Robert Burns was the son of a farmer. He is said to have had a 'fondness for the ladies', and he was an enthusiastic promoter of human welfare and social reform.

Robert Burns wrote much of his greatest poetry and songs in his native Scots language and his works have had a significant influence on keeping the Scots language alive. For example, there are people all over the world who sing Burns' Auld Lang Syne (1788) on New Year's Eve:

Should auld acquaintance be forgot, And never brought to mind? Should auld acquaintance be forgot, And auld lang syne? For auld lang syne, my dear, For auld lang syne. We'll tak a cup o' kindness yet, For auld lang syne.

Did you know that after Queen Victoria and Christopher Columbus, Robert Burns has more statues dedicated to him around the world than any other non-religious figure?

Burns Supper

Burns' Night is traditionally celebrated with a Burns Supper.

This tradition is said to have been started by a few close friends of Robert Burns who met for dinner on the fifth anniversary of Burns' death to celebrate his life and works. The evening was such a success that they agreed to meet again the next year, and so the tradition of holding a Burns Supper to celebrate Robert Burns' life was born.

Burns Supper food

Typical menus for a Burns Supper include cock-a-leekie soup (chicken and leek), haggis with neeps (turnip or swede) and tatties (mashed potatoes), and, for desert, Typsy Laird (sherry trifle).

A haggis is like a large sausage and is sheep's stomach filled with minced sheep's heart, liver and lungs, and onion and oatmeal. If you would like to try making one for yourself, here is a traditional haggis recipe

At a traditional Burns Supper the Haggis is brought in on a silver platter, in a procession of people which includes the chef and a piper. Guests stand to welcome the Haggis and clap to the music. A reader reads out Address to a Haggis in an entertaining way, then cuts the Haggis and holds it up high, and the guests applaud enthusiastically! 

Address to a Haggis (1786) Here's part of Robert Burns' poem about the haggis, in Scots dialect:

Address to a Haggis Fair fa' your honest, sonsie face, Great chieftain o the puddin'-race! Aboon them a' ye tak your place, Painch, tripe, or thairm: Weel are ye wordy of a grace As lang's my arm.

This is the standard English translation

Fair is your honest cheerful face, Great chieftain of the pudding race! Above them all you take your place, Stomach, tripe or intestines: Well are you worthy of a grace As long as my arm

And here is a translation into Czech:

Tvá oblá tvář je čarovná. je tváří vůdce, chuti tvé se maso, drůbky nerovná a co jich jest! Ty králem jsi všem pokrmům na věky čest!

(Translated by Stanslav Kostiha)

You can read the whole poem in Czech on the Burns Night Prague web site.

Do you know of any translations into other languages?

Listen to Address to a Haggis, read by actor John Gordon Sinclair.

Try our Burns' Night word search Use your mouse cursor to highlight the words you find.

The Robert Burns Humanitarian Award is presented annually to a group or individual who has "saved, improved or enriched the lives of others or society as a whole, through personal self-sacrifice, selfless service, 'hands on' charitable/volunteer work, or other acts." The winner receives 1759 guineas – 1759 being the year of Burns' birth, and guineas being the currency then in circulation.

Homecoming Year 2009 was Scotland’s first Homecoming Year, and the year consisted of a calendar of events marking the 250th anniversary of Robert Burns’ birth and celebrating all things Scottish.

Image of a thistle (the national emblem of Scotland) by foxypar4 Image of a haggis by roland Image of Address to a Haggis by madmack66

St. Andrew's Day is on 30th November.

It is the official National Day in Scotland, UK, and in 2006 was designated an official bank holiday by the Scottish Parliament.

St Andrew is the patron saint of Scotland, and also Greece, Russia and Romania. He was one of Jesus Christ’s Twelve Apostles and is thought to have been a fisherman, like his brother Simon Peter (Saint Peter).

St. Andrew's Day is an opportunity for people around the world to celebrate Scotland’s culture and heritage.

In 2009, the St. Andrew's Day celebrations were a key part of the finale weekend of the Homecoming Scotland year.

2009 was Scotland’s first Homecoming Year, and the year consisted of a calendar of events marking the 250^th anniversary of Scottish poet Robert Burns’ birth and celebrating all things Scottish.

The Homecoming Year was so successful that another is planned for 2014.

The Scots Language

There is some disagreement over whether Scots is a language in its own right, rather than one of the ancient dialects of English. Some believe that it is the ‘English of Scotland’, a part of General English; others that it is a Germanic language, as distinct from English as Swedish is distinct from Danish.

Its relationship with the English of England has been compared to Frisian in the Netherlands, which is dominated by Dutch; and Norwegian, which was once dominated by Danish.

Scots vocabulary overlaps with English, but Scots has words that are absent from Standard English. Some words are shared with dialects of Northern England, while others are unique to Scotland.

Distinctive Scots vocabulary comes from a variety of sources, including Old English, Old Norse, French, Dutch and Gaelic. * Here is some text written in Scots (from the Homecoming Scotland web site), with the partial English translation below it:

Scots

“Hamecomin Scotland 2009 is a year-lang leet o events tae celebrate aw that’s guid aboot Scotland. 2009 is the anniversary o the birth o Scotland’s maist kenspeckle makar, Robert Burns. Jine us tae merk Burns’ birthday, Scottish contributions tae gowf, whisky and Scotland’s muckle minds and innovations forby. Whither ye bide faur awa or doon the road, come hame tae oor ain unique cultur and heritage. In 2009, come hame tae Scotland.”

English

“Homecoming Scotland 2009 celebrates the 250th anniversary of Robert Burns’ birth. We’re also celebrating some of Scotland’s great contributions to the world: golf, whisky, great minds and innovations and Scotland’s rich ancestry and culture.” **

You can see how different Scots is to English

Try this Think You Know Scots? quiz with words like 'fankle', 'ramgunshoch' and 'genty'

Find out more about the Scots language from the Scots Language Centre or listen to Scots language on the Scots Language Centre’s channel on YouTube.

St. Andrew's Day fans are invited to join the online World Wide Ceilidh, where you and a partner can upload your photos, put on a kilt and a sporran, and dance a Scottish reel! The kilt and sporran are part of Scottish national dress – see the photo above.

St. Andrew's Day Traditions

Across Europe, in parts of Germany, Austria, the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Poland, and Romania, there are superstitious beliefs that a woman’s future husband can be revealed on the night before St. Andrew's Day. From the Homecoming Scotland site:

“In some parts of the Czech Republic and Slovakia, young women would write down the names of potential husbands on little pieces of paper, and stick these into little pieces of dough, called Halusky. When cooked, the first one to float to the surface of the water would reveal the name of their future husband.

In Poland, it is popular for women to put pieces of paper (on which they have written of potential husbands) under the pillow and first thing in the morning they take one out, which reveals the name of the future husband.” **

Do you have any St. Andrew's Day traditions in your country? I'd love to hear about them.

Image © SteveWagner

* Oxford Companion to the English Language

**© 2008 EventScotland