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Wednesday, January 25th, 2006 07:48 pm
Title: Burns
Author: Mer
Pairing: None
Rating: G
Disclaimer: House, Wilson et al, are not mine,
Warnings: A distinct lack of plot and the quoting of 18th century poetry
Summary: Happy Burns Day
Author’s Notes: My toast to the Immortal Memory. Quotes from “To a Mouse,” “The Selkirk Grace,“ “Green grow the rashes, O!” and “A Red, Red Rose.” My own Wilson ancestors did immigrate to Derry, New Hampshire in roughly 1720 along with the Archibalds, Taylors, and Fishers, with whom they intermarried to a disturbing extent.


“Wee sleekit, cow’rin, tim’rous beastie,
O, what a panic’s in thy breastie!”


The three diagnostics fellows looked up in surprise at the strange words spoken by the Head of Oncology. James Wilson strode into the boardroom, an expansive smile on his face and a tartan tie around his neck. He dropped a paper bag on the conference table in the diagnostics boardroom. “Happy Burns Day,” he proclaimed.

“If that’s haggis, I’ll kill you,” Greg House warned, suspiciously eyeing the bag as he limped into the room. “Cuddy would even help me bury the body.”

“Haggis?”

Wilson turned a shocked gaze on the questioner. “Allison. You’re a Cameron and you don’t know what haggis is? Shameful.”

Allison Cameron rolled her eyes. “You’re Jewish.”

“The Wilsons have Scots connections. We were border reivers.” His enthusiasm flagged a bit at the lack of encouragement. “My ancestors were sent to Ulster as part of the Plantation and immigrated to New Hampshire in the early 1700s.” His voice faded away along with the rest of their interest. “I brought scones,” he said hopefully.

House snatched the bag up before the others had a chance to investigate. “From the bakery on Witherspoon?” He opened the bag and breathed deeply. “You’re a prince among men, Wilson.” He handed a freshly baked fruit scone to everybody, rapping Chase on the shin with his cane when he started to take a bite. “Grace first.” He nodded at Wilson, who had regained his earlier cheer and struck a dramatic pose.

“Some hae meat and canna eat
And same wad eat that want it
But we hae meat, and we can eat,
And sae the Lord be thank it.”


“We na hae meat here,” Foreman observed.

“So literal,” House scolded. “You have to think in poetic terms.” He turned to Wilson and raised a warning eyebrow. “Not you, though. Your marriage is in enough trouble without you floating about quoting Burns to the nurses.”

A dreamy smile tugged at Wilson’s lips.

“The sweetest hours that e’er I spend
Are spent among the lasses, O.”


“Stop it,” House ordered. “Not in front of the children.”

It was like throwing gasoline on fire. Wilson sat down at the table across from Cameron and leaned forward, looking soulfully into her eyes.

“O, my luve is like a red, red rose,
That's newly sprung in June.
O, my luve is like a melodie,
That's sweetly play'd in tune.”


House growled and Cameron blushed. Chase looked as though he wanted to take notes.

”As fair art thou, my bonie lass,
So deep in luve am I,
And I will luve thee still, my dear,
Till a' the seas gang dry.”


Wilson stood up abruptly and walked over to the window looking out onto the balcony, still quoting softly.

”Till a' the seas gang dry, my dear,
And the rocks melt wi the sun!
And I will luve thee still, my dear,
While the sands o life shall run.”


House heard the regret in his voice and knew another divorce was looming on the horizon. He picked up the final verse, joining Wilson at the window.

”And fare thee weel, my only luve!
And fare thee weel, a while!
And I will come again, my luve,
Tho it were ten thousand mile!”


He bumped shoulders with Wilson, who shrugged and jammed his hands into the pockets of his lab coat. They stood silently, looking out at the grey January sky, words written two centuries before hanging heavily in the air. “I’ve got a bottle of Talisker in my office,” Wilson said finally. “Come by later for a drink.” He managed a bright smile for House’s team and left, his step not quite as jaunty as when he’d arrived.

