Robert Burns Night

Burns Night is actually a holiday in Scotland in the celebration of the life of the great Scottish poet Robert Burns. Burns [1759-1776] was born to tenant farmers that sought to give Burns the best education that he could get. He began to write poems in order to find a way out of the poverty he was experiencing and was really inspired once the farm was left to him and his brother. He was a bit of a ladies man and had several illegitimate children. He eventually married one of his mistresses, Jean Armor, who bore him twins. He abandoned his dreams of moving to the West Indies to move to Edinburgh after the success of his "Poems- Chiefly in the Scottish Dialect - Kilmarnock Edition”.  He began mixing with the artists and writers at the Ploughmans Poet. He died at an early age of 37 of heart disease that was a result of the manual labor he did on the farm.

Haggis
The fact that you are in England does not mean you cannot celebrate Burns Night as well. You can go to the local butcher and buy haggis. Scots like to say that haggis is a small Scottish animal with one set of legs shorter than the other so it won’t fall of the mountain. If I tell you what it is you won’t try it so skip onto the next paragraph. Haggis is a sheep heart, liver and lungs, minced with onion, oatmeal, suet and spices which is put into an animal’s stomach. I like it, its tends to be a spicy meat, so those that think the food over here is bland, I think you might like haggis. It is also something that is banned in the USA because it is a product made from sheep’s lungs although the Scottish in the past year have been trying to get America to lift the ban so it can be exported there.

They will also have neeps and tatties (Swede and potatoes) with their haggis.

You will see people drink scotch whiskey, eating haggis, tatties and neeps and for dessert Tipsy Laird.

There is a whole itinerary that happens on this day. They do say grace, toast the haggis, and read out Burns' poems and toast the lassies.  If you are invited, make sure you go as it will be a good night. I cannot write everything they do so check out this page to get an idea.

I would also suggest searching "Burns Night" on Youtube as there are a lot of videos which will give you a good idea of what this celebration entails.

Check out this website and hold your own Burns' night. It will be a fun night with good food!

All the Best!

American to Britain