ANGUS, THE LITTLE BOY WITH THE BIG (SHEEP’S) HEART

On our last day in Tobermory, aka Balamory (look it up on YouTube), we decided to just roam the town, buy some swag from our new favourite now-defunct foreign kids show, and partake of local customs.  Since we’d already played in the cemetery and checked out the boats in the rain, lunch under the clock tower was all that remained.

Fish was the only thing on the menu, sold from the Fishermen’s Pier Fresh Fish & Chips truck beside the tower.  Not surprisingly, the fresh fish shack was not yet open when we arrived (at noon, which is high time for a good meal for most people, I might add).  Once Fisherman opened his shack, a lineup formed instantaneously, and so I had the task of keeping the kids occupied while Trevor ‘queued up’. 

Luckily, there was Angus.  His mom had already purchased their fish meal and she parked herself next to us on the ledge of the clock tower where everyone and their cats came to eat and be friendly.  Young Angus refused to sit next to her, but invaded our space instead.  Shawn recognized him right away as a kindred spirit.

“What’s your name?” Shawn asked the little boy.  Angus was shy (or perhaps couldn’t understand our accent) so eventually his mom had to pipe up.  “Angus,” she said.

“Hi Haggis!  I’m Shawn,” my son chirped.

“His name is Angus,” I whispered to Shawn.

“Do you like cars, Haggis?”  Without waiting for an answer, Shawn burst into his best Finn McMissile persona, screeching noises and all, to impress his new friend.

For those of you who do not know what haggis is, it is a traditional Scottish dish made with sheep stomach and chopped up sheep’s and/or lamb’s heart and lungs.  It is much like ground hamburger meat, but more the consistency of Taco Bell.

Thankfully, the BBC Food Recipes website recommends cleaning and thoroughly scalding the stomach, and turning it inside out and soaking it overnight in cold, salted water before stuffing it with its neighbouring organs and the remaining ingredients, then boiling the whole sack for three hours.  Also, one must sew up the stomach sack with strong thread and prick it in a few places so it doesn’t explode with heat.

Back at the clock tower, I was horribly embarrassed.  I corrected Shawn over and over but he simply looked bemused at my petty ramblings on.  The next 20 minutes was a flurry of “Haggis , what country are you from?” “Haggis, do you want to splash through this puddle?” and “Hey, Daddy!  This boy’s three and his name is Haggis.”

I apologized to his mom.  She said nothing.  She was from Slovakia, had married a Scot and was now living in this country.  She told me Angus was learning her mother tongue but would go to Gaelic school next year.  With any luck, neither of them had any idea what Shawn was saying.

Eventually Angus and his mother said their goodbyes and headed off to their afternoon agenda.  Shawn and Annabeth continued to enjoy the lone puddle to survive the gorgeous sunny day, and I finished off the breaded fish and reflected upon our dinner at a pub the night before, when a Scottish couple had taken a liking to Shawn and the husband in particular had sat with him and took dictation while Shawn planned out a menu of his favourite foods.  When I dug out the menu, it all fell into place: bread and butter, peas and cucumbers, and Shawn’s newest friend, “Haggis.”

 

THIS POST IS STILL UNDER CONSTRUCTION

The colourful buildings of Tobermory...



Window shopping at such a young age!



Shawn took most of the photos of the colourful buildings. 



The clock tower where it all began.  No haggis in sight.

There he is!  In the grey sweat pants and sky-blue shirt!

Angus attempts to muscle in our fish.



 



Fresh fish!



 

Lobster traps at the pier in Tobermory, Island of Mull, Scotland.

We stayed at the hotel on the hill.  In the TV show Balamory, this hotel is depicted as a pink castle.  We were all a little disappointed to find it was just a beautiful hotel.

Low tide... 

Downtown Tobermory includes the church tower, the clock tower, the bell tower on the hill, etc.

Highland cows, known locally as "hairy coos," are the cutest darn bovines you ever did see.  :)



Fish time continues.



 

One needs a dose of this after driving the single-tracks roads on the island.



Photos from the ferry...



Approaching land.

A view of Duart Castle from the ferry.

 

We bought this book in Tobermory.  It is the story of a bear...

...that gets picked up by a seagull and flown from his home on an island, over the mainland town of Oban wear you catch all the ferries to the islands...

...far, far away to Edinborough...

...and hung out to dry on Tobermory (see our clock tower in the distance)...

...after having sunk to the bottom of the sea in and amongst all the CRAZY-SHAPED seaweed and kelp that eventually washes up on the beaches and looks like something straight out of 1975 Dr. Who...

...because the kids who own him forgot him on the beach (that is right against the farm of cows, that is surrounded by a stone wall)...

...after they have been building him a castle with flags of the many countries to which the early Scots immigrated.

Annabeth can pick out our hotel on the top of the hill when we read this book.  :-)

This is Hackus, one of the newest Happy Meal Smurfs.  Bet you can guess what Shawn and Annabeth call him.

(stay tuned for photos of Shawn’s menu).