Burns Night, held in honour of Scotland's most famous poet Robert Burns, is celebrated at the end of January every year.The night is a way to remember the life of the 18th-century bard and it falls on his birthday – January 25.
The tradition started a few years after the poet's death in 1796, when his friends commemorated his career on the date of his death (July 21) each year. Burns Night supper was first celebrated on January 29 1802, as this was originally thought to be the poet's birthday. However the following year, parish records were discovered to correct the date to four days earlier.
So began the Burns Supper on January 25 and more than two centuries later it is has become a nationwide event with recitals of the poet's works and a haggis dinner. But who was the poet, how is the night traditionally celebrated– and how can you create a Burns Night feast of your own?
Who was Robert Burns?
Of all the poets who have written in the Scottish language, Robert Burns is most well-known, although much of his writing is also in standard English and a light Scots dialect.
Also known as Rabbie Burns, the Bard of Ayrshire, the Ploughman Poetand various other names and epithets,he's widely regarded as being the national poet of Scotland and a pioneer of the Romantic movement.
Born onJanuary 25 1759, in the Scottish village of Alloway, to William Burnes and Agnes Broun, the poet and lyricist grew up on a farm and was educated by both his father and a tutor. The family was poor and when his father died, Robert was put in charge of the family's farm.
He began writing poetry while ploughing the fields. Two of his most famous works, "To a Mouse" and"To a Mountain Daisy", are said to have been written during this period; in fact, he apparently wrote "To a Mouse" while still holding his ploughafter accidentally destroying a mouse's nest.
The poet also wrote songs and is said to havebeen able to play the stock-and-horn,the violin and the guitar.
HoweverBurnswas much more interested in women and soon became somewhat of a ladies man: while involved with Jean Armour, hisaffair with his mother's servant Elizabeth Patonresulted in his first child in 1784; the next year Armour gave birth to his twins.
Around the same time,Burns also became involved with Mary Campbell -who inspired the poems "The Highland Lassie O", "To Mary in Heaven" and "Highland Mary".
Struggling for money, Burns made plans to moveto Jamaica to work as a bookkeeper on a slave plantation, a role he may have struggled with, considering the forward-thinking,abolitionist views he expressed in his song "The Slave's Lament".
To pay for his voyage, Burns published his poems in a book known as the Kilmarnock Volume. The works became an immediate success and the published poet put aside his plans for Jamaica, instead setting off for Edinburgh where he found literary acclaim.
After protestations from her father, Armour and Burns eventually married in 1788. Over their life together she gave birth to nine children, although only three survived. Over the years he continued to publish poems, working on farms and as an excise officer to support his family financially.
However Burns only lived until the age of 37. A lifetime of poor health due to his weak heart and frequent drinking resulted in his early death on July 21 1796, from rheumatic fever.
Born into poverty, he never escaped financial strife: when his tailor found out he was dying, he presented him with a bill on his deathbed.
The poet's funeral took place four days later, on the day Armour bore his first son, Maxwell. By the time of his death, Burns had borne 12 children by four different women.
How is Burns night celebrated and what are the traditional activities?
Whether or not Burns would have worn a kiltis still disputed, with some arguing that as a lowlander he would not have worn them – although he was a champion of the right to wear traditional dress.
The full ritual of the night involves whisky, haggis and poetry readings. Those who partake are piped in and then The Selkirk Grace – the prayer of thanks attributed to Burns – is said before dinner.
The prayer goes:
Some hae meat and canna eat,
And some wad eat that want it;
But we hae meat, and we can eat
Sae let the Lord be thankit.
A traditional Burns Supper starts with soup, often a Scotch broth. The haggis is then served with turnips and potatoes – known as neeps and tatties if you're a true Scot. The haggis, typically carried on a silver salver, is also piped in by the diners with a standing slow clap.
It is the "Great chieftain o the puddin’-race" according to the "Address to the haggis". During the Address (written by Burns) the speaker draws a knife and at the line “An’ cut you up wi’ ready slicht”, cuts the dish open. Once all the fanfare is over, the guests toast the haggis and tuck in.
The meal is followed by the Immortal Memory toast, in which a guest gives a speech in honour of the great poet. Then a Toast to the Lassies, once a chance to thank the women cooking the meal, it is now the humorous highlight to the evening. A male diner offers an amusing but complimentary take on the role of women in general life, taking in quotes from Burns'works and referring to women in the group.
Any man making the toast should tread with care, since it is followed by a reply from the women.
The rest of the night is filled with a vote of thanks and guests performing works by Burns, ending with the Auld Lang Syne.The group stand and holds hands to sing it.
Could haggis actually be English?
While the dish might be a Scottish favourite, it might actually have English roots. A1430 cookbook called Liber Cure Cocorum from Lancashire contains the earliest known recipe for haggis.
The meal is a savoury pudding, made from a mixture of sheep's heart, liver, and lungs, oatmeal, onion, suet and stock. While for centuries it was served in the animal's stomach, that tradition has (fortunately)died out.
Food historian Catherine Brown believes that Scottish nationalists may have appropriated haggis as a symbol of their nationhood in the decades following the Act of Union with England in 1707.
"It seems to be that there's an identity thing there. We'd lost our monarchy, we'd lost our parliament and we gained our haggis," she said.
"There was a latching onto everything that was distinctive about Scotland, and Burns had identified the dish in such an evocative way."
She added Burns claimed the pudding as Scottish with his poem "Address to a Haggis" in 1787,because it was a thrifty contrast to the elaborate and pretentious French cuisine popular in Edinburgh at the time.
Things you didn't know about haggis
- Haggis imports to the US have been banned since 1971, with officials stating it was unfit for human consumption because of the use of sheep lungs in its making.
- Haggis hurling is a thing. In June 2011, Lorne Coltart set the record, hurling his haggis an impressive 217 feet.
- An ancient version of haggis is mentioned in Homer's Odyssey, "a man before a great blazing fire turning swiftly this way and that a stomach full of fat and blood, very eager to have it roasted quickly".
- The world's biggest haggis was made by Halls of Scotland and weighs 2,226lb 10oz – that's as much as a small car.
Recipes for a Burns Nightsupper
From haggis pies to delicious Scottish desserts, here are the bestrecipes for a Burns Night supper.
This article has been updated for Burns Night 2023
