Will an American feel welcome on the QM2

[GCurry]

Bit like the Reincarnationists, they were always an Egyptian King/Princess

or Marie Antoinette or Bonnie Prince Charlie. No-one ws ever a refuse collector in a previous life or a 16thC. penny a pop hooker.

Or you had a lot of sex, but you were a jack rabbit in Arizona?

 

 

Sure can Tex, but with a name like Curry I'm not convinced you'll get what you expect. Gari

Probably something out of Belfast with a lot of orange in it!

[Lurker1]

We would love to just hunker down and be ignored for the next four years clinging to our guns and bibles, but they won't leave us alone. Their latest bright idea is to give amnesty to millions of illegal aliens which in essence is giving us back to Mexico, we'll be a hispanic majority by 2020.

I'm sure our socialized friends across the pond are having to press 1 for English, 2 for Gallic, 3 for Paki, so I guess I should get used to it.:mad:

 

No reflection on you Lurker, but everyone I ever met that was part Indian was part Cherokee.:)

Of course the Cherokee were considered the civilized people, so I guess socially they did get around. Even our great Texas hero Sam Houston spent a year living with them. So who knows, you might be part Texan.:D

You never hear of someone being part Comanche or Apache or Kiowa or how that might have happened, "My great grandfather killed and scalped your great grandfather, raped your great grandmother and burned down the ranch!" Or perhaps it wasn't the same in your part of the country? Because of these and a few other cultural differences, there are very few Indians in Texas.

 

Nothing like a good rant in the afternoon!:D

 

By the way Gari, can this be handled on-line, can I authenticate myself long distance, drink a little scotch play one of the 47 dirges and order up the family tartan?

 

My direct Cherokee ancestor that we have identified was half caucasian and didn't want anything to with her Indian side because of some things she saw. She married my G-G-Grandfather after his first wife died, thus leaving the Cherokee nation and thus, avoiding the Trail-of-Tears.

There is more Indian DNA in our family, but it's a bit more obscure as people didn't want to admit to it.

Part Texan? some of my family did emigrate there, not sure what happened to them . . .:D

[Lurker1]

Is that with the Lederhosen and Dutch cap or the Bowler hat and clogs?

Gari

 

think I'll go with the Bowler hat and clogs.

[garigoun]

think I'll go with the Bowler hat and clogs.

Et pourquoi?

Gari

[Lurker1]

Et pourquoi?

Gari

Now you think I'm French :rolleyes:?

I wouldn't be caught dead in lederhosen. IMHO :)

[Lurker1]

Or perhaps it wasn't the same in your part of the country?

 

New England has been my part of the country since I was 8. But my family has deep roots in both Missouri and Arkansas. Maybe that's why we put down Texas? Or perhaps it was the seven wonderful months I spent at Fort Hood . . .:D

[heywood]

Now you think I'm French :rolleyes:?

I wouldn't be caught dead in lederhosen. IMHO :)

 

so..in the great debate.. shorts are allowed as long as they are leather :eek:

 

this is rather a nice site for purchasing- need your sound on

http://www.ernstlicht.com/

I notice you can buy Bundhosen too but they're denim and we don't want you to feel totally persona non gratis so it's back to the old Bowler and brollie :D

[Lurker1]

so..in the great debate.. shorts are allowed as long as they are leather :eek:

 

this is rather a nice site for purchasing- need your sound on

http://www.ernstlicht.com/

I notice you can buy Bundhosen too but they're denim and we don't want you to feel totally persona non gratis so it's back to the old Bowler and brollie :D

 

Can we start a whole new thread on leather and formal nights? ;)

[garigoun]

so..in the great debate.. shorts are allowed as long as they are leather :eek:

this is rather a nice site for purchasing- need your sound on

http://www.ernstlicht.com/

I notice you can buy Bundhosen too but they're denim and we don't want you to feel totally persona non gratis so it's back to the old Bowler and brollie :D

 

Well Done Heywood. I was wondering who would be the first to make the connection.

If national dress is acceptable on formal nights(and presumably it is - hence the kilts) it would make for an extremely colourful dining room.

Should we perhaps propose it to the powers that be at Cunard.

I have, in fact, seen a lady in a sari and her partner in a fabulous Nehru type evening rigout, very eyecatching couple they were too.

Penguin suits OUT OUT OUT!!!

Gari

[heywood]

Hi Gari,

these boards raise so many relevant and challenging issues :D

 

I was tempted a while ago to write in response to one of your earlier Scottish skirmishes - what is wrong with national/cultural dress on a formal night? Many saris and shalwar kameez can more than pass the bling test with sequins and rhinestones and look stunning.

This then brings me to another point you have made in the past, again with regard to the Scottish question.

