[MR] BBC: Scottish "Vikings" Parade for Hogmanay

[Garth Groff and Sally Sanford]

Noble Friends, especially Scots and Vikings,

Our Scottish friends love to dress up like Vikings for Hogmanay and parade
around waving torches. No doubt they start out well lubricated with
single malt, and finish the evening with a few more wee drams wallowing in
their favorite watering holes.

Since all these revelers dress in pretty much the same faux-Viking suits,
one suspects there  is a thriving industry to supply all their gear.
Whoever heard of real Vikings wearing uniforms?

Hogmanay is Scotland's traditional New Year celebration, but all that
Viking gear will get another workout soon. Up Helly Aa, which supposedly
celebrates the end of the Yule season, will be held on 30 January. There
will be more parades, more torches, boat burnings and many, many more
massive hang-overs.

Scots sure know how to have fun!

The BBC has some photos of the Edinburgh bash at
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c72yd8pmx0ro .

For more on this year's Up Helly Aa, and photos showing past Jarl Squads,
see https://www.uphellyaa.org .

Yours Aye,


Mungo Napier, Laird of Mallard Lodge  🦆
Continuing a crusade to keep Merry Rose relevant, though today's post is
stretching things quite a bit. 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