We Partied With Robbie Burns

We just returned home to Raleigh, North Carolina. We were invited to attend a Robert Burns' Birthday Celebration by a couple named Chris and Colleen who live in Virginia, just south of DC. We were then asked if we would participate with speeches. We said yes. 

What was I thinking? I write books, but I find I need to do more and more side jobs such as making books covers and speaking to groups. Writing a speech for a Scottish-themed party made sense since my next book, which will be released in April, is Heaven-sent Highlander.

Me and Colleen

With my help, my husband wrote a speech titled A Toast to the Lassies that is always part of the Robert Burns birthday celebrations that take place every January around the world. I was asked to write the response, referred to as A Toast to the Laddies.

Robert burns is Scotland's best known poet, for writing the song Auld Lang Syne plus hundreds of poems. The 500+ mile round trip to this party in Virginia was well worth it. The haggis was delicious and the many bottles of fine scotch made the men smile. We were happy to see that many of those men wore kilts while some of us lassies wore HIghland dresses. 

The 16 in attendance were from all walks of life and had met our hosts in various places. We met them when we attended the Clan MacBean AGM last October during the Stone Mountain Highland Games near atlanta, GA. 

Beverage Area Saluted Robbie Burns

We enjoyed ourselves even though we only knew our two hosts. It is amazing what a nip of fine Scottish whiskey can do to loosen you up!  

Nancy Lee

Happy Birthday Scottish Poet Robert Burns

Salute the HAGGIS!

January 25th marks the celebration of a birth that occurred over 250 years ago. This person came into the world before America was its own country; before the regency and Victorian eras swept England; before my ancestors had any inkling how the world would turn out.
 

The dry facts go like this: Robert Burns was born in Alloway, Ayreshire, in Scotland, in a farmer’s cottage. Poems, Chiefly in the Scottish Dialect was his first published work. Burns’ poem To a Haggis, is recited across the world during the annual Burns Night celebrations every January. His tongue-in-cheek exaggeration of his love for this oatmeal, onions, heart and liver concoction boiled inside a sheep’s stomach has elevated the simple sausage to a national icon.

Still wondering what all the hoopla about a guy long dead is all about? Do the English host a party on Shakespeare’s birthday? Do the Americans honor Longfellow? Not to this extent. The world has celebrated this poet’s life since a few years after his death when a group of Burns’ friends got together to read his poems and drink a little Scotch Whisky.

Some idolize the man for his poetry and songs. He is remembered in Scotland, where a beautiful museum was dedicated to Robert Burns. 

January is here, again. Since moving from New Hampshire, I have missed attending the annual Robert Burns Night held by the St. Andrews Society of New Hampshire. I miss those gatherings, where over 100 people attend dressed in Scottish attire to enjoy music, Highland dancers, fine whisky, great food, and a story about Robert Burns. The evening always ends with everyone joining hands to sing one of Robert Burns’ songs, a very familiar song…Auld Lang Syne.

Happy Birthday, Robert.

Nancy