Burns Night - poetry, haggis & whisky

Growing up all over the world it was always part of normality to me as a child to adopt other culture's celebrations. It was rarely just a case of learning about it in school but most of the time I had at least one classmate or teacher from the country in question. So it's never been much of a stretch for me to adopt the traditions of my husband's home country, Scotland. I love that we can mix, share and choose the things from both our cultures that we feel are close to us. I think my husband feels the same as he's often better at remembering about Swedish celebrations than I am and has on occasion been the one to educate me as I often feel I know more about other countries than the one I'm from.

The 25th of January is known here as Burns night (also, but less frequently, Burns Day) and is a celebration of the work of the famous Scottish poet Robert Burns. Today is, or rather was, his birth date and the evening is celebrated in a manner that lives up to many Scottish stereotypes: there are bagpipes, whisky, poetry by Rabbie himself, haggis (of course) and the night is ended on the world famous "auld Lang syne". My earliest memories of learning about it are from primary school in Cairo, Egypt, where I had a Scottish teacher in 4th grade; Mrs. Smith. We had just moved abroad again after four years living in Sweden, I had been abroad before that and learnt English in Botswana and China, but after four years of hardly using it I remember struggling to get into the swing of things those first few months in Egypt. Having a teacher with a thick Scots accent was definitely throwing me in at the deep end, but it didn't take long before I picked up everything I had forgotten. Children's brains and capacity for picking up languages truly is amazing, learning to express yourself in as many ways as possible can never be a bad thing, whether through words, dance or art!

Mrs. Smith made a strong impression on me and I think she awoke an interest in Scotland as a nation already then at the age of nine; I have been fascinated by this country as long as I can remember. It was a dream come true the first time I visited Scotland, living here is verging on surreal to me. I admit that much about Burns night didn't stay with me after that although I have of course visited his work in English literature classes during my years in school. My husband has however made sure we celebrate it together every year since we met. He is incredibly proud of his heritage (but mostly I think he just loves any excuse to don his kilt! - don't blame him, it's an incredibly attractive garment on men in my mind) and has never been one for doing anything half arsed.

We've had haggis and black pudding, usually after cullen skink (a Scottish smoked haddock soup), regardless of the country we've been in at the time. I remember trekking across Brussels to get to the "English shop" just to get hold of the all important haggis, and we have travelled with it in our suitcases down to Switzerland. Since moving to Scotland three years ago it has of course been easier to source the ingredients, and every year it becomes a fancier affair. Still no bagpipes admittedly, but maybe we can get one of the kids to pick it up so they can pipe us in in the future... As long as we don't need to listen to them practising! (I love the instrument, it gives me goosebumps and makes my heart beat faster, like a call from the past; however it's pretty horrific when played badly). My husband knows a fair few Burns poems, and tries to make sure some of the important speeches are covered. The night itself traditionally includes (it's usually just the two of us so it's not as grand an evening as others surely have):

• Piping in of the guests
• Host's welcome speech
• The Selkirk Grace (Burns' Grace at Kirkcudbright)
• Soup 
• Piping in of the haggis
• Address to the haggis (A burns poem before the haggis is cut open)
• Toast to the haggis
• Food and drink a plenty
• Speeches and poetry readings in honours of Rabbie Burns
• There's also a speech and toast to the "lassies" to complement them and a return speech from them before the end which usually includes a toast and singing "Auld Lang Syne"

This year we have a couple of close family friends joining us for the evening's festivities. Our children are friends and so they will no doubt get to run wild for a bit before we try to usher them all to bed (because we live rurally and far from our visiting friends we tend to try to organise for them to stay the night at ours) so we can enjoy some rare adult company. My husband is currently out getting the all important haggis and whisky (hopefully some other food too!), and I ought to be tidying the house but as the toddler and baby are both sleeping while the eldest is at nursery I thought I'd grab the opportunity to write a little bit about today before getting on with the boring bits. I have already been informed by my husband that I am to read the "Address to the haggis", because to quote him: "what's the point if we aren't going to read some of his poems?". This was in response to me thinking he should just do all the speeches as he's the only "full-blooded" Scot in the house tonight and he knows the most about the evening (also he laughs at me when I try to speak in a Scots accent, for those that don't know me I have an Irish accent, strangely enough, after my years working in Irish bars). Our friends are also a multi-cultural family with roots in Scotland, the US & Poland, something I love that our children can bond over. So, yes, our friends will have poems shoved at them when they get in! 

Right, much as I'd love to keep writing I really ought to get on with the chores now before the kids wake up and make it impossible. There will be more Burns nights in future so I will just have to write more about it and him another time! To those that plan on celebrating it, whether with many or few, I hope you enjoy your meal this evening. I shall leave you with Robert Burns' Auld Lang Syne and wish you all well whether you celebrate today or not:

Should auld acquaintance be forgot,

And never brought to mind?

Should auld acquaintance be forgot,

And auld lang syne!

For auld long syne, my dear,

For auld long syne,

We'll tak a cup o' kindness yet,

For auld lang syne.