I reckon it's at least 40 years since I last had Irn Bru, and I can only vaguely remember what it tasted like. I don't imagine the addition of raspberry ripple would be an improvement though!
I was wondering if the drink was Victorian or Edwardian. It's the latter: in its present form it was launched on Monday 15th April 1901 whereas VR died on 22nd January.
A uni friend who came up last year for a week's holiday in Dumfries and Galloway, and her first Facebook post on her holiday was an exclamation that the Lidl (in, IIRC Gretna) had five varieties of Irn-Bru as though this was somehow unusual.
Not bad, does need to be cold though, definitely reminiscent of old fashioned not at all fancy tubs of simple supermarket raspberry ripple ice-cream (in a good way). I reckon it might be quite good for an Irn Bru float.
An unrelated question for any current or past Weegies…
Is anyone familiar with St George’s Tron, specifically its Sunday “Cafe Church” service at 12?
What’s it like, and would I & wee dog be welcome if we turned up some Sunday (their cafe is dog-friendly, we’ve been there on a weekday, and I’m 90% sure i read there that their services are too)?
Is it the sort of place we’d have to grit our teeth and ignore rants about LGBTQ+ people and stuff, or is it quite a varied bunch of people just trying to live their lives?
Is that the surviving Kirk congregation or the breakaway Tron Church? If the latter I would run and don't look back. The former, from what I've heard, are fine.
Their website seems to include recordings of sermons which should give you an indication of what you're likely to hear preached. Though the views of the congregation and what they might say over coffee could be different from what's preached from the pulpit.
I had a skim over their latest one, it seemed nice. I am a bit swayed the other way by having messaged during the week through their website “contact” option to check if doggo coming with is ok (like I said, I’m almost sure it is), but not having heard anything back despite their site’s warm encouraging of contacting them.
We might take a toddle over there next week though.
I was a wee bit sceptical about the start time at St Pete's (9:30), but I actually don't find it too much of a bind (partly because I only have to go across the road), and there's something to be said for having the rest of the day to yourself from about 11 am.
If I do go along, could I do a Mystery Worshipper report?
I don’t see one for there when I search through, and I see it’s still a thing - or should I ask about that in Ecclesiantics?
I’m considering going tomorrow, so might be short notice if there’s a MW exam to pass 😬
Thank you - not sure how I missed that.
I vaguely remember it from years ago I think.
Ah, might be a bit soon for tomorrow, although I guess I could do a report then apply and if accepted submit it then?
It’s nice, isn’t it? Nothing too fancy, just simple stuff done well. I was surprised (and pleased) to find out it’s dog-friendly too.
The church replied to a Messenger message (apparently the inbox for their web contact form isn’t much monitored much (begs the question why have it then?!). Their Sunday services are indeed all dog-friendly.
It’s nice, isn’t it? Nothing too fancy, just simple stuff done well. I was surprised (and pleased) to find out it’s dog-friendly too.
The church replied to a Messenger message (apparently the inbox for their web contact form isn’t much monitored much (begs the question why have it then?!). Their Sunday services are indeed all dog-friendly.
How did you get on @luvanddaisies ? Enquiring minds need to know...
On a related subject, it seems that Scotland is generally less religiously-inclined than ever these days:
I'm fairly sure that my Parish church was partially built with slavery money. It was built in 1819, on the site of the previous medieval church whose roof had become unsafe.
At the time, one of the wealthiest families in the village was getting money sent home from relatives in Antigua. There were donations to the Poor Fund coming directly from slavery money; I think donations to building the church may have come through those living in the village, so slightly more indirect.
We have an elaborate white marble memorial to late C18th slave owners, which was taken down in the 1950s and has been stored in the boiler room ever since. We have gravestones, which have an "and also their children (list of names) died in Antigua."
There's hardly any large building in Aberdeen which did not benefit from slavery money - Aberdeen Royal Infirmary, Aberdeen Grammar School, Aberdeen University.
