Burns' Night

Most people have heard of Robert Burns, or at least recognize some of his well-known pieces, such as Auld Lang Syne, A Man's a Man for a' that, or scraps of lines such as "wee sleekit cowrin tim’rous beastie" (To a mouse). If you have a taste for irony, here is a rather lovely recitation of "My heart is in the highlands" read by Prince Charles, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HDmnd3Xu_so

The housekeeper at the mission home, Wendy, and her husband John, were talking in a social gathering a few weeks ago and John mentioned that their ward would be holding a Burn's night celebration on Jan 27th. Richard and I expressed interest, and John promptly invited us and every other missionary in sight to attend, as well as the Mission President and his wife.  Correction - Richard expressed interest and I smiled politely and went along, vowing silently that any haggis that found its way onto my plate  would stay there, unless my good husband was willing to eat it. I am not normally so narrow-minded, but last time we were in Scotland I made the mistake of reading the nutrition label on a package of haggis, and that was the end of any love, or even tolerance I might have felt for Scotland's national dish.

I won't give you the details of the ingredients. Suffice it to say that if you think you might ever want to nibble on some haggis, stay ignorant. Don't read the label!

We decided we would like to attend, so called the bishop of the ward and asked if that would be okay. He was most gracious, and then asked if either of us might prefer a vegetarian version of the haggis. Vegetarian? Yes please! All of a sudden I started looking forward to the evening.
The church hall was beautifully decorated. I commented on how much trouble someone had gone to, but the ward member I spoke to airily said yes, they always leave the Christmas party decor up for Burns night. The two of us circulated the hall like good missionaries and got into conversations with probably a quarter of the hundred-odd people who attended. One of the most interesting ones was Brother Steel, who sat next to us wearing his formal Scottish jacket, but confessed the weather was too cold for a kilt, at least for him. It later turned out he was the first bishop of the Edinburgh Ward, and had known the Mission President as a young missionary.

The Livingston bishop wore a kilt and full Scottish regalia, as did our friend John.  Most of those men who were wearing ties wore tartan ties and most of the women just dressed warmly. The bishop was an excellent model and example of service. He was the emcee, but was also visible serving everybody with food, greeting people at tables, and cleaning up.




The evening started with prayer and then someone read the traditional Selkirk Grace. Short and to the point

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 Thanket!

This was a full dinner. The first course was soup - choice of Scotch broth and lentil soup, both excellent.

Then someone read a piece of Burns poetry in a rich Scottish accent--which wasn't hard for them--and the haggis was brought in and presented with great ceremony. By ceremony, I mean John danced his way around every table in the room, holding the large pan of haggis, and finally placed it on a table where an elderly man read the "Address to a Haggis" One can comment on the folk-authenticity of the Address, or comment on its representation of Robert Burns' art, or any one of many other aspects, but what you cannot say, is that it is overly brief. (look it up). It's okay -  not all the evening's haggis was in the pan. From my table I could see the kitchen staff busily serving plates of haggis and vegetables while the poem proceeded.

I was the first one in the room to be served. The local missionaries, who seemed to spend the entire evening helping out with whatever needed doing, marched to my table, one with my plate of vegetarian haggis and the other with a dish of gravy which they assured me was also vegetarian.

At this point I started to get worried. Did they go to all that trouble just for me? After a few minutes we saw them serving vegetarian options to several others in the hall.  The vegetarian haggis was very good, thoroughly full of flavor and salt, and a remarkably good foil for the bland (but good) "neeps and tatties", or in other words, mashed swedes and mashed potatoes that accompanied it. Swedes, also known as rutabagas, are a cross between a cabbage and a turnip, and have a very mild flavour. Richard said the "real" haggis was also good but greasy, but the vegetarian was better. This is something he will willingly eat once a year, at least while we are in Scotland.

Anyway the evening continued with more poetry readings, several songs, all based on Burn's' poetry, led by a group of brethren gathered around the piano (words were provided for all) and generally a good time was had by all. We finished up and wended our way home about nine pm. This is not traditional. In fact a traditional Rabbie Burns night involves many toasts with a Scotch whiskey theme, and much carousing until the whiskey runs out. We were happy to forgo that aspect of the tradition.