Post by dreamwalker on Jun 1, 2005 4:59:53 GMT 10
In celebration of the life and works of Robert Burns, Scotland's most famous poet, traditional suppers have been held annually on his birthday for about 200 years.
Burns was born on January 25 1759, in Alloway, Ayrshire in south-west Scotland. He is renowned worldwide as a great poet and songwriter. A keen social commentator, Burns wrote movingly about love, universal brotherhood and the human condition. He wrote from the heart and, to this day, his words are considered timeless.
The Burns Night supper ritual was started by close friends of the poet a few years after his death (in 1796) as a tribute to his memory. The basic format for the evening still follows the same pattern whether it is held in formal dining rooms or the local pub. The ceremony begins when the designated "chairman" of the evening invites "the company" (guests) to receive the haggis - a traditional Scottish dish made of minced offal with suet, onions, oatmeal and seasonings.
Next comes the reciting of a prayer, Selkirk Grace (written by Burns):
Some hae meat and canna eat,
And some wad eat that want it;
But we hae meat and we can eat,
And sae the Lord be thankit.
The company are then asked to stand to receive the haggis. A piper in full traditional Scottish dress and playing the bagpipes (a musical instrument featuring an air-filled bag fitted with pipes) leads the chef, carrying the haggis to the top table.
The bagpipes play an essential part in a traditional Burns supper, but contrary to popular belief, the bagpipes are not of Scottish origin. The first version of the instrument can be traced back to the Middle East, well over 2,000 years ago. Then, it was most likely a rather crude instrument comprised of reeds stuck into a goatskin bag. As civilisation spread throughout the Middle East and into Mediterranean lands, the people brought their music with them. Some of their instruments were adaptations of the early bagpipe.
As the ceremony continues, the chairman recites Burns' famous Address To A Haggis. When he reaches the line "an' cut you up wi' ready slight", he slices open the haggis with a sharp knife. It is customary for the company to applaud the chairman and to stand and toast the haggis with a glass of whisky.
The traditional Burns supper menu consists of cock-a-leekie soup (or Scotch broth) and haggis with "tatties and neeps" (potatoes and turnips), Tipsy Laird (sherry trifle) followed by oatcakes and cheese, all washed down with liberal tots of the "water of life" - Scotch whisky.
One of the central features of the evening is when an invited guest is asked to give a short speech on Burns. Known as the Immortal Memory speech, it can be light-hearted or literary but the aim is to outline the greatness and relevance of the poet today. Various humorous speeches follow.
Once the speeches are complete the evening continues with songs and poems written by Burns. Favourites include Tam O'Shanter, Address To The Unco Guid, To A Mouse, and Holy Willie's Prayer.
The evening ends with the company standing, linking hands and singing one of Burns's most famous works, Auld Lang Syne.
It is not just in Scotland that the Burns supper tradition is maintained. On or around 25 January, the life and works of the poet are celebrated everywhere from Moscow to Manhattan, Newfoundland to New Zealand. In 2003, a Nimrod crew flying out to the Gulf from RAF Kinloss in Scotland took 70 haggis with them so that Scottish troops stationed in the region could enjoy the special meal. Two sacks of neeps (turnips) were also donated by a farmer. In a break with tradition, the captain of the 201 Squadron crew, Flight Lieutenant Chris Perks, said that out of respect for local culture, the meal would be served without whisky.
And in January 2004, Burns's vision of brotherhood received high praise from a surprising source - United Nations secretary-general Kofi Annan. Mr Annan, who was introduced to Burns's poetry by a colleague who plays the bagpipes, gave the inaugural Robert Burns Memorial Lecture in New York.
In a speech entitled The Brotherhood of Man, Mr Annan said that the words of Scotland's national bard have important lessons for the 21st century and he urged the international community to ease the world's troubles by heeding the words and ideas of Robert Burns.
"You might well ask why a United Nations secretary-general was eager to take part in this event," said Kofi Annan. "At first glance, one might think there is an ocean of distance between the hard-nosed give-and-take of international diplomacy, as it is practised here in New York, and the lyrical verse that emanated from rural Scotland two centuries ago. But look closer and I think you will see why I am here.
"To take just one example, Burns was born into poverty and spent his youth working on a farm. Burns's poems dignify and illuminate the struggle faced by the vast majority of the world's population today."
He continued: "But it is one of Burns's most famous lines - 'a man's a man for a' [all] that' - that I should like to serve as the touchstone for my remarks tonight. And in particular his prayer, in the same poem, that 'man to man, the world o'er, Shall brothers be for a' that'.
"Living together is the fundamental human project - not just in towns and villages from Scotland to South Africa, but also as a single human family facing common threats and opportunities.
