We Scots like to celebrate. No sooner are the festivities of Christmas and Hogmanay behind us and our minds turn to events in the memory of our national bard – or poet – Robert Burns.
He is better known to one and all as Rabbie. When did you ever hear of William Shakespeare being called “Oor Wullie”? This shows the fondness and endearment that Burns is held the world over.
Even though he died over 220 years ago, his memory vividly lives on. Rabbie Burns was born on 25th January 1759 and his birthday is celebrated from Beijing to Boston and Durban to Dubai.
His birthday is usually celebrated with a meal that consists of “haggis” with potatoes and turnip – known in old Scots as “tatties and neeps”.
We start with cock-a-leekie soup (which is chicken and leek) and finish with sherry trifle or cranachan, a dish made with whipped cream, honey, toasted oatmeal, raspberries, and whisky.
The haggis is usually piped in and one of Burns’ poems, “To a Haggis”, is addressed to the steaming hot plate.
Poems are then recited, songs sung and speeches made. Then, towards the end of the supper, “The Immortal Memory” is delivered by an eminent member of the company who is well versed in the works and life of Robert Burns.
Visit to Loch Ness
Another reason to share this with you is that, in September 1787, Robert Burns arrived on the southern shore of Loch Ness at the Falls of Foyers. He was so taken with them he wrote a poem on the spot as he watched the water tumbling over the falls.
Among the heathy hills and ragged woods
The roaring Fyers pours his mossy floods
Till full he dashes on the rocky mounds
Where thro’ a shapeless breach his stream resounds
During his trip, Rabbie stayed at what is now the Kingsmills Hotel, in Inverness, with a colleague, William Dunbar. According to a letter he wrote to his host, Provost Inglis, he dined very well!
Burns was sometimes decried because his critics said he could only write in the Scots language and not in English. In response, in his classic poem Tam O’Shanter, Burns inserted these poignant lines of English:
But pleasures are like poppies spread
You seize the flower the bloom is shed
Or like snowfalls in the river
A moment white then gone forever
You, too, can celebrate by visiting us here and combining a local Burns Supper with a cruise on Loch Ness. If you can’t join us, make sure you purchase a haggis, some potatoes and a good swede turnip, a fine bottle of single malt, make a robust sherry trifle, print off some poems of Burns, invite some friends around, and you can have your own Burns Supper.
And don’t forget Burns’ opening line in his address to the haggis:
“Fair fa’ your honest, sonsie face, Great chieftain o the puddin’-race!”
Haggis Recipe
If you feel adventurous and want to be as authentic as possible, here is the recipe for making haggis:
- 1 sheep stomach
- 1 sheep liver
- 1 sheep heart
- 1 sheep tongue
- ½ lb suet minced
- ½ lb oatmeal toasted
- 3 medium onions minced
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper
- 1/2 teaspoon ground mixed herbs
Rinse the stomach thoroughly and soak overnight in cold salted water.
Rinse and cook the liver, heart, and tongue over medium heat for two hours then cool and mince into a large bowl.
Bring all the minced ingredients together and add the seasoning.
Remove stomach from cold water and fill with the bound mixture 2/3 full then tie and sew the bag.
Pierce the bag several times to prevent bursting whilst cooking.
Gently place bag in pan of boiling water and cook on high for three hours.
Serve with mashed potatoes (tatties) and swede turnip also mashed (neeps).
Enjoy!