Wealthy families intermarried and had complicated wills. I did some research last year into Alexander Gordon, who discovered the cause of puerperal fever. There are plans for a memorial. His wife and daughter both inherited money from a slave-owning uncle; does that taint him? The uncle left numerous bequests, some to relatives who were members of the clergy.
It's a massively complicated subject. About 5 years ago, our church was keen to do something by way of reparation, but we're a small rural church. The plan was to have a coffee morning, which would normally raise around £300. But we couldn't work out which organisation in Antigua would be the appropriate recipient. We shelved the idea due to Covid and haven't revisited it.
I think the issue of reparations is distinct from the issue of acknowledgment of wrongdoing. I think the wee frees might well have cause to meditate on the prayer of repentance of Nehemiah - not only repenting of his own sins but those of all Israel and his own ancestors.
I’ve been off the boards for a while, but came back on to say that one of the churches I used to serve is now listed for sale. The listing on the CofS website has beautiful pictures of it, showing it is still well-kept. Indeed it is still well-attended, but it has no plumbing so the decision was made on high that is must close. There is a long list of things it could be used for (it is surrounded by a graveyard right up to the door, so housing is not one of them) including theatre, library, nursery, crèche and all of them would need plumbing. The lack of plumbing is not mentioned. It would not be good for any of these uses, really. What it is good for is sitting quietly and knowing the presence of God. What it is good for is worship.
Yes, I’m finding this all very painful, and am glad that certain beloved friends have not lived to see this day. This was a place of laughter and tears, of community and prayer and it still is, it is not dead or even moribund. I am so glad I am no longer in ministry. I could not be there to do this thing. Pray for ministers and other officials who do have to go along with these terrible closures. The pressure from on high is not just to abide by the decisions that are passed down, but to put a positive spin on them, to help people see them as God’s best plan. And it is that pressure which is killing, and why I am no longer in ministry but running a stately home art gallery.
It’s good to “see” you, @Cathscats, but I’m so sorry it’s with such sad and painful news. It’s hard to see what’s happening in the Church of Scotland, and if it’s hard for me on this side of the Atlantic, I can only imagine what it’s like for you and others directly affected by these decisions (especially when the decisions are being imposed from above). Prayers for all who grieve.
Yes indeed. It's a charming, lovely building. As you say, the lack of plumbing (and the B listing) are hardly going to make it attractive to potential purchasers, despite the low price. And, as is stated in a newsletter, the congregation have managed without "facilities" for many years - as indeed would be the case in many rural Anglican churches in England.
Is there any possibility that the congregation itself could buy the building and continue to worship there? Or some "anonymous benefactor" who could buy it for them to use?
@Baptist Trainfan if they did that they would have to leave the CofS. In my opinion that would not be the worst thing in the world, but it would, at least in appearance, set them against the neighbouring church, with whose parish they were united several years ago. There is no bad feeling between the communities at present, and a lot of working together, so it would be better not to ruin that! The best hope would be that no one buys it at the asking price, so that a local heritage group, who are interested, could buy it at a reduced price. They would then make it an information centre while still keeping it useable for weddings, funerals etc.
My husband, who is on a no-longer one man mission to save the better organs in churches which are being closed, has already been on to the fabric convener about possible homes for the little chamber organ if there is a change of use which would mean gutting the interior.
@Baptist Trainfan if they did that they would have to leave the CofS. In my opinion that would not be the worst thing in the world, but it would, at least in appearance, set them against the neighbouring church, with whose parish they were united several years ago. There is no bad feeling between the communities at present, and a lot of working together, so it would be better not to ruin that! The best hope would be that no one buys it at the asking price, so that a local heritage group, who are interested, could buy it at a reduced price. They would then make it an information centre while still keeping it useable for weddings, funerals etc.
Yes indeed. It's a charming, lovely building. As you say, the lack of plumbing (and the B listing) are hardly going to make it attractive to potential purchasers, despite the low price. And, as is stated in a newsletter, the congregation have managed without "facilities" for many years - as indeed would be the case in many rural Anglican churches in England.
