It's comin' yet, for a' that...

So today's the big day, a day many thought they wouldn't live to see. Ronald Brisbon, a New York resident questioned earlier today about the build up and the palpable sense of anticipation and of history in the making is quoted on the BBC News website as remarking " Dr King said it might take 40 years. It's been 45 years, I can wait another hour."

When he takes office as the 44th President of the United States of America, Barack Obama will swear an oath on the same Bible used by Abraham Lincoln in 1861. Lincoln was a lifelong fan of Robert Burns: in 1859, Lincoln had attended the Springfield Centenary celebration of Burns’ birthday, and he gave a formal toast to his memory, although exactly what he said has not survived. Since Scotsman Alexander Williamson, who tutored young Tad and Willie Lincoln, also served as Secretary of the Washington Burns' club, he had special access to the president. On January 24, 1865, Williamson asked Lincoln for a “recognition of the genius of Scotland’s bard, by either a toast, a sentiment, or in any other way you may deem proper.” Lincoln penned a hasty note that was dutifully read at the celebration. It read: “I cannot frame a toast to Burns. I can say nothing worthy of his generous heart and transcendent genius. Thinking of what he has said, I cannot say anything worth saying.” Perhaps he had in mind one of Burns' most famous works, "A man's a Man, for a' that" which has as its final verse:

"Then let us pray that come it may,
(As come it will for a' that,)
That Sense and Worth, o'er a' the earth,
Shall bear the gree and a'that.
For a' that, an' a' that,
It's coming yet for a' that,
That Man to Man, the world o'er,
Shall brothers be for a' that. "

Maybe we're not there yet. But today perhaps inches us one little step closer to that vision of the recognition of our common humanity. And so I'll leave you with the words of a contemporary Scots performance poet, written for BBC Radio 4's Saturday Live, the one and only Elvis McGonagall:

Against All Odds

Armed to the teeth, an invincible Philistine
Let Goliath, the bully, do what he may
For with five stones in a sling eternal hope springs
Every underdog will have his day
With backbone, pluck and cojones
Nerve of steel, heart of oak, iron chin
The hangdog Hancocks in homburg hats
Will take on the world and win
The minnows will slay the giants
Owned by oligarch, sheikh and tycoon
All the Persians will die at Thermopylae
The Greeks will be over the moon
Eddie the Eagle will fly like an angel
Samson will fall to Rocky Balboa
Captain Scott will get to the South Pole first
The All Blacks will lose to Samoa
Basil Brush will score a ton against the Aussies
Scotland will hammer Brazil
Wimbledon will be won by John Sergeant
Hull will beat Chelsea six nil
The underdogs will overcome
The downtrodden will rise up and sing
And the son of a Kenyan goatherd will be
The next American King