Thursday 24 January 2008

The Burns Supper

As with every Burns Supper, the Haggis is piped in, and paraded around the room, closely followed by three glasses of Scotch for drinking the health of Robbie Burns, even though he's been dead for over 200 years. (In this case it was apple juice, not Scotch... church function, y'know.)


Before the meal can begin, it is traditional to quote Burns' famous poem, Address To A Haggis, you can find the words and the translation here, followed by "The Selkirk Grace".

"Some hae meat, and canna eat,
An' some wad eat that want it,
But we hae meat, and we can eat,
And sae the Lord be thankit"

Let the serving of the feast begin.

On the Bill of Fare: Haggis, Roast Beef, Mashed Tatties, Peas, Champit Neeps, Coleslaw, Gravy, Killer Horseradish that takes the top of your head off, and makes your eyes water.
Make sure you leave room for the pies and the shortbread.

An evening of entertainment with a Scottish flavour follows the dinner. Lots of singing the old Scottish songs, many of them with words written by Burns, bagpipe music and Highland dancing.

Two of our young dancers.

And the Scottish Country Dance emsemble. We danced "The Minister on the Loch" and " The White Cockade".
Back row: Wilma, Jean, The Space Cadet, Moi.
Front row: Bernice, Helen, Beth, Jean.

I'm the only one without even the tiniest drop of Scottish blood running through my veins. Eating haggis probably makes up for it.
Piper picture "borrowed" from the Stouffville Tribune - thanks Jim.

26 comments:

  1. My dad belongs to the Scottish Society here in Arkansas and he volunteered my mother, Czech/German ancestry, to make the Haggis. She thought there was irony in that!

    I'm happy to be back home again.

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  2. I'm Scottish, but I've never lived there, eaten haggis or even been to a Burns night. Mmmmm... is there something missing from my life, I wonder? I did learn Scottish dancing at school though. It looks as if you had fun!

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  3. Well, it looks like a GREAT time was had by all!
    What exactly is Haggis, again???
    Craig Fergeson has talked about it on his show, but I forget what it actually is....It certainly is a most unattractive looking food---Uncooked! (lol)

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  4. Arh, it looks like a grand time was had by all. If t’was me I would have snuck over to the catholic hall for a wee dram. Being from the WASP stock I always found it unfair that we had to drink tea and the folks at the catholic hall down the road got to drink whatever they liked.

    I spent some time in the highlands; very interesting and beautiful place and I have more than a wee bit of the Scots blood in me veins.

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  5. Looks like fun! Cute dancers!

    I've been to Highland Games in the summer, which are very much fun indeed.

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  6. Sounds like a great evening! I'm not sure I'd go for the Haggis - I know... It's all in the mind - but I'd sure have a bit of everything else :)

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  7. Tatties? I'm familiar with that word - my godfather was a Scot. Ah, nice tribute to wee Rabbie!

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  8. I think i'll pass on the haggis but it's cool experiencing a Burns Supper though your eyes.

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  9. I'm an Englishman... but my I do have a taste for haggis... and Burns poetry.. it certainly looked a great night was had by all.

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  10. Interesting Post, plate of food looks good too, only more gravy for me please.



    Have you captured the tree People like I have

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  11. Looks like fun. I love hearing the bag pipes.

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  12. The haggis needed a bit more gravey. What a wonderful celebration...you and the Space Cadet look verry happy.

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  13. "Chappit Neeps" sounds Scrumptious...!
    Haggis sounds utterly disgusting!!! (LOL)
    Sorry about that...
    I do not understand why anyone would want to eat that....! I'm just grateful that I have HAD to even taste it....!
    The rest of the dinner looks fabulous!!

    The little puppy is in the second Video...! A cute little guy!

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  14. Well, of cours I'm not Scottish, but I have visited Scotland several times, love the country and the music, even bought and tried the bagpipe (not very succesfully and now not at all - impossible if you live in a flat and wish to keep good relationship with the neighbours)!
    ... but I never tried the haggis! Must do so! Where can I find haggis in Paris? Must be possible! Google will help me!

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  15. Mashed neeps and coleslaw? Whatever would Robbie say!

    My mum loved Robbie Burns. 'My love is like a red, red rose' was my father and her 'special' poem and why my mum died two years ago, we had Kenneth McKellar singing it as her four grandsons carried the coffin out. Oh, it still makes me cry. I'll go and mop up.
    Lorenzo.

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  16. Hi, Dont know about neeps not even sure what they are?,but coleslaw warm no thank you we usually serve it cold with salad. Now plenty of gravy,swede and carrot boiled seasoned and mashed together,Peas,Haggis and mashed spuds, luverly !!!.

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  17. Gosh! It looks like fun was had by all! What a great night and I bet it was great fun.

    Apple juice? Apple juice!!!!

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  18. that looks like a very good dinner. yum.

    and you got that comment thing working, well done!

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  19. Mashed titties, Champit neeps...I need a Scottish-English dictionary!

    It sounds like a fun celebration, (any excuse to party is fine with me,) Robbie would be proud! Although he might frown on haggis being cooked in an oven instead of sheep's stomach ;-)

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  20. For everyone's edification.... "Champit Neeps" are turnips (or if you are British - swede, or if you are Canadian - rutabaga), mashed with salt, pepper, butter, sour cream and cream cheese, spread in a baking pan, add some white sauce and grated cheese on top, and bake in the oven. Yummy!
    The traditional ingredients in Haggis are sheep's heart, liver and lungs, minced with onion, oatmeal, suet, spices, and salt, and traditionally boiled in a covering of a sheep's stomach for approximately three hours. Sounds awful, right? I don't know that the haggis we had at our Burns Supper were made this way, I don't think it would contain lungs.
    Biker Bob.... the coleslaw is cold, not hot. Even Robbie Burns himself wouldn't eat hot coleslaw.
    Peter in Paris.... did you find anywhere in Paris serving haggis on Robbie Burns Day?

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  21. And a fabulous time was had by all, I can tell! How fun to celebrate one's heritage like that!

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  22. great photos of a unique event, ex-s. who in their wildest dreams could ever imagine eating such a thing as haggis? reading about it is bad enough, but SEEING it? i need one of those glasses of scotch!

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  23. What a wonderful celebration!

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  24. Awwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww! next time you see your friend Wilma will you tell her our german shepherd is called Wilma too! LOL!

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  25. LOL!

    Thanks for the comment over on my blog!


    One day we may meet up!
    We are hoping to do some touring later this year!
    We'll look out for Wilma!

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