Is there any possibility that the congregation itself could buy the building and continue to worship there? Or some "anonymous benefactor" who could buy it for them to use?
We're looking at (among other things) forming a separate trust to buy our building, particularly now Presbytery are making noises about not demanding market value on sales for community purposes, if we can come up with a viable plan for weekday use. Childcare is high on the agenda.
We're looking at (among other things) forming a separate trust to buy our building, particularly now Presbytery are making noises about not demanding market value on sales for community purposes.
Is that legal? In England and Wales the Charity Commission require such assets to be sold off for their maximum (i.e. market) value without reference to the use they will be put. Perhaps Scottish law is different.
We're looking at (among other things) forming a separate trust to buy our building, particularly now Presbytery are making noises about not demanding market value on sales for community purposes.
Is that legal? In England and Wales the Charity Commission require such assets to be sold off for their maximum (i.e. market) value without reference to the use they will be put. Perhaps Scottish law is different.
I think the fact that it would still be available for public worship might be key.
We were at the final service at a rural church a few weeks ago. There was a lot of interest when it went on the market for, I think, £50,000. However, its water supply comes from a local spring; enough for a toilet, and for cups of tea, and washing up cups and plates, but anyone wanting to turn it into a home with such esoteric luxuries as a shower or washing machine would have to spend a lot of money on an upgrade.
It is surrounded not only by a graveyard, but also has its own splendid stone circle. It would be ideal for some sort of heritage centre, although again I would imagine that a heritage centre would want to include a cafe. And a cafe might want a dishwasher.... We await with interest its future.
The nearest church from it is only 4 miles away, and has actual plumbing, so it was not difficult to see why the C of S decided to close it and sell it off.
In two weeks time we'll be attending another final service for a rural church which is being sold off. It's in a better situation as it's on one side of a road, with the graveyard immediately opposite on the other side of the road. I don't know whether it has a reliable water supply!
We're looking at (among other things) forming a separate trust to buy our building, particularly now Presbytery are making noises about not demanding market value on sales for community purposes.
Is that legal? In England and Wales the Charity Commission require such assets to be sold off for their maximum (i.e. market) value without reference to the use they will be put. Perhaps Scottish law is different.
I think the fact that it would still be available for public worship might be key.
In England and Wales that wouldn't come into it, I'm afraid.
We're looking at (among other things) forming a separate trust to buy our building, particularly now Presbytery are making noises about not demanding market value on sales for community purposes.
Is that legal? In England and Wales the Charity Commission require such assets to be sold off for their maximum (i.e. market) value without reference to the use they will be put. Perhaps Scottish law is different.
I think the fact that it would still be available for public worship might be key.
In England and Wales that wouldn't come into it, I'm afraid.
I'm sure there are ways - I'm aware of a town centre church in England that was sold to a housing association for £1; the quid (if you'll pardon the pun) pro quo there was that the local council agreed to make land available for a new church.
On the off chance that there is anyone left in Scotland yet to see this... personally I am delighted that Barrs think, like me, that the German for team sounds very dodgy indeed, though that may just be because I have a mind like a badly maintained septic tank https://twitter.com/i/status/1796496913304342799
Mannschaft can indeed, as I understand it and as my dictionary t confirms, be translated as team or crew. But yes, it also lends itself to certain opportunities for puns in English.
@Nick Tamen Irn Bru has a long history of adverts which sail close to the wind. And if some of them get banned, and end up going viral - well, that's a win for Irn Bru.
They had a great series of adverts under the strapline "Irn Bru gets you through" in which people were able to smooth over awkward situations by drinking Irn Bru (bad blind date / coming home and finding your parents in flagrante / discovering your wife wants to name your daughter Fanny after her granny etc etc).
If there's a dodgy pun, like Mannschaft, to be found, Irn Bru advertising department will find it.
