25th January 2009 was the 250th anniversary of the birth of the most
famous Scottish poet, Robert Burns (1759 - 1796).
What Is Burns Night?
Five years after Robert Burns died, a group of his friends got together to
remember him and his poetry. The tradition became established and now, every
year on his birthday, 25th January, Scots all round the world celebrate Burns
Night with a Burns Supper which follows a format similar to the original dinner
(often with much toasting and drinking of whiskey!)
Format for A Burns Supper
At a grand dinner, guests are piped in (by
bagpipes) to
take their places at the dining table. The guests are welcomed by the host, who
declares the celebrations open. The Selkirk Grace (see below) is read, and supper begins with a soup
course (often the Scottish favourite Cock-A-Leekie soup). Now the
haggis, a
traditional Scottish dish (not for the faint-hearted!) is piped in from the
kitchen while the guests stand and clap the haggis in. The host or an invited
guest reads Burn's famous poem, Address To A Haggis, cutting open the haggis
with a large knife when they reach the line "an cut you up wi' ready slight"!
The haggis is eaten with mashed tatties and neeps (potatoes and
turnip, swede or rutabaga.) Then there will be dessert (often sherry trifle) and
oatcakes and cheese.
After dinner there will be a toast to the Queen, and one of the guests will give
a short speech about Burns called "The Immortal Memory". A man makes a "Toast to
the Lassies" and a lady makes a toast in reply. Guests will take turns reading
Burns poems, singing Burns songs and possibly doing some Highland dancing! The
party will close with everyone singing Auld
Lang Syne (scroll down).
Burns Night For Kids
Why not include the kids in your Burns Night celebrations, or hold a family
Burns Supper? We have lots of ideas for Burns Night activities for kids below,
as well as suggestions for food and printables to help your celebration go
smoothly!
Scottish Dialect
BookletNEW!
Here's a fun printable mini-Dictionary of Scottish dialect - you may need it to
help you make sense of Robert Burn's poetry! Instructions for folding our mini
booklets can be found
here.
Decorate the house or table with the Scottish flag - or colour in some Scottish
flags. Make bunting! Print out a map of Scotland, or try your hand at some
acrostic poems! St Andrew's Day printables
Write about
Robert Burns and other famous Scots using our writing frames /
notebooking paper or our foldable mini booklets... Lots
NEW! Famous Scots Notebooking Pages
This page (outside Activity Village) will give you a translation of Address
To A Haggis, as well as some extra information about the haggis and why Robert
Burns chose it as the subject of a poem.
The complete works of Robert Burns (with useful glossary - just hover over
highlighted words for the English meaning) http://www.robertburns.org/works/
New this year, our series of Christmas karaoke videos - they are a great way to
learn Christmas carols and singing along is fun, too! We have 5 so far, and more
coming soon... Christmas karaoke videos
Lots new for Bonfire Night - including writing paper, mini safety
booklets for children to write in and Guy Fawkes and James I classroom
printables... Bonfire Night
