Robbie Burns

The only thing crazier than the weather (from -33 yesterday to -3 today), is the fact that I never seem to get around to posting my blog posts.  Here is a blog post I wrote last week, but never got around to posting:

Besides loving the Outlander Series by Diana Gabaldon, and drinking Irn Bru pop, I really don't know a lot about Scotland, let alone who the heck Robbie Burns is.  However, I wasn't going to let that small detail stop me from attending a Robbie Burns Supper the other week.

I spent better part of the night trying to figure out who this Robbie Burns character was.  Robbie Burns likes women.  Robbie Burns seemed like a philanderer.  Robbie Burns had 11 children.  

We ended up sitting at a table with some older ladies.  They were retired teachers that come every year to the supper together.  They were very proud of their heritage.  One lady informed me that her grandmother came to Canada from Scotland.  Another lady at the table could trace her roots back to the 1600's!  They were very friendly.  In fact, I was informed that I sounded well read and was then recommended some books to read: The Kings Speech, and How Scotland Invented the Modern World.  I will have to have to put them on my books to read list.  

There are so many customs to a Robbie Burns supper which I found delightful.  Carrying the haggis up to the head table by an official Haggis Carrier, followed by an ode and then a toast to the haggis.

This year was the 250th annual Robbie Burns supper.  It is a way to celebrate scottish heritage through dance, music, and food.  I would definitely go back next year to celebrate and sit with people I don't know just to meet people and hear stories about their heritage.

~b~