Burns Night Supper

[Ross Barlow]

A Happy Burns Night to all.

My philosophy is that the more holidays you can pack into your calendar the better. I hereby establish Burns Night, or Burns Supper, as one of my official holidays.

The great Scot poet Robert Burns’ birthday is 25 January, but it is often celebrated on a Saturday close to that date. In the cold northern temperate regions, a Burns Supper would be good on a blustery winter evening where friends can gather together by the warm fireside.

The Burns Supper, or Burns Night, is a celebration by Scots and others who are fans of Burns’ poetry, fans of poetry of any kind, or who are just fans of having a party in the dead of winter. It is a good chance for people to take turns reading or reciting their favorite poems from either Burns or other poets.

Scotch Whisky is often a featured ingredient of a cheery Burns Supper. And so is haggis, but this is not for everyone. Haggis is “sheep’s pluck” (i.e., organs such as the heart, liver and lungs) cooked inside the sheep’s stomach. All I will say about haggis is this quote: “Most Scottish cuisine is based on a dare.”

Whisky and haggis or no, a Burns Night is a good chance to gather friends together on a winter night.

-Ross Barlow.

[Michael Stuart Kelly]

Ross,

Happy Burns Night. It sounds charming.

When I was active as an alcohol drinker, I had a calendar for people who only drink on holidays. There were 365 holidays in the year, and they included the birthdays of Bluebeard's wives and things like that. It was very funny.

Michael

[Chris Grieb]

Ross; I am thinking that in hell the Scots are the cooks. I do know that lots of people read Robert Burn in the 19th century and I have no problem with honoring him.

[Charles R. Anderson]

My grandfather's name was Charles Burns Anderson. Sounds rather more interesting than Charles Robert Anderson. It has been a long time since I read any of Burns poetry, but I remember enjoying some of it.