If you’ve still got any party spirit left in you, Burns Night on 25 January is a great excuse to enjoy some Scottish delicacies.
The great Scottish poet Robbie Burns was born on 25 January 1759. Since his death he has been celebrated at annual Burns Night suppers.
The proceedings open with the ‘Selkirk Grace’, a thanksgiving poem (not actually written by Burns). The meal then begins, most usually with cock-a-leekie soup, and the main course is, of course, haggis – a sheep stomach stuffed with offal, oatmeal, onions and various herbs and spices.
The haggis is carried into the room by the chef, accompanied by the sound of bagpipes, ending up at the top table. The head of the table pours two large glasses of whisky that are presented to the chef and piper. The haggis is then addressed with Burns’s famous poem ‘Address to the Haggis’, which begins with the lines ‘Fair fa’ your honest, sonsie face/Great chieftain o’ the pudding-race!’ A dagger is plunged into it and sliced twice diagonally to represent the cross of St Andrew. The main dish is accompanied with neeps and tatties (swede and mashed potatoes).
The very first Burns Supper was held by the poet’s friends on the fifth anniversary of his death (21 July, 1801), but in the late 1800s it was decided that his birthday was a more fitting celebration and it is now a truly global event, celebrated by Scottish communities the world over.
There’s no better night of the year for adults to enjoy a wee dram or two, and everyone can finish the evening with some poor-quality Sean Connery impressions. ‘Haggish and neepsh? Yesh pleash, Missh Moneypenny.’