If your 5x great grandmother was a scottish crofter, you may well choose to be 'Scottish' in identity and wish to don the kilt at a formal night. It's a bit of the 'which cricket team would you support' theory bandied about by some politicians.

I must point out that I have, as far as I know, not one drop of Scottish blood in me but as I've said before, a man in a kilt ... My goodness, though, now we have the prospect of leather shorts too... where's that chap who talks about Carnivalisation? :eek:

[GCurry]

New England has been my part of the country since I was 8. But my family has deep roots in both Missouri and Arkansas. Maybe that's why we put down Texas?

Had they moved to Texas from Arkansas, they would have been considered social climbers! Which is probably why you never heard from those that did.:) Congratulations on knowing your pedigree and taking pride in your people, as it's all relative.

 

Or perhaps it was the seven wonderful months I spent at Fort Hood . . .:D

That probably helped you man up to the responsible person you are today.

 

I'll stick with the tux on formal nights thank you very much as it ain't no rodeo. I think Carnivalisation is a splendid word, as we have two Carnival ships here weekly, I get to see it first hand.

[ovccruiser]

Is that ......and Dutch cap .....

Gari

Ah the great English language, I laugh all the time as I imagine someone walking around with a contraceptive on their head:D:D

[Lurker1]

 

That probably helped you man up to the responsible person you are today.

 

 

Not the Fort Hood experience, but Uncle Sammy's year-long paid vacation to a certain tropical paradise had a definite impact . . .:cool:

[garigoun]

Ah the great English language, I laugh all the time as I imagine someone walking around with a contraceptive on their head:D:D

 

Ach zo, Sie ist der furst to valk into mine cunningly laid Mark drei innuendo trap. Fur Sie Tommy der var ist ofer.

Gari

[GCurry]

Not the Fort Hood experience, but Uncle Sammy's year-long paid vacation to a certain tropical paradise had a definite impact . . .:cool:

It certainly would if you survive the vacation, which you obviously did more or less as we're in no position to be judgmental.

 

Ach zo, Sie ist der furst to valk into mine cunningly laid Mark drei innuendo trap. Fur Sie Tommy der var ist ofer.Gari

Innuendo? That's an Italian suppository ain't it?

 

Looks like Al Quida is going to blow up Manchester, will that be a problem?

[Lurker1]

Ach zo, Sie ist der furst to valk into mine cunningly laid Mark drei innuendo trap. Fur Sie Tommy der var ist ofer.

Gari

First French, then ersatz German, what next, Romanian? :)

[garigoun]

Hi Gari,

these boards raise so many relevant and challenging issues :D

 

I know, I know, dead intellectual that's us.

 

I was tempted a while ago to write in response to one of your earlier Scottish skirmishes - what is wrong with national/cultural dress on a formal night? Many saris and shalwar kameez can more than pass the bling test with sequins and rhinestones and look stunning.

 

Absolutely agree 100%. Nothing wrong with national dress at all, as I said, makes for a colourful and interesting mix.

 

This then brings me to another point you have made in the past, again with regard to the Scottish question.

If your 5x great grandmother was a scottish crofter, you may well choose to be 'Scottish' in identity and wish to don the kilt at a formal night.

 

This is the area where we must part our ways. How can you ‘choose’ to be Scottish?

You either are or are not.

I attend a lot of black tie ‘do’s’ during the course of a year. ‘Formal’ formal do’s full of worthy, if occasionally boring, speeches. ‘Informal’ formal do’s, wine, food, dancing and laughter. Charity do’s and so on. At almost all of them someone, sometimes more than one will turn up in the full Scottish fig. They may be trying to be different, they may be trying to attract the attention of the gender of their choice (I’m an equal opportunities poster), OK, I can understand both of those motives. Nothing wrong with being different and which of us can say, hand on heart, that we have never ‘dressed to impress’.

If they were honest about their choice of dress that would be OK but it’s the pathetic, pseudo provenance they invoke as to their choice that is my bête noire. You know for a fact that kilt wearer ‘A’ whose surname is Ormeroyd or Hardcastle was born and has lived in Rochdale or Barnsley all his life as have his forefathers since fifteen hundred and frozen to death. He, himself, as one poster succinctly put in on another thread, couldn’t point to Scotland on a map of Great Britain. But because his middle Christian name is Sinclair or Gordon he claims some ridiculous connection to that country and its traditional costume. In such a case it simply becomes a form of fancy dress. The kilt itself, as I have said before is a fine and dashing form of attire For The Scots, (or Irish though you don’t see many Irishmen turning up for dinner in one). But not for some duck-egg from Duckinfield who thinks that the fact that his Aunty Mavis fell in love with Ivanhoe aged 13 makes him Scottish.