Mr Annan concluded: "So let us allow hope to be renewed. Let us admire the enduring resonance of the work of Robert Burns. And let us dream, as he did, of a true brotherhood - and sisterhood - that embraces and encompasses all humankind, and allows all people a chance to enjoy their inalienable rights, dignity and freedom."
www.britainusa.com/faq/showfaq.asp?SID=267
Burns was born on January 25 1759, in Alloway, Ayrshire in south-west Scotland. He is renowned worldwide as a great poet and songwriter. A keen social commentator, Burns wrote movingly about love, universal brotherhood and the human condition. He wrote from the heart and, to this day, his words are considered timeless.
The Burns Night supper ritual was started by close friends of the poet a few years after his death (in 1796) as a tribute to his memory. The basic format for the evening still follows the same pattern whether it is held in formal dining rooms or the local pub. The ceremony begins when the designated "chairman" of the evening invites "the company" (guests) to receive the haggis - a traditional Scottish dish made of minced offal with suet, onions, oatmeal and seasonings.
Next comes the reciting of a prayer, Selkirk Grace (written by Burns):
Some hae meat and canna eat,
And some wad eat that want it;
But we hae meat and we can eat,
And sae the Lord be thankit.
The company are then asked to stand to receive the haggis. A piper in full traditional Scottish dress and playing the bagpipes (a musical instrument featuring an air-filled bag fitted with pipes) leads the chef, carrying the haggis to the top table.
The bagpipes play an essential part in a traditional Burns supper, but contrary to popular belief, the bagpipes are not of Scottish origin. The first version of the instrument can be traced back to the Middle East, well over 2,000 years ago. Then, it was most likely a rather crude instrument comprised of reeds stuck into a goatskin bag. As civilisation spread throughout the Middle East and into Mediterranean lands, the people brought their music with them. Some of their instruments were adaptations of the early bagpipe.
As the ceremony continues, the chairman recites Burns' famous Address To A Haggis. When he reaches the line "an' cut you up wi' ready slight", he slices open the haggis with a sharp knife. It is customary for the company to applaud the chairman and to stand and toast the haggis with a glass of whisky.
The traditional Burns supper menu consists of cock-a-leekie soup (or Scotch broth) and haggis with "tatties and neeps" (potatoes and turnips), Tipsy Laird (sherry trifle) followed by oatcakes and cheese, all washed down with liberal tots of the "water of life" - Scotch whisky.
One of the central features of the evening is when an invited guest is asked to give a short speech on Burns. Known as the Immortal Memory speech, it can be light-hearted or literary but the aim is to outline the greatness and relevance of the poet today. Various humorous speeches follow.
Once the speeches are complete the evening continues with songs and poems written by Burns. Favourites include Tam O'Shanter, Address To The Unco Guid, To A Mouse, and Holy Willie's Prayer.
The evening ends with the company standing, linking hands and singing one of Burns's most famous works, Auld Lang Syne.
It is not just in Scotland that the Burns supper tradition is maintained. On or around 25 January, the life and works of the poet are celebrated everywhere from Moscow to Manhattan, Newfoundland to New Zealand. In 2003, a Nimrod crew flying out to the Gulf from RAF Kinloss in Scotland took 70 haggis with them so that Scottish troops stationed in the region could enjoy the special meal. Two sacks of neeps (turnips) were also donated by a farmer. In a break with tradition, the captain of the 201 Squadron crew, Flight Lieutenant Chris Perks, said that out of respect for local culture, the meal would be served without whisky.
And in January 2004, Burns's vision of brotherhood received high praise from a surprising source - United Nations secretary-general Kofi Annan. Mr Annan, who was introduced to Burns's poetry by a colleague who plays the bagpipes, gave the inaugural Robert Burns Memorial Lecture in New York.
In a speech entitled The Brotherhood of Man, Mr Annan said that the words of Scotland's national bard have important lessons for the 21st century and he urged the international community to ease the world's troubles by heeding the words and ideas of Robert Burns.
"You might well ask why a United Nations secretary-general was eager to take part in this event," said Kofi Annan. "At first glance, one might think there is an ocean of distance between the hard-nosed give-and-take of international diplomacy, as it is practised here in New York, and the lyrical verse that emanated from rural Scotland two centuries ago. But look closer and I think you will see why I am here.
"To take just one example, Burns was born into poverty and spent his youth working on a farm. Burns's poems dignify and illuminate the struggle faced by the vast majority of the world's population today."
He continued: "But it is one of Burns's most famous lines - 'a man's a man for a' [all] that' - that I should like to serve as the touchstone for my remarks tonight. And in particular his prayer, in the same poem, that 'man to man, the world o'er, Shall brothers be for a' that'.
"Living together is the fundamental human project - not just in towns and villages from Scotland to South Africa, but also as a single human family facing common threats and opportunities.
Mr Annan concluded: "So let us allow hope to be renewed. Let us admire the enduring resonance of the work of Robert Burns. And let us dream, as he did, of a true brotherhood - and sisterhood - that embraces and encompasses all humankind, and allows all people a chance to enjoy their inalienable rights, dignity and freedom."
www.britainusa.com/faq/showfaq.asp?SID=267