Burns Night January 25th

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!