Ah, Fanny, a fine Victorian name ! My village in Essex spawned the splendidly gynaecological Fanny Ruffle (you can look her up, she married Alfred Barnard, the first whisky writer).
I remember being stopped in my tracks by a picture of a Jersey cow with the slogan "When I'm a burger I want to be washed down with Irn Bru". I believe the same campaign had an elderly chap with two labradors and the slogan "I like Irn Bru and so do my bitches".
So yes, as NEQ says, they like to sail close to the wind!
If there's a dodgy pun, like Mannschaft, to be found, Irn Bru advertising department will find it.
My kind of advertising!
Thanks for the additional info, which doesn’t surprise me, but delights me. I was just responding to @Stercus Tauri’s “dodgy,” which I read—quite possibly incorrectly, given the late hour at which I was posting—as questioning whether they were essentially making up with how Mannschaft can be translated to start with.
Comments
So am I, although I like the No Sugar "Extra" version. I see there's a "1901" version, I wonder what that's like?
Hmm. Probably a bit sour by now...
I'll see meself out.
My offspring really like the 1901 version.
I'll join BF in seeing myself out ...
My late Ma lived (and died) in Scotland - not far from Dumfries, as it happens - but there was no Irn Bru at her funeral.
There was, however, a copious supply of WHISKY...I know this, as I had my fair share of it...
Not bad, does need to be cold though, definitely reminiscent of old fashioned not at all fancy tubs of simple supermarket raspberry ripple ice-cream (in a good way). I reckon it might be quite good for an Irn Bru float.
An unrelated question for any current or past Weegies…
Is anyone familiar with St George’s Tron, specifically its Sunday “Cafe Church” service at 12?
What’s it like, and would I & wee dog be welcome if we turned up some Sunday (their cafe is dog-friendly, we’ve been there on a weekday, and I’m 90% sure i read there that their services are too)?
Is it the sort of place we’d have to grit our teeth and ignore rants about LGBTQ+ people and stuff, or is it quite a varied bunch of people just trying to live their lives?
We might take a toddle over there next week though.
It looks as though the 12 noon Cafe Church is their principal (if not their only) Sunday service. A most civilised hour IMNSHO...
I don’t see one for there when I search through, and I see it’s still a thing - or should I ask about that in Ecclesiantics?
I’m considering going tomorrow, so might be short notice if there’s a MW exam to pass 😬
I vaguely remember it from years ago I think.
Ah, might be a bit soon for tomorrow, although I guess I could do a report then apply and if accepted submit it then?
The church replied to a Messenger message (apparently the inbox for their web contact form isn’t much monitored much (begs the question why have it then?!). Their Sunday services are indeed all dog-friendly.
How did you get on @luvanddaisies ? Enquiring minds need to know...
On a related subject, it seems that Scotland is generally less religiously-inclined than ever these days:
https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/article/2024/may/21/majority-of-people-in-scotland-do-not-believe-in-any-religion-census-shows
Shipmates who are members of the Church of Scotland have said on these boards many times that these are Dark Days for the Kirk.
Sorry to hear you weren't well - I sort of know the feeling, as fatigue and side-effects hit me, too, sometimes.
Better luck this Sunday!
https://www.theguardian.com/world/article/2024/may/23/free-church-of-scotland-under-fire-for-failure-to-apologise-over-slavery-money
It's a thorny thicket, of course, and the Free Church (O! the irony of the name!) is by no means the only offender, in Scotland or anywhere else.
Is this the denomination of which Kate Forbes is a member?
At the time, one of the wealthiest families in the village was getting money sent home from relatives in Antigua. There were donations to the Poor Fund coming directly from slavery money; I think donations to building the church may have come through those living in the village, so slightly more indirect.
We have an elaborate white marble memorial to late C18th slave owners, which was taken down in the 1950s and has been stored in the boiler room ever since. We have gravestones, which have an "and also their children (list of names) died in Antigua."
