Well, of course, when you're 9 years old there's nothing boring about being allowed to stay up past midnight, with your aunts and uncles and cousins over. And, to be honest, I've always thought there's something romantic about the Scottish Highlands. I'll tell what did prove boring, though, in later years — all those drunken corporate New Year's Eve parties with the silly hats and the noisemakers.
I suppose this is all coloured by the fact that my lovely aunts have all moved on now, and I have a little hiraeth, shall we say, for those long-ago gatherings.