House stared out the window a moment longer, caught in the immortal memory.
Tags:
Thursday, January 26th, 2006 04:18 am (UTC)
You have NO idea how happy this fic makes me. I mean, I was so excited for Burns day, I dreamed about someone playing "scotland the brave" with an electric pencil sharpener. And bagpipes on the radio, but the sharpener bit is more entertaining. *goes off to do a ghillie calum sans sword or music or ghillies for that matter* *wishes the dorm cafeteria had served haggis (I will make them do it next year, or I will by a tin of it myself!) instead of breadbowls*
Thursday, January 26th, 2006 04:21 am (UTC)
Entertaining. Plus NH was mentioned, I went to college very close to Derry.
Thursday, January 26th, 2006 01:24 pm (UTC)
So much luve! This is brillliant! I can't believe that after 4 or 5 years of knife waving and haggis stabbing, I forgot to celebrate Burns Night this year. Thanks for this little celebration.
Thursday, January 26th, 2006 06:04 pm (UTC)
I saw the title and thought it was going to be another hurt/abused/in pain Wilson story. Much relief.
Thursday, January 26th, 2006 06:13 pm (UTC)
How nice!

Enjoyed. :)
Thursday, January 26th, 2006 06:59 pm (UTC)
Ahahahahaha! Burn's Day fic! Awesome!
Thursday, January 26th, 2006 07:05 pm (UTC)
Lovely. You did a great job with subtly shifting the mood in the piece. And there are scones, so really, what could go wrong?
Thursday, January 26th, 2006 07:26 pm (UTC)
*loves*

House *and* Burns! As the daughter of someone heavily involved in the Burns Federation and a huge House fan, I can't tell you how happy this made me. Well done, indeed. :)
Thursday, January 26th, 2006 08:19 pm (UTC)
Glad I could contribute to the daily celebration! "Scotland the Brave" on an electric pencil sharpener - I'm almost intrigued enough to potentially torment the entire office by attempting it...
(Anonymous)
Thursday, January 26th, 2006 08:28 pm (UTC)
I'm glad my dreams provide others entertainment through tormentation. I think it might work better on a manual sharpener, though, because you can vary the pitch by increasing or decresing rotational speed. Unless you got a row of electric sharpeners together and tuned them.... which would be fun.
Thursday, January 26th, 2006 08:29 pm (UTC)
My ancestors only seemed to have lasted 20-30 years before they moved north to Nova Scotia, but I'd love to go back one day and visit (I spent one night camped in a commuter parking lot in NH en route to Boston many years back).
Thursday, January 26th, 2006 08:30 pm (UTC)
That was me. LJ decided I wasn't logged in. Even though I was. *grumble*
Thursday, January 26th, 2006 08:35 pm (UTC)
I forgot to wear my tartan scarf, so I had to make amends somehow (beyond forcing my co-workers to endure the Selkirk Grace before we ate Thai food for lunch).
Thursday, January 26th, 2006 08:52 pm (UTC)
Ha! You can tell I didn't put a lot of thought into the title...
Not that I don't abuse Wilson, but I do try to curb it.
Thursday, January 26th, 2006 09:11 pm (UTC)
That happened to me today too - took me forever to remember what my password was...
Thursday, January 26th, 2006 09:23 pm (UTC)
Thanks for reading! I'm glad you enjoyed it.
Thursday, January 26th, 2006 09:30 pm (UTC)
Glad you enjoyed!
Thursday, January 26th, 2006 09:49 pm (UTC)
Thanks! We had amazing scones at the Burns Supper I went to on Saturday, so I was truly inspired. And I have to give all credit to Rabbie for the shift in mood - I just followed where the poetry led.
Thursday, January 26th, 2006 09:50 pm (UTC)
Yay Robert Burns! My AP Brit Lit class had a Burns party and it was much fun! We did the procession of the haggis through the cafeteria while the band kids played celtic music. We got many a stare.
Thursday, January 26th, 2006 09:55 pm (UTC)
I'm glad you enjoyed! I've always had a soft spot for Burns - for his poetry, his politics and his personality. And the annual Supper is one of the highlights of my year.
Thursday, January 26th, 2006 10:45 pm (UTC)
That sounds like a blast! The last couple of years I've gotten our AD to read To a Haggis, as she was born in Scotland, but she wasn't in the office yesterday, so I had to stumble over the Selkirk Grace at lunch instead (far too many generations removed from the old sod to get the accent right).
Friday, January 27th, 2006 02:51 pm (UTC)
"Chase looked as though he wanted to take notes."

