As it’s Burn’s Night tonight, celebrating Scottish poet Rabbie (Robert) Burns, we thought we’d have a bit of fun. One of Burns’ most famous poems is Tam o’ Shanter, published in 1791. Tam is a farmer, from Ayr on the West coast of Scotland, who has a grey mare called Meg – a suitable theme for us!  Read on…

 

Tam likes going to the nearby town pub to get drunk with his friends, which upsets his wife waiting at home. The poem tells the story of a typical late night of drinking after market day at the town. As Tam rides Meg home, he is distracted by the sight of witches and warlocks dancing in the town’s haunted churchyard! He calls out to one, and they chase Tam and Meg in a fury. Tam rushes to reach the bridge over the River Doon (Brig o’ Doon) as he knows witches and warlocks won’t cross running water;

 

‘Now, do thy speedy utmost, Meg, And win the key-stane o’ the brig;

 

They make it *almost* in one piece, but at the last second poor Meg loses her tail! 

 

Read the full poem by clicking here

See famous paintings of Meg and Tam o’ Shanter, by Scottish artist Alexander Goudie, click here

 

More ‘tails’ – Muirfield Riding Therapy pony tails!

Thankfully all our ponies’ tails are in tact!  But can you guess which tails in the image above belong to which of our ponies?  If you need a bit of help, take a look at the videos of our ponies on our YouTube Channel or find out more information about our ponies here , then, just for fun, head over to our Facebook page and add your guesses in the comments. We’ll confirm the right answers at the end of the day.