25 January 2010

Suffering from Burns

It's Burns Night tonight. At celebrations round the world they'll be reading out Address to a haggis. Some bits of it were clearly written with cycling in mind. Here are they, and some other bike references in his work.

On buses and taxis
...cut you up wi' ready sleight... Then, horn for horn, they stretch an' strive: Deil tak the hindmost! on they drive... Address to a haggis

Mechanical mishaps
On Glenriddell's Fox breaking his chain

On touring
...maybe, in a frolic daft, / To Hague or Calais takes a waft, / To mak a tour an' tak a whirl, / To learn bon ton, an' see the worl' The Twa Dogs

On arguments with drivers
In danger's hour still flaming in the van Ode for General Washington's Birthday

On freewheeling
oil'd by thee, / The wheels o' life gae down-hill, scrievin, / Wi' rattlin glee Scotch drink

If you haven't had enough by tomorrow morning, Hackney Cyclists' annual Burns Night is coming this Saturday.

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