This is the point I was trying to get over in my previous ‘Scottish Skirmishes’ as you very delicately put it.

 

I must point out that I have, as far as I know, not one drop of Scottish blood in me but as I've said before, a man in a kilt ... My goodness, though, now we have the prospect of leather shorts too...

 

I myself, could make some far-fetched claim to being of the Celtic pursuasion as my surname begins with the magic ‘Mc’ though I would be from the other side of the Irish sea. At least that’s what I think, but as I know for sure that my grandfather and grandmother on both sides were born in England just what would be the point, I'm English and that's that.

Now where did I put that bowler.......? Allllthough, I have (or had) very blonde hair, blue eyes, and wear rimless spectacles ist it possible Ich bin Deutche? Alzo, ver is mine alpenstock und little hat mit das cute feder?

Multi-racial Gari

[moniquet]

I have been to weddings where the kilt has been worn. I knew them for years and their "Scottish" blood had never ever been mentioned. Great for the photos though.:)

[heywood]

Thank you Gari -much appreciated. :D

[heywood]

I have been to weddings where the kilt has been worn. I knew them for years and their "Scottish" blood had never ever been mentioned. Great for the photos though.:)

 

I do wonder why they do that .. but then again why dress to look like Prince Albert.. or is it Edward?

[Cruachan]

I myself, could make some far-fetched claim to being of the Celtic pursuasion as my surname begins with the magic ‘Mc’ though I would be from the other side of the Irish sea.

 

Indeed you can Gazza, indeed you can. After endless hours of research and, I might add, at no little personal expense, I have discovered just about everything we need to know about the Clan McGoun (and it's all come from the Internet, so it must be true). Here's the clan crest - I suggest you use it as your avatar from now on:

 

 

And here's the accompanying write up that gives you chapter and verse on the illustrious (and totally true) history of your famed clan:

 

"The surname of McGOUN was originally derived from the Gaelic Mac a Ghobhainn a name meaning 'the son of the smith'. The original bearers of the name would have been skilled workers in metals. They are said to be an old Stirlingshire family and the name is also found in Elgin and Galloway. Early records of the name in Scotland mention Gilbert Makgowin, a follower of the earl of Cassilis, 1526. John Riauch McGawin in Auchanichyke was fined for reset of Clan Gregor in 1613. (Reset meant receiving or concealing stolen goods). Willielmus M'Gawyne is recorded in Hauch in 1643. and Alexander M'Gowne was documented in Dumfries in 1672. Abraham M'Goune and Alexander McGowne, were residents of the parish of Borgue in 1684. It is possible that families of this name are descended from a king of the Strathclyde Britons, who was killed in the year 1018. The first people in Scotland to acquire fixed surnames were the nobles and great landowners, who called themselves, or were called by others, after the lands they possessed. Surnames originating in this way are known as territorial. Formerly lords of baronies and regalities and farmers were inclined to magnify their importance and to sign letters and documents with the names of their baronies and farms instead of their Christian names and surnames. The abuse of this style of speech and writing was carried so far that an Act was passed in the Scots parliament in 1672 forbidding the practice and declaring that it was allowed only to noblemen and bishops to subscribe by their titles. Most of the European surnames in countries such as England, Scotland and France were formed in the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries. The process had started somewhat earlier and had continued in some places into the 19th century, but the norm is that in the tenth and eleventh centuries people did not have surnames, whereas by the fifteenth century most of the population had acquired a second name. The name has many variant spellings which include MacGoun, and MacGown.

 

Arms registered at Skeoch, County Wigtown."

 

So, I suggest you get the little tartan skirt out and start wearing it to formal nights with immediate effect. With Scottish roots like yours there's really no alternative.

 

By the way, I haven't managed to unearth a tartan yet, but they're all invented anyway so just pick one you fancy.

 

J

[The Real PM]

Indeed you can Gazza, indeed you can. After endless hours of research and, I might add, at no little personal expense, I have discovered just about everything we need to know about the Clan McGoun (and it's all come from the Internet, so it must be true). Here's the clan crest - I suggest you use it as your avatar from now on:

 

 

And here's the accompanying write up that gives you chapter and verse on the illustrious (and totally true) history of your famed clan:

 

