Scots everywhere (and a few honorary ones, no doubt) will be celebrating the birthdate of poet Robert Burns this weekend.
Robert Burns was born on 25th January 1759 in Alloway, and went on to become the much-loved national bard of Scotland. The traditional celebration that has become Burns Night began in 1801, when a group of his friends gathered in Alloway to mark the fifth anniversary of his death. Their meal consisted of haggis as a main course, washed down of course with whisky, a custom that will be lovingly revisited all across Scotland this Friday night.
Address to the Haggis
Should you be planning your own Burns supper, you may wish to address a few words of admiration to your haggis; should this be the case, I include the first two stanzas of Burns' exceedingly handy poem, Address to the Haggis - any more verses than this and your haggis will of course have gone cold.
Fair fa' your honest, sonsie face,
Great chieftain o' the puddin-race!
Aboon them a' ye tak your place,
Painch, tripe, or thairm:
Weel are ye wordy of a grace
As lang's my arm.
The groaning trencher there ye fill,
Your hurdies like a distant hill,
Your pin wad help to mend a mill
In time o' need,
While thro' your pores the dews distil
Like amber bead.
However you're celebrating Burns' Night, have a good one!
