Barbie the Bruce

Barbie the Bruce

We all love to watch the highland dancers with their beautiful kilts and ghillie-shod feet.  I also like the intricate patterns and figures of Scottish country dancing.  The progressive dances are particularly interesting because the dancers repeat the formations but from different positions.  For people like me with left/right issues this is amazing. 

There is a legend told of the Scottish king, Robert the Bruce.  It is probably apocryphal but it's a good story.  He was hiding in a cave, on the run from the English.  He watched a spider trying to spin a web between two rocks.  The spider was very ambitious and initially failed to span the distance.  It tried again and again until it succeeded.  Robert took heart from this and rode into battle once more.  He was ultimately crowned King of Scotland.

I wonder if the people of Scotland who favour independence will try again.

It took me seven tries to write this.