How to Celebrate Burns Night

January 25 marks the birthday of Scotland’s favorite son, poet and balladeer Robert Burns, who is the writer of "Auld Lang Syne," one of the most famous songs of all time. He is toasted on the night of his birthday, called Burns Night, throughout Scotland, the British Isles and anywhere in the world that Scots reside.

Difficulty: Moderate

Instructions

Have a Burns Supper

1. Start by "piping in" the guests. In a traditional Burns Supper this would be done by a live bagpiper, but recordings of traditional music will do. The music should play until the guests (or at least those at the head table) are ready to be seated.

2. Welcome the guests with the Chairman’s Welcome. This is a warm welcome to the guests traditionally read by the host, or Chairman.

3. Recite the Selkirk Grace (see link below).

Piping in the Haggis

4. Ask guests to stand while the haggis is carried to the table by the chef, piper and person who will soon recite “To a Haggis" (see link below).

5. Have the whisky-bearer refill all the glasses at the table.

6. Have the reader recite the Burns poem “To a Haggis” with great emotion, cutting the haggis open at the appropriate line in the poem.

7. Have the reader triumphantly lift the haggis in the air, while guests toast the haggis by raising their glasses and shouting “The Haggis!!”

After-Dinner Entertainment

8. The first entertainer can perform a selection of Burns's poems or a song (see link below).

9. The keynote speaker can deliver a speech on the life of Burns, in a witty and entertaining style.

10. Instigate a second performance of Burns’s works.

11. Propose a "Toast to the Lassies" by using only quotes from Burns's poems.

12. Read a poem or work from Burns’s repertoire.

13. Have the women offer a response to the Toast to the Lassies.

14. Recite or sing more Robert Burns's work for the final entertainment.

15. Thank everyone for attending and invite them to close out the evening with a rendition of "Auld Lang Syne."

Tips & Warnings

• There's more to a Burns Supper than the haggis. Other items on the menu might include Cock-a-Leekie Soup, Neeps and Tatties, roast beef, steak pie, Clootie Dumplin, Tipsy Laird and of course liberal amounts of wine, ale and whisky!
• Study up on your pronunciation before attempting to recite a poem by Burns. Listen to professional readers reading his poetry and songs.
• Be sure to pierce the haggis before it is brought to the table to prevent it from spraying diners when it is cut open.