Burns Night

There was a Scottish poet named Robert Burns and every year for his birthday, January 25, the Scots celebrate.  Celebrating Robert Burns is called Burns Night and it doesn't always occur on his actual date of birth.

Burns Night celebrations are typically the same no matter where you are celebrating or who you are celebrating with.  The past two years for Burns Night's I've been lucky enough to attend the Chevron Burns Night celebration with my many friends who work for Chevron.

A typical Burns Night is:

The start of the evening (guest gather and have a glass of bubbly)
Host's welcoming speech (the host says a few words welcoming everyone and declares the evening open)
The Selkirk Grace (a poem, the first of many read through out the night) and the first course (typically soup)
Piping of the haggis (everyone stands as the main course is brought in, which is of course a large dish of haggis, while a piper plays the bagpipes)
Address to a Haggis (reciting of Robert Burns Poem)
Supper (follows the poem with a toast of Scotch whisky to the haggis.  Traditional supper is: haggis served with neeps and tatties, neeps and what you say?  I.E.  mashed turnips and mashed potatoes)
Immortal memory (one of the guests gives a short speech remembering some aspect of Burns' life or poetry)
Appreciation (host will then say a few words thanking the previous speaker)
Toast to the Lassies (originally was a short speech given by a male guest to thank the women who prepared the meal, nowadays it is usually an amusing but not offensive speech filled with humor)
Reply to the Toast to the Lassies (or the "Toast to the Laddies", usually like the previous toast but with a female giving her views on men or a reply to the toast to the lassies)

The rest of the night is spent dancing ceilidh which is like Scottish line dancing for my American friends.

Pre-drinks

The boys in their kilts

The girls in their fancy dresses

Dude, is he wearing a skirt??

A little Scottish line dancing

Nary and I

Boys being boys in kilts

Diane, Phil and I

A big thanks goes out to Nary for taking the time to take pictures, I was having too much fun to even remember that I brought my camera.


For the rest of the album