Burns Night

  • Published
  • By Suzanne Harper
  • 48th Fighter Wing Public Affairs
RAF LAKENHEATH, England --  Last weekend I went out to a local supermarket and bought my haggis, swede and potatoes in readiness for this coming Friday night. Jan. 25 is an important day on the Scottish calendar. Jan. 25, 1759 is the birth date of Robert Burns. The anniversary of his birthday is celebrated with a special supper and is known as Burns Night. Though not a Scot by birth but adopted through marriage, I relish the Scottish pride in their heritage, their love of tradition and above all, their ability to know how to enjoy themselves to the full.

The first Burns Night supper was held at Alloway near Ayr in January 1802. From these humble beginnings began a tradition that has spread around the world. Robert Burns is the only poet-songwriter who is remembered in this way. Burns Night suppers do not only happen in far-flung communities of Scots, who gather once a year to recall the land of their birth with a glass in the hand and a tear in the eye. The suppers can happen anywhere around the globe, wherever individuals recognise that Burns articulates the feelings, aspirations and common humanity of ordinary men and women . Burns Night suppers are a simple celebration of the fare enjoyed by the poorer folk of rural Scotland.

The centre of the meal is the haggis, which is served with "bashed neeps" and "champit tatties." ('Bashed neeps' are mashed swedes and 'champit tatties' are mashed potatoes.)

If the gathering is a large formal one, there is a great deal of ceremony involved. When the guests are seated for the banquet, a bagpiper pipes in the haggis and places it on the head table. Then, the master of ceremonies stands up to address the haggis, reciting Burns' "Address to the Haggis" before cutting it with a Scottish dagger, a 'skean dhu', which is still worn with traditional Highland dress. 

Here's the first verse of Burns' "Address to a Haggis". There are seven more. 

Fair fa' your honest, sonsie (cheerful) face,
Great chieftain o the puddin'-race!
Aboon (above) them a' ye tak your place,
Painch (paunch), tripe, or thairm (guts):
Weel are ye wordy ( worthy) o' a grace
As lang's my airm.

The haggis is then passed around and eaten by the guests. Dinner is normally followed by readings from Burns' works and the singing of Scottish songs. There are also a number of speeches by guests, all of which must have a Burns theme. The speeches include some aspect of his life or an examination of the causes he championed. While all this is going on, copious quantities of whisky are drunk to encourage the speakers, and good speakers are cheered loudly.

Robert Burns (or 'Rabbie Burns' as he is often called) was the oldest of seven children born to William Burns, a tenant farmer. Poverty curtailed his formal education, but Burns read widely in English literature and taught himself to read in French. His father encouraged his self-education, and his mother made him familiar with Scottish folk songs, legends and proverbs. After a failed attempt at business, Burns returned home penniless and, when his father died in 1784, he became head of the family. The rented farm he and his brother occupied also failed, so Burns was eventually appointed to the Excise (Tax) Service. By this time he was married and had four children to support.

His first poems were composed around 1780. His later work consisted almost entirely of songs, including original compositions and the adaptation of traditional Scottish ballads and folk songs. Burns captured the countryside and humble farm life in his works. He was an outspoken champion of the Republican cause at the outbreak of the French Revolution; this stance alienated many of his admirers, some of whom shunned him.'.

The Scottish Tourist Board and local authorities have developed a heritage trail which links the places associated with Robert Burns. It begins at his birthplace in Alloway (south of Ayr on the West coast of Scotland) and extends to Dumfries, where he died in 1796. You can buy small pocket books of his poems and they are a delight to read; with a little practice, it is quite easy to understand the elements of dialect. As a taster, I would recommend my particular favourites: 'O, My Luve is Like a Red Red Rose', 'A Man's A Man for a' That' and 'To A Mouse'.

Many of you will have Scottish ancestors of your own. And some Scots will remind you that, of course, it wasn't Christopher Columbus who discovered America in the first place; it was a 15th century Scot called Henry Sinclair of Orkney. Although historians will dispute the facts of the case, it is a belief firmly held by some in Scotland and perhaps may persuade you to be brave and just try a little haggis on Friday night and maybe recite a poem or two in honour of the bard.