NAE LUCK ABOOT THE HOOSE

Good Tuesday morning

Today, I’m taking a trip down memory lane to my maternal grandparents’ and great-grandparents’ time. What a pleasure it is to look back on that wonderful time.

Our family has strong Scottish roots and as children we enjoyed so many days of cooking up wonderful dishes and evenings of piano recitals with singalongs of Scottish hymns and folk songs. It was a special time, one often now lost among the technological time in which we live.

My childhood was steeped in Scottish tradition, from one of my grandpa’s favourite sayings, which was actually a Scottish country song and a famous Scottish country dance, “There's Nae Luck Aboot The Hoose”, to the always-filled jars of crunchies.

Crunchies

My first dance lessons were Scottish tap dancing when I was about five, also known as Highland dancing (Gaelic: dannsa Gàidhealach). I loved it and became quite good at it. Sadly, when our family moved from Durban up to Johannesburg for a few years, I couldn’t continue. I still love watching young people enjoying their Highland dancing.

Here’s a page with a piece of the sheet music as well as a bit of history about the song:  

https://engole.info/theres-nae-luck-aboot-the-hoose/

There’s Nae Luck Aboot The Hoose

	“There’s Nae Luck Aboot the Hoose”, Kathleen McKellar Ferguson
	“Up and Waur Them A’ ”, Battlefield Band

“There’s Nae Luck Aboot the Hoose” is a song by the Scottish poet Jean Adam, set to the music of “Up an’ Waur Them A’ ”.^[1][a] Her fellow poet Robert Burns described it as “one of the most beautiful songs in the Scots, or any other language”.

The subject of the song is the excitement, relief and frenetic activity when the master of the house – the “gudeman” – returns from a long sea journey.That must have been a familiar emotion to Jean as a child, as her father was a mariner and her grandfather a shipmaster.

Notes
a	The subject of “Up an’ Waur Them A’ ” is thought to be a summoning of the Highland clans in preparation for the Battle of Sherrifmuir (1715), an inconclusive encounter in the first Jacobite rebellion.[1]

If you’d like to know a bit more, this site gives the words and the dance sequences for There’s Nae Luck Aboot The Hoose: https://www.scottish-country-dancing-dictionary.com/theres-nae-luck-aboot-the-house.html

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SCOTTISH CRUNCHIES

On to the yummies. Any recipes I share are tried and tested by me so I can vouch for them. If there are any errors, please let me know and I’ll check the recipe again.

I didn’t ever have the privilege of meeting my great-grandmother but was blessed to have my gran nearby for most of my childhood years until I was 17. She was a major influence in my life although, as children do, I didn’t appreciate how much until many years later.

Here’s my great-grandy’s 1800s recipe for Scottish crunchies. They are delicious and such a quick and easy (and healthy – yes, pure sugar is healthy in moderation) anytime snack. I've added centimetres and Celsius for ease).

CRUNCHIES

Ingredients (1)

2 cups rolled oats (or quick oats)
¾ cup sugar
1 cup flour
1 cup desiccated coconut

Method

Mix all these dry ingredients in a decent-sized basin.

Ingredients (2)

½ cup butter
2 tablespoons (TBS) golden syrup (I have a recipe for golden syrup if not available where you live)
1 teaspoon (tsp) bicarbonate of soda

Method

Melt butter and syrup together in a medium pot
When melted, add the bicarbonate of soda (it expands a lot so use a good-size pot)

Add the melted ingredients to the dry ingredients and stir together well
Place in a dish 11” x 14” (27.94 x 35.56 cm)
Bake for 20 mins in oven preheated to 350ºF (175ºC)
Cut while hot but leave in dish until cool