Robbie Burns' Night

On Saturday we joined some friends at the first of two Robbie Burns' Nights that we are attending this year.  It was a uniquely interesting evening as neither of us had ever attended one before.

The event is usually a formal event, men in formal kilts and tuxedos and women in gowns. It is held to honor Robbie Burns, and is held on or close to birthday which is on the 25th of January.  He is the national poet of Scotland, he wrote poetry in the Scottish dialect as well as in English.  Auld Lang Syne is one of his best known poems/songs.

There is a prescribed order to the events of the evening:

First there is the Selkirk Grace

Then the crowd is asked to "please be upstanding" as the piper walks in followed by the chef with the haggis.  Then comes the "Address to the Haggis" written by Burns.  The man who recited it was very dramatic, it was really entertaining.  Then the piper walks out of the room again followed by the cut up haggis

Then there is a whisky toast to the haggis and dinner begins.  The Haggis was served with the traditional neeps (mashed turnips) and tatties (mashed potatoes), and also on the plate was some mince (ground beef cooked with spices and carrots in a gravy-like sauce).  I thoroughly enjoyed the accompaniments but the haggis I can't say I enjoyed that.  It was flavoured nicely enough but the I was bothered by the texture.  It is a very glutenous texture due to the oatmeal and barley in it.  We then had a traditional Scottish dessert call cranachan, which consists of whipped cream, whisky, honey, raspberries and oatmeal. Very tasty!

Then there are the speeches:

The Immortal Memory:  This consisted of a bit of history on Robbie Burns and the speaker sang a song written by Robbie Burns. The speaker did a really fantastic job.  Apparently these speeches can run a little long sometimes but this one was short and sweet. Then we toast to Robbie Burns

Toast to the Lassies: Apparently in the past this was mainly for toasting to the women who prepared the meal as women were not allowed to attend (and in some cases are still not).  The only rule is that it should be amusing but not offensive.  

Then the men are "upstanding" and toast to the lassies.

Toast to the Laddies:  Originally called the reply to the toast to the lassies.  It is now done by a women and again should be amusing but not offensive.

Then the women are "upstanding" and toast to the laddies.

Then comes the dancing... they had a really good band that included a caller that helped people to learn the dances.  Rik and I used our knowledge from the Snow Ball and did the "Strip the Willow" dance again.  We also did some sort of waltz. 

A good time was had by all.