WELCOME TO An Entertainment Site for Scottish Country Dancers - Enjoy the curated selection of theme-related dances for celebrations and holidays, or find a dance associated with a special calendar day, or EVEN your own birthday!
International Beer Day
Aug 2
Other Scottish Country Dances for this Day
Today's Musings, History & Folklore
"Leeze me on drink! it gies us mair
Than either school or college;
It kindles wit, it waukens lear,
It pangs us fou o' knowledge:
Be't whisky-gill or penny wheep,
Or ony stronger potion,
It never fails, or drinkin deep,
To kittle up our notion."
~Robert Burns, "Holy Fair," 1785
Are you a cerevisaphile? A beer, ale, or lager lover or enthusiast? Well then, you're in good company with poet Robert Burns! This beer lover's jig will be achievable by dancers even after a pint or two with chases, circles, and reels! Rabbie's drinking and writing habits were interestingly merged as his fortunes waxed and waned. A team from the University of Glasgow has determined that Burns, who was known to make his own ink, using the dregs of his stale beer along with carbonized ivory, lard, and sulphuric acid as the main ingredients in an ink known as “Ivory Black’! Toast your fellow dancers today with a pint of your choice! Cheers and Slainte! 🍺 🍺 🍺
Pint O' Ale is Fain
International Beer Day was started in Santa Cruz, California in 2007 by four enthusiasts and now is celebrated all over the world.
From lager, ale, porter, to stout, all the various styles, flavours, and colours have their devoted adherents.
The subject is too vast for canvassing, so pour yourself a glass to these interesting facts:
A beer lover or enthusiast is called a cerevisaphile.
In the Assassin's Creed Syndicate video game, released in 2015, there is a cerevisaphile achievement award that can be obtained by searching Victorian London to sample 20 vintage beers:
Whitechapel - Leaping Fox Lager, Merlin & Arthur Imperial Stout, Red Growler
Lambeth - Thames Brewery Pale Ale, The Blind Goose
Southwark - Big Bastard Ale, Robert Barnaby & Co Amber Ale
Westminster - E. Smith & Sons Pale Ale, Sons of Adam Irish Stout, Bryan's Renegade, His Lordship's Dinner Ale
The Strand - Bazalgette's Respite, Balfour & Barrett Vienna Beer, Doctor Garrett's Ale, R White's Table Ale
City of London - The Mariner Lager, Gunn & Sons Scotch Ale, Her Majesty's London Porter, Frye & Frye, Double Stout
Centuries ago in England, pub visitors used a novel innovation that enabled them to get their beer served quickly. They used mugs with a whistle baked into the rim, the whistle being used to summon the barmaid. It has been suggested this practice gave birth to the phrase “wet your whistle.”
And for those who prefer their beer in unusual incarnations, click the picture for a recipe for Chocolate Belgian Ale Pull-Apart Breakfast Loaf!
Click the dance cribs or description below to link to a printable version of the dance!
