Burns

2. Burns Night (Jan '04)

Friday night I went to a Burns' supper. This is a feast held every year in Scotland in honor of the late, great National Poet, Robert Burns (author of many songs and poems, the most famous of which being "Auld Lang Syne"). The celebration that Justin and Laura took me to was in the town hall in Bernera, a village about 30 minutes away. And yes, I ate haggis. It wasn't bad. A little mushy maybe. It is traditionally served with "Neeps and Tatties", ie. turnips and potatoes. The haggis last night was a layered dish, with the haggis on the bottom, then a layer of mashed turnips, and topped with a layer of mashed potatoes, so it was a bit hard to distinguish the flavor or texture of the haggis apart from the others. But quite tasty, overall.

A large part of the tradition is "piping in the haggis" where a bagpiper plays as the haggis is brought forth from the kitchen (they had a proper, traditional haggis for this purpose, still in its skin [well, I think it's cooked in some kind of parchment paper these days]). Then there's the "Address to a Haggis" where someone recites Burns' poem of the same name. It begins:

Fair fa' your honest, sonsie face,
Great chieftain o' the puddin-race!
Aboon them a' ye tak your place,
Painch, tripe, or thairm:
Weel are ye wordy o' a grace
As lang's my arm.

Which means:

Fair is your honest happy face
Great chieftain of the pudding race
Above them all you take your place
Stomach, tripe or guts
Well are you worthy of a grace
As long as my arm

After supper (there was a meat or chicken dish in addition to the haggis, plus cake and custard for dessert), there was the entertainment. First was Highland dancing done by the girls from Bernera and other villages (two were the daughters of folks from Tolstachaolais, who sat with us at our table). They were fully kitted out in argyle socks, plaid kilts and embroidered vests, and did the Highland fling, and the dance around the crossed swords. There was a father/daughter duo who played a few tunes on small pipes and accordion. And of course a band played while we danced the Schottishe, Gay Gordon and others. Then there were prizes raffled off, things that people brought expressly for that purpose: bottles of wine or whiskey, or various toys and games. We left around midnight, with the party still going strong, even the young kids wide awake and running around.

It was a really nice atmosphere. Like a family dinner for the holidays but on a larger scale (I think there were about 150 to 200 people there). And I think it was the only time I've ever seen a couple dancing where the man was wearing the skirt and the woman wearing pants!

Then last night Justin and Laura treated me to "gourmet haggis." They bought a traditional haggis and a vegetarian haggis from McSweens, haggisists to the world. Justin is quite a cook, and he made fancy haggis with white sauce, honey-roasted neeps, and creamy mashed potatoes. It was definitely tastier than the haggis for the multitudes; the meaty haggis was spicy and had nice bits of plump oatmeal grains, while the veggie haggis was almost like a dessert, sweet and crumbly. Still and all, I think I've had my haggis rations for the year.

Love,
Andrea

p.s. If you want to write to me, you can send letters to:

Andrea Blumberg
10 Tolstachaolais
Isle of Lewis
HS2 9DW

or call me at (44) 1851 621 705

You have to dial the "get out of the country" code, which is something like "01" or "011". Or maybe "001". I never remember. But it's in the phone book. Also, remember that I'm 5 hours ahead of the east coast and 8 hours ahead of the west coast.

Andrea Blumberg