There’s a saying or a toast that I read a long time ago that I remember as: “Here’s to us, and all like us! Who’s like us? Damned few, and they’re all dead!” It came to mind today and I decided to try to find out if I remembered it accurately and where it was from. I searched the web in various ways for it, and found many variations, some in Scottish dialect, but no clear idea of its origin.
Is anyone here familiar with this or know where it came from?
I don’t know where it came from either, but Return to Zork used it when you encountered the character Boos (Booz?) early on. The version from the game was “Here’s to us. Who’s like us? Damned few. And they’re aaall dead!”
According to this pageof Heritage Whiskey Toasts on a Scottish travel site it is, I guess obviously, a Scottish Whiskey Toast! Searching google for the more Scottish sounding spelling below yields hundreds of results so I think they are correct.
Actually the link doesn’t say it’s by Burns at all. It’s just one of the graces used at Burns Night and both the Selkirk Grace and this one probably long predate Burns.
For instance, Although the “Selkirk Grace” is attributed to Robert Burns, a version of the stanza was known in the 17th century as the Galloway Grace.
“My keys? Here. I’m too drive to drunk…”
And then he passes out and reveals the trapdoor. But don’t go down into the darkness-- that’s where grues live.