Burns Supper

We're back in Aberdeen after 6-weeks holiday in Indonesia and Vietnam. The prospect of going back to cold, gray, wet weather wasn't really appealing; especially when we were transiting in Amsterdam and saw outside the window of Schiphol Airport. But surprise, surprise, last weekend wasn't actually that bad. The sun was shining, the sky was clear and blue, except there were no birds were chirping (they must have migrated to warmer lands), and there are no leaves left on trees. And it's very cold.

But surely the cold weather doesn't stop people from doing stuffs. And here comes Burns Supper to look forward to.

clipped from en.wikipedia.org

A Burns supper is a celebration of the life and poetry of the poet Robert Burns, author of many Scots poems including "Auld Lang Syne," which is generally sung as a folk song at Hogmanay and other New Year celebrations around the world. The suppers are normally held on or near the poet's birthday, January 25, sometimes known as Burns night, although they may in principle be held at any time of the year.

Burns suppers are most common in Scotland, but they occur wherever there are Burns clubs, Scottish Societies, expatriate Scots, or lovers of Burns' poetry.

The first suppers were held in Ayrshire at the end of the 18th century by his friends on the anniversary of his death, July 21, In Memoriam and, although the date has changed to 25 January since then, they have been a regular occurrence ever since.

Stuart's grandmother is going to Burns Supper in Sauchen this coming Saturday and invites us to come along. To give me more ideas, Stuart's father showed me the menu example, which is written in Doric, and translated it for me. I forgot the whole thing after 30 seconds, except that every course ends with... what else, whisky!




The tradition has been part of Scottish culture for about 200 years (do you notice the sample menu is taken from 1920?). The basic format of the evening has remained unchanged since 1796, and it always has haggis, Scotch whisky, poem readings, and musicians performing Robert Burns songs.

Interesting. Now, how can I wear my skimpy ball gown without suffering from frostbites?