I like, I like, I like! Sorry it's late, that's as deep as my comment is going to get.
Friday, January 27th, 2006 08:38 pm (UTC)
What a sight to behold - - James Wilson quoting Burns, but that image at the end is a true sight to behold. Thank you.
Saturday, January 28th, 2006 01:39 am (UTC)
Chase is an enterprising little wombat. Thanks for reading and taking the time to reply!
Sunday, January 29th, 2006 01:40 am (UTC)
This is the first year I've known that it was Burns day. And I am delighted by it.
Wilson certainly could be half Jewish, half scottish, and Cameron wasn't born a Cameron. Also, tell Foreman that the poem was written two hundred years ago, when "meat" meant "food." This is mere defence on behalf of the characters, not criticism of the characterisation, which I enjoyed very much. I liked House's understanding, and knowing what Burns day meant.

Chase looked as though he wanted to take notes.
Yay for Chase.
Sunday, January 29th, 2006 08:58 am (UTC)
Wilson could quote anything to me and I would happily listen - unless of course his Scottish accent is as good as his Australian accent.
Sunday, January 29th, 2006 09:25 am (UTC)
Excellent points all! In Wilson's defense, I had always thought that Cameron either kept or reverted back to her maiden name, since surely House would have picked up on name changes on transcripts. Or not. Of course you don't have to be Scottish to celebrate Burns Night (I have to search back at least two centuries to find an ancestor actually born in Scotland), though it seems to help with the dancing.

Chase has signed up for Wilson's Seduction 101 class in the hopes of sleeping with someone who's not high at the time.
Sunday, January 29th, 2006 01:36 pm (UTC)
My family is decidedly British (except the small part that's Welsh).

Chase has signed up for Wilson's Seduction 101 class in the hopes of sleeping with someone who's not high at the time.
Good luck to the boy.
Monday, January 30th, 2006 01:15 am (UTC)
Brava! This is charming. I'm not usually a huge fan of fic built so heavily on a poem or song, but this was really well done. The little snatches we get of each character are crisp and vivid, and the shifting mood is lovely. This gets bookmarked!
Monday, January 30th, 2006 03:40 am (UTC)
Legally, genetically, emotionally I'm Canadian. And yet I've been conditioned since childhood to think of myself as Scottish/French/English/Irish, even though all but one of my great-grandparents were born in Canada. Colonial mentality, I guess.
Monday, January 30th, 2006 05:42 am (UTC)
I'm glad you liked it. I know exactly what you mean about relying too heavily on poetry or song in a fic, and normally I try to limit myself to inscriptions, but since it was a tribute to Burns... well, anything I can write, he wrote far, far better. Still, I'm glad the shift of mood came across - I started out wanting to write something light and breezy, but the poetry took over and carried me to other places.
Thursday, May 4th, 2006 08:48 pm (UTC)
*finds this funnier than it should be*

Heehee. New Hampshire. Is where I live. Thank you for acknowledging its existence.
Sunday, May 7th, 2006 01:16 am (UTC)
No problem! I've only ever spent one day in New Hampshire, but it seemed like a state worth acknowledging :)
Friday, January 26th, 2007 03:41 pm (UTC)
Mmm, Witherspoon Bakery makes the best bread. I love getting there early in the morning when its piping hot.
Friday, January 26th, 2007 10:05 pm (UTC)
My God that's wonderful. I spoke the verses out loud as I read, I was so into it.

Excellent work. :)
Saturday, January 27th, 2007 12:41 am (UTC)
Ah, I'm glad they really do have great bread - I had to go by internet reviews and take a chance. I need to get to Princeton to do some live research :)
Saturday, January 27th, 2007 01:50 am (UTC)
At least you do some research. I love reading fics where they get things like the name of the hospital wrong. Someone once had the Trenton Makes bridge crossing Carnegie Lake! Wrong bridge, not even the right town :p
Saturday, January 27th, 2007 05:08 am (UTC)
Thank you! The poetry just begs to be read aloud - there's nothing like hearing a Scotsman read Burns :)