January 25, 2023
The birthday of Scotland’s most famous poet, Robert Burns (1759-1796), has become an occasion for Scots all over the world to gather together in his honor.
A Burns Night supper usually includes haggis, a traditional dish of the heart, lungs, and liver of a sheep or calf minced with suet, onions, oatmeal, and seasonings.
Burns’s words, Fair fa’ your honest, sonsie face, Great chieftain o’ the pudding-race!” greets the dish’s entry into the room.
Men wear kilts and women their tartan sashes, and the evening’s celebration includes reading Burns’s poems and singing his songs.
To close the celebrations guests usually stand, hold hands and sing the New Year’s Eve staple, “Auld Lang Syne”, before dancing and general merriment resumes. “Should auld acquaintance be forgot, And never brought to mind? Should auld acquaintance be forgot, And auld lang syne.“