Burns night

                                            

January 25th2013 may be the feast of the Prophet's birthday in the Islamic world but in Scotland it is Burns Night. This celebrates the 18th lowland scots poet Robbie Burns and all over the world groups of (usually only)men get togther in his memory. They eat Haggis, a Scottish speciality made from a sheep's stomach stuffed with various parts of its minced offal, barley and flavourings and boiled for hours. It is ceremoniously piped in by a pipe'r wearing full kilt costume,(usually all the men will be in kilts too), Burns' poem "Ode to the Haggis" is recited and the it is cut with a sword before being served.
At many Burns dinners each diner is required to bring a bottle ofwhisky and there is subtle competion as who has brought the rarest or oldest malt (and hence the most expensive).Everyone is supposed to partake of each and as theorectically each man is expected to drink a bottle of whisky (for a non-alcholic to do so would probably mean a trip to Casualty with alcohol poisoning) everybody gets very very drunk.

                                                

                                                                                

                                                      
Here is one of Burns' more lyrical poems which is often set to music

My love is like a red, red rose

That’s newly sprung in June :

My love is like the melody

That’s sweetly played in tune.

As fair art thou, my bonnie lass,

So deep in love am I :

And I will love thee still, my dear,

Till a’ the seas gang dry.

Till a’ the seas gang dry, my dear,

And the rocks melt wi’ the sun :

And I will love thee still, my dear,

While the sands o’ life shall run.

And fare thee weel, my only love,

And fare thee weel a while !

And I will come again, my love,

Thou’ it were ten thousand mile.