ratcliffe from Lochaline, together with islanders Trond and Lena Ågotnes to celebrate the strong links between western Norway and Scotland and to bring a taste of Scotland to the island. Originally from Lochaline on Scotland’s west coast, Mac has been living on Fedje for over 10 years and is married to a local girl.

The weekend started with the party from Bergen missing the ferry by minutes and being rescued by the local pilot boat. After an exciting high speed voyage across waters that were more bumpy than troubled, and a hearty helping of Pernille Café’s excellent whale stew, Bergen Pipes and Drums played a warm up set to give the locals a wee taster for the main event on Saturday.

After a tour of the Hellesøy lighthouse on Saturday, Pipe Major Thomas De Ridder played a few sets of tunes in the local shop, Fedje Handel, to set the scene for the evening’s festivities. “The event was sold out a while a go, and we have a waiting list”, said Mac. Sure enough the evening kicked off at 19:30 with Thomas De Ridder, Roger Fulton, Colin Gordon and James Hosea of Bergen Pipes and Drums playing to a packed house. Haggis from Solheim Kjøtt was on the menu, so after a pause to recharge glasses the chieftain haggis was piped in and Society Chairman James Hosea recited Robert Burns’ Address to a Haggis.

Most of the guests had never tried haggis before, and many were a bit nervous having heard all sorts of stories about the wee beasties. Fortunately the natives had only good words to say about Scotland’s national dish, and many were actually positively surprised about how good it tasted.

After a second performance by the band, James Hosea held a speech about links between the west of Norway and Scotland, drawing on the Scottish and Norwegian national cultures and characteristics and talking about conflict and cooperation, mentioning amongst other things, the Battle of Largs, Slaget ved Kringen and the Shetland Bus. Guests joined in with the singing of favourite Scottish songs Wild Rover, and Loch Lomond, and the evening was drawn to a close by Pipe Major Thomas de Ridder playing Auld Lang Syne.

A great night was had by all, and many people all ready tried to book for next year’s event – even before it had been decided to have one! Bergen Scottish Society and Bergen Pipes and Drums look forward to more trips to Fedje and the next Scottish event on the island.

Local newspaper Strilen published a full page article on the Scottish evening at Pernille Café, with several photographs.

 Article from Strilen 11 November 2010