Burns Night 2022 📜🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿

[lewys-gp]

Hello everyone ☕️🤎📰📜⚰️🕰🕯🎻🖋!

Tonight is Burns Night. And even though, I'm not Scottish, I would like to make sure the event is noted on the community 🤗.

Every year, on the 25th January, Scots celebrate the life and poetry of poet Robert Burns (25 January 1759 - 21 July 1796). A Burns Supper is held, where family, friends and strangers will get together to do some or all of the following:

• Piping in guests (bagpipes 🎶)
• Welcoming speeches
  • Sometimes a Selkirk Grace:

Some hae meat an canna eat,

And some wad eat that want it;

But we hae meat, and we can eat,

And sae the Lord be thankit.

• Soups
• Haggis
  • Guests may also Address to a Haggis
• Main courses
• Desserts
• Toasts (speeches, not the bread 😆)
• Works by Burns
• Closing moments
  • Usually, a singalong of Auld Lang Syne

Quite funnily, I've actually been invited to a belated Burns Supper for tomorrow! Someone I know went to Edinburgh University, so they've continued to celebrate since leaving the Highlands anyway.

When reading some of Burns' poems, I came across the song he'd written 'A Man's a Man for a'That' from 1795.

Is there for honest Poverty
That hings his head, an’ a’ that;
The coward-slave, we pass him by,
We dare be poor for a’ that!
For a’ that, an’ a’ that.
Our toils obscure an’ a’ that,
The rank is but the guinea’s stamp,
The Man’s the gowd for a’ that.

What though on hamely fare we dine,
Wear hoddin grey, an’ a that;
Gie fools their silks, and knaves their wine;
A Man’s a Man for a’ that:
For a’ that, and a’ that,
Their tinsel show, an’ a’ that;
The honest man, tho’ e’er sae poor,
Is king o’ men for a’ that.

Ye see yon birkie ca’d a lord,
Wha struts, an’ stares, an’ a’ that,
Tho’ hundreds worship at his word,
He’s but a coof for a’ that.
For a’ that, an’ a’ that,
His ribband, star, an’ a’ that,
The man o’ independent mind,
He looks an’ laughs at a’ that.

A Prince can mak a belted knight,
A marquis, duke, an’ a’ that!
But an honest man’s aboon his might –
Guid faith, he mauna fa’ that!
For a’ that, an’ a’ that,
Their dignities, an’ a’ that,
The pith o’ Sense an’ pride o’ Worth
Are higher rank than a’ that.

Then let us pray that come it may,
As come it will for a’ that,
That Sense and Worth, o’er a’ the earth
Shall bear the gree an’ a’ that.
For a’ that, an’ a’ that,
It’s comin yet for a’ that,
That Man to Man the warld o’er
Shall brithers be for a’ that.

I really enjoyed this. I think it's great for nations to celebrate their history, so I'm looking forward to participating in my own Burns Supper tomorrow.

Hopefully, I haven't said anything incorrect above! Obviously, I'm no expert... 

Is anyone celebrating Burns Night tonight or soon from the community? Does anyone have any stories to share about Burns Night in the past? Maybe, just about Scotland in general? Please, feel free to share anything and everything. I'd love to read them 😁.

From one Celt to another, I hope everyone celebrating enjoys 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿!

[jonsie]

I'm sure that poem makes sense to some...but....

[lewys-gp]

Haha, @jonsie! Yes, with the Scottish dialect, it was hard for me to interpret too. 

Here is an English translation I found online:

Is there for honest poverty
That hangs his head, and all that?
The coward slave, we pass him by -
We dare be poor for all that!
For all that, and all that,
Our toils obscure, and all that,
The rank is but the guinea's stamp,
The man's the gold for all that.

What though on homely fare we dine,
Wear rough grey tweed, and all that?
Give fools their silks, and knaves their wine -
A man is a man for all that.
For all that, and all that,
Their tinsel show, and all that,
The honest man, though ever so poor,
Is king of men for all that.

You see that fellow called 'a lord',
Who struts, and stares, and all that?
Though hundreds worship at his word,
He is but a dolt for all that.
For all that, and all that,
His ribboned, star, and all that,
The man of independent mind,
He looks and laughs at all that.

A prince can make a belted knight,
A marquis, duke, and all that!
But an honest man is above his might -
Good faith, he must not fault that
For all that, and all that,
Their dignities, and all that,
The pith of sense and pride of worth
Are higher rank than all that.

Then let us pray that come it may
(As come it will for a' that)
That Sense and Worth over all the earth
Shall take the prize and all that!
For all that, and all that,
It is coming yet for all that,
That man to man the world over
Shall brothers be for all that.

Here is a summary I also found online:

‘For a’ That and a’ That’ by Robert Burns describes the true worth of man and how it is not defined by wealth, position, or possessions.

And you can read more about it here 😁.

[Pipstop78]

My dad is Scottish and I'm surprised to say he doesn't like hagis 

[pgn]

And the Dessert may well be a delightful dish, Cranachan:

https://www.bbc.co.uk/food/recipes/cranachan_49732