Rabbie Burns?

Chinese Whisky is apparently now as good as Scotch Whisky ; China's Li Na and Scotland's Andrew Murray both came 2nd at the Australian Open; and this weekend falls smack in the middle of Burns's  birthday (25th Jan) and the Chinese New Year (Feb 3rd) .  And as if that isn't spooky enough for you:  It's going to be the year of the RABBIT - which is how Chinese people pronounce ROBERT .

The link between all these ChinoScottish (dis)connects is clearly and unequivocally The Mustard Seed  in Faringdon - but to explain HOW and WHY is beyond the bounds of this simple email.  Douglas Adams puts it very simply : "When you try to take a cat apart to see how it works then what you get is a non-working cat" .

So:  Sorry.  There's not going to be a full-blown explanation of all the Holistic links in this email . We don't want non-working cats.

But - at LEAST we can list just a couple of the reasons why Rabbie Burns would have been a Frequent Shopper (with a Loyalty Card) at the Mustard Seed :

•  - Rabbie's Birthday is the SECOND most celebrated birthday on the Planet (guess who's first! ) 
•  - Rabbie  - like most Scots - had an eye for a bargain.  Then  - at the age of 29, the Poacher turned into Gamekeeper and he became an Exciseman (preventer of smuggled & untaxed goods).  Quoting from a letter to his uncle <make sure you read this out in broad Scots!>  "Previously - I WAS engaged in the smuggling trade, and God knows if ever any poor man experienced better returns — two for one! — but now I am thinking of taking out a license and beginning in fair trade.' 

Is this the earliest reference (1788) to "Fair Trade" that we can find ?   (There's a challenge for you ! )  

And Rabbie's BOGOF reference of "two for one" is also a wistful observation of his partner's propensity to give birth to twins.....  

Burns's poetry (when it wasn't about women's breasts! ) was very radical; and strongly supported the underdog and the dispossessed. 

He most certainly would have wanted to banish UNfair trade - and would have applauded our wholehearted support for the Mustard Seed :  

For a' that an' a' that
It's coming yet for a' that
That man to man, the world o'er
Shall brithers be for a' that