"The surname of McGOUN was originally derived from the Gaelic Mac a Ghobhainn a name meaning 'the son of the smith'. The original bearers of the name would have been skilled workers in metals. They are said to be an old Stirlingshire family and the name is also found in Elgin and Galloway. Early records of the name in Scotland mention Gilbert Makgowin, a follower of the earl of Cassilis, 1526. John Riauch McGawin in Auchanichyke was fined for reset of Clan Gregor in 1613. (Reset meant receiving or concealing stolen goods). Willielmus M'Gawyne is recorded in Hauch in 1643. and Alexander M'Gowne was documented in Dumfries in 1672. Abraham M'Goune and Alexander McGowne, were residents of the parish of Borgue in 1684. It is possible that families of this name are descended from a king of the Strathclyde Britons, who was killed in the year 1018. The first people in Scotland to acquire fixed surnames were the nobles and great landowners, who called themselves, or were called by others, after the lands they possessed. Surnames originating in this way are known as territorial. Formerly lords of baronies and regalities and farmers were inclined to magnify their importance and to sign letters and documents with the names of their baronies and farms instead of their Christian names and surnames. The abuse of this style of speech and writing was carried so far that an Act was passed in the Scots parliament in 1672 forbidding the practice and declaring that it was allowed only to noblemen and bishops to subscribe by their titles. Most of the European surnames in countries such as England, Scotland and France were formed in the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries. The process had started somewhat earlier and had continued in some places into the 19th century, but the norm is that in the tenth and eleventh centuries people did not have surnames, whereas by the fifteenth century most of the population had acquired a second name. The name has many variant spellings which include MacGoun, and MacGown.

 

Arms registered at Skeoch, County Wigtown."

 

So, I suggest you get the little tartan skirt out and start wearing it to formal nights with immediate effect. With Scottish roots like yours there's really no alternative.

 

By the way, I haven't managed to unearth a tartan yet, but they're all invented anyway so just pick one you fancy.

 

J

You should be quite happy with Mr Cruachan's findings about your heritage.

 

This is what he found out about mine.:eek:

 

Born sometime in the late 14th Century in East Lothian, the son of a ditch-digger and hedger, Alexander (Sawney) Bean is said to have been work-shy and dishonest. He married a woman as vicious and idle as himself and, being shunned by their neighbours, they moved to the West coast of Scotland and settled in a deep cave at Bennane Head, near Ballantrae (then Galloway, now South Ayrshire), where they lived for the next 25 years or so. It is reported that they had 14 children and that through incestuous relations the family eventually numbered some 48 people.

It appears that from the start it was Bean's plan to exist on the profits of robbery by ambushing travellers on the lonely narrow roads that connected the villages of the area. To avoid being identified and captured he murdered his victims, and from there it was a short step to using their bodies to provide food. The caves at Bennane were well suited for his purpose, with tunnels through solid rock extending for more than a mile in length. The family took good care to avoid all other residents of the sparsely populated area and it was never suspected that anyone lived there.

Not unnaturally the numbers of people disappearing accompanied by the washing up on shore of decayed body parts alarmed the country round about. The authorities concerned were forced to take steps and in fact several inn-keepers were accused and even executed on no more grounds than that travellers who had disappeared were known to have spent the night on their premises.

It was only when one man escaped and reported an attack which had cost the life of his wife, that a full-scale search for the ruthless killers was undertaken. The public outcry caused by the reports of these horrible events was such that King James I of Scotland (1394-1437) led a troop of some 400 soldiers accompanied by several bloodhounds. Following one the largest manhunts ever seen in Scotland, the tracker dogs, attracted by the scent of decaying flesh, led the soldiers to the cave entrance.

Following a short fight the vastly out-numbered Bean clan were arrested and the contents of the cave revealed. The horrific discovery of the remains of human bodies and evidence of cannibalism, along with the loot gathered from their robberies, was thought to render a trial unnecessary and the family were immediately taken in chains to Edinburgh for public execution.

Their execution was especially gruesome. The women of the clan were forced to watch while their men had their arms and legs cut off that they might bleed to death as so many of their victims had. The women were thereafter burned to death.

The traditional Scots1 'Ballad of Sawney Bean' documents the end of the Bean Clan:

They've hung them high in Edinburgh toon

An likewise a their kin

An the wind blaws cauld on a their banes

An tae hell they a hae gaen.

(Translation:

'They have hung them high in Edinburgh town

And likewise all their family

And the wind blows cold on all their bones

And to hell they all have gone

.')

[Lurker1]

RE: the last couple of posts.

I'm speechless. :eek:

Can't wait for Gari's response. :D

[Cruachan]

RE: the last couple of posts.

 

I'm speechless. :eek:

 

Can't wait for Gari's response. :D

 

You mean Garaidh McGoun?

 

J

[garigoun]

You mean Garaidh McGoun?

 

J

 

AAAAARRRRRGGGGHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!! I'm Scottish AAAAAAAARRRRGH!

 

Daddy how could you?

 

(Thinks: This is internet stuff, could it possibly be wrong? further research is essential)