Burns Night

Held to celebrate our national poet Robert Burns it's a great way of celebrating Scotland with friends.

It can be extremely formal - men in kilts and women in evening dress- or a lot less formal with close friends at home.

If the formal night appeals then the ‘great chieftain o' the puddin'-race' ( Haggis ) is carried in by the chef on a large serving plate, led by a piper and followed by a waiter carrying a tray with a bottle of whisky and two glasses. Chef and piper are rewarded with a dram, and Burns' famous ‘Address to the Haggis' is recited followed by a dramatic slashing of the Haggis with a dirk, releasing wafts of haggis, ‘warm-reekin, rich!'.

The 'Selkirk Grace', an old Scots grace, is then recited:

‘Some hae meat and canna eat,

and some wad eat that want it,

but we hae meat and we can eat,

and sae the Lord be thankit'.

This is followed by the toasts. ‘To Burns' Immortal Memory' ,  ‘To The Lassies' followed by a ‘Reply' and ‘Auld Lang Syne' signals the night's end.

Some say this is a ‘true' Burns Night. But the truth is that there are many different ways of celebrating - including simple suppers at home with friends - which are no less meaningful. 

Burns Night is celebrated around the world, and not just by Scots, but somethings are essential. The haggis, with neeps (yellow turnips) and tatties (potatoes) are a must. Yellow turnips are known in England as swedes and in the US as rutabago