Monday, March 17, 2008

Happy St. Patrick's Day!

I got this in an email from a friend. It puts a whole new slant on the holiday! ENJOY!

WHY ST. PATRICK'S DAY IS CELEBRATED EACH YEAR IN AMERICA
The reason the Irish celebrate St. Patrick's Day is because
this is when St. Patrick drove the Norwegians out of Ireland.
It seems that some centuries ago, many Norwegians came to
Ireland to escape the bitterness of the Norwegian winter. Ireland was
having a famine at the time, and food was scarce. The Norwegians were
eating almost all the fish caught in the area, leaving the Irish with
nothing to eat but potatoes. St. Patrick, taking matters into his own
hands, as most Irishmen do, decided the Norwegians had to go.
Secretly, he organized the Irish IRATRION (Irish Republican Army to
Rid Ireland of Norwegians)
Irish members of IRATRION passed a law in Ireland that
prohibited merchants from selling ice boxes or ice to the Norwegians, in
hopes that their fish would spoil. This would force the Norwegians to
flee to a colder climate where their fish would keep. Well, the fish
spoiled, all right, but the Norwegians, as every one knows today, thrive
on spoiled fish. So, faced with failure, the desparate Irishmen
sneaked into the Norwegian fish storage caves in the dead of night and
sprinkled the rotten fish with lye, hoping to poison the Norwegian
invaders.
But, as everyone knows, the Norwegians thought this only
added to the flavor of the fish, and they liked it so much they decided
to call it "lutefisk", which is Norwegian for "lucious fish".
Matters became even worse for the Irishmen when the Norwegians started
taking over the Irish potato crop and making something called
"lefse". Poor St. Patrick was at his wit's end, and finally on March
17th, he blew his top and told all the Norwegians to "GO TO HELL".
So they all got in their boats and emigrated to Minnesota or the Dakotas
---- the only other paradise on earth where smelly fish, old potatoes
and plenty of cold weather can be found in abundance.
The End.

13 Comments:

At 3/17/2008 2:39 PM, Blogger Wandering Coyote said...

Excellent story!

 
At 3/17/2008 4:55 PM, Blogger Cherie said...

Ha!! You must be having a schizophrenic moment, Tshs, being both those nationalities!

I'm going to have Tom read this. He was just complaining today that we don't celebrate a Norwegian Day. This way, for us, it's win/win.

 
At 3/17/2008 7:03 PM, Blogger tshsmom said...

WC, cute, isn't it?

Cherie, the way I see it, is my being 1/8th Scotch/Irish makes me even MORE Norwegian.
The Norskes were always raiding Scotland and Ireland, and breeding with the natives. I'm betting that my Scotch/Irish ancestors were part Norwegian too. All good Norwegians know that marauding Vikings brought red hair to Ireland. *giggle*
That's my story and I'm sticking to it!

 
At 3/17/2008 7:23 PM, Blogger tweetey30 said...

I dont miss the Lutefisk up there or having to clean the pans out that its made in. I worked on night that time when I lived back home and worked with L and a few others up there. No way do I miss that. But it was the busiest night of the year if I remember right.. LOL..

 
At 3/17/2008 8:23 PM, Blogger Bridget Jones said...

ROFL!!!

So THAT's why there are so many Norweigans in Ottawa.....

We share the Irish part, my friend!

 
At 3/17/2008 9:29 PM, Blogger tshsmom said...

Tweets, that's always the WORST night of the year to work. :(

Bridg, I think you're more Irish than me, but I have just enough to be feisty. ;)

 
At 3/17/2008 9:57 PM, Blogger Cherie said...

It's almost like that old song, "I'm My Own Grandpa"!

 
At 3/18/2008 9:47 AM, Blogger Suldog said...

Followed you from Rhea's blog, and thanks for the support concerning the trans-fat argument :-)

Very funny stuff, this! Thanks!

 
At 3/18/2008 10:36 AM, Blogger tweetey30 said...

Do they still do that up there then?

 
At 3/18/2008 12:28 PM, Blogger Mike S said...

Loved it so much I sent it to a few friends who claim Viking roots:)

 
At 3/19/2008 8:37 AM, Blogger Gardenia said...

This is hillarious!

 
At 3/19/2008 6:22 PM, Blogger Great White Bear, said...

a great story, but I like Garrison Keilor's explanation of how the Norse came to settle in Minnesota. Seems they were really headed to the west coast, but as they were traveling across Minnesota, It reminded them so much of home they decided to settle there instead. Forgetting that bone numbing winters and rocky, unproductive soil were why they left Norway in the first place!

 
At 3/19/2008 7:50 PM, Blogger tshsmom said...

Cherie, I've even convinced my Irish SIL that he's part Norwegian. ;)

Suldog, no problem! I'm so sick of the gov't interfering with our personal lives!

Tweets, we didn't even do it this year. A lot of the old lutefisk eaters are dying off. :(

Mike, it's ALWAYS good to share a laugh!

Gardenia, isn't it? ;)

GWB, that sounds pretty close to the truth. ;)
How ya feelin'?

 

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