There's hardly any large building in Aberdeen which did not benefit from slavery money - Aberdeen Royal Infirmary, Aberdeen Grammar School, Aberdeen University.
Wealthy families intermarried and had complicated wills. I did some research last year into Alexander Gordon, who discovered the cause of puerperal fever. There are plans for a memorial. His wife and daughter both inherited money from a slave-owning uncle; does that taint him? The uncle left numerous bequests, some to relatives who were members of the clergy.
It's a massively complicated subject. About 5 years ago, our church was keen to do something by way of reparation, but we're a small rural church. The plan was to have a coffee morning, which would normally raise around £300. But we couldn't work out which organisation in Antigua would be the appropriate recipient. We shelved the idea due to Covid and haven't revisited it.
Yes, I’m finding this all very painful, and am glad that certain beloved friends have not lived to see this day. This was a place of laughter and tears, of community and prayer and it still is, it is not dead or even moribund. I am so glad I am no longer in ministry. I could not be there to do this thing. Pray for ministers and other officials who do have to go along with these terrible closures. The pressure from on high is not just to abide by the decisions that are passed down, but to put a positive spin on them, to help people see them as God’s best plan. And it is that pressure which is killing, and why I am no longer in ministry but running a stately home art gallery.
Is there any possibility that the congregation itself could buy the building and continue to worship there? Or some "anonymous benefactor" who could buy it for them to use?
My husband, who is on a no-longer one man mission to save the better organs in churches which are being closed, has already been on to the fabric convener about possible homes for the little chamber organ if there is a change of use which would mean gutting the interior.
We're looking at (among other things) forming a separate trust to buy our building, particularly now Presbytery are making noises about not demanding market value on sales for community purposes, if we can come up with a viable plan for weekday use. Childcare is high on the agenda.
I think the fact that it would still be available for public worship might be key.
We were at the final service at a rural church a few weeks ago. There was a lot of interest when it went on the market for, I think, £50,000. However, its water supply comes from a local spring; enough for a toilet, and for cups of tea, and washing up cups and plates, but anyone wanting to turn it into a home with such esoteric luxuries as a shower or washing machine would have to spend a lot of money on an upgrade.
It is surrounded not only by a graveyard, but also has its own splendid stone circle. It would be ideal for some sort of heritage centre, although again I would imagine that a heritage centre would want to include a cafe. And a cafe might want a dishwasher.... We await with interest its future.
The nearest church from it is only 4 miles away, and has actual plumbing, so it was not difficult to see why the C of S decided to close it and sell it off.
In two weeks time we'll be attending another final service for a rural church which is being sold off. It's in a better situation as it's on one side of a road, with the graveyard immediately opposite on the other side of the road. I don't know whether it has a reliable water supply!
In England and Wales that wouldn't come into it, I'm afraid.
I'm sure there are ways - I'm aware of a town centre church in England that was sold to a housing association for £1; the quid (if you'll pardon the pun) pro quo there was that the local council agreed to make land available for a new church.
https://twitter.com/i/status/1796496913304342799
They had a great series of adverts under the strapline "Irn Bru gets you through" in which people were able to smooth over awkward situations by drinking Irn Bru (bad blind date / coming home and finding your parents in flagrante / discovering your wife wants to name your daughter Fanny after her granny etc etc).
If there's a dodgy pun, like Mannschaft, to be found, Irn Bru advertising department will find it.
I remember being stopped in my tracks by a picture of a Jersey cow with the slogan "When I'm a burger I want to be washed down with Irn Bru". I believe the same campaign had an elderly chap with two labradors and the slogan "I like Irn Bru and so do my bitches".
So yes, as NEQ says, they like to sail close to the wind!
Thanks for the additional info, which doesn’t surprise me, but delights me. I was just responding to @Stercus Tauri’s “dodgy,” which I read—quite possibly incorrectly, given the late hour at which I was posting—as questioning whether they were essentially making up with how Mannschaft can be translated to start with.