On our last night at Glencoe we had the special treat of being serenaded into the dining room by a kilted man playing bagpipes – we felt like Scottish royalty!  The man continued to entertain by introducing our starter by performing Robert Burns 200 year old “Address to A Haggis” which involves him parading a plate of haggis around the room, then reciting Robbie’s poem that extolls the virtues of this peasant dish, complete with flourishes and emotion.  At the end he stabs it with a steely knife before drinking a toast of whisky to its noble fate of becoming our dinner’s 1st course.  It was all a bit beyond us Canadians but we enjoyed the show!

After dinner our hike leaders, who are all volunteers BTW,  put on a Ceilidh, (“kaylee”) for us consisting of dancing, singing and humorous poetry.  It was a blast!  The dances were all old-fashioned square dancing-type which everyone was horrible at which made it hilarious to both attempt and observe.  The singing was a participatory affair, and the two poems were offered by fellow guests and had us all in stitches.  We couldn’t believe it when 11pm rolled around and it was all at an end.  We thoroughly enjoyed the whole HF experience, despite the rain, and are even thinking of trying a different location next year.