WEBVTT - How Does Burns Night Work?

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<v Speaker 1>Welcome to Brainstuff, a production of iHeartRadio, Hey Brainstuff. Lorn Vogelbaum. Here.

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<v Speaker 1>Every January twenty fifth, Proud Scots from Edinburgh to Shanghai

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<v Speaker 1>celebrate the life and literary genius of the eighteenth century

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<v Speaker 1>Scottish poet Robert Burns through a beloved tradition called Burns Night,

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<v Speaker 1>ranging from formal ceremonies with tilted bagpipers to small gatherings

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<v Speaker 1>of old friends. A good Burns Night often has three

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<v Speaker 1>things in common, a bottle of good Scotch whiskey, readings

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<v Speaker 1>of classic Burns poems and songs, and a fat and

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<v Speaker 1>juicy haggis. It's hard to overstate the heroic status of

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<v Speaker 1>Burns in Scottish cultural psyche. Born on January twenty fifth

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<v Speaker 1>of seventeen fifty nine, and not only was Burns the

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<v Speaker 1>author of some five hundred and fifty songs and poems,

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<v Speaker 1>including Odd Lang Sign, the second most sung song in

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<v Speaker 1>the world after Happy Birthday, and favorites like My Love

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<v Speaker 1>Is Like a Red Red Rose. He was also a

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<v Speaker 1>man of the people, a lifelong farmer known as the

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<v Speaker 1>heaven Top Plowman or the Plowman poet. Burns poems are

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<v Speaker 1>some of the first taught in Scottish primary schools, and

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<v Speaker 1>his dashing portrait is plastered on posters nationwide like Jay

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<v Speaker 1>Guavera or John F. Kennedy. Before the article this episode

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<v Speaker 1>is based on, has Stuff Works spoke with Alistair Braidwood,

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<v Speaker 1>creator and host of the scott Swahey Podcast, a show

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<v Speaker 1>about Scottish culture. He said, the fact that we can

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<v Speaker 1>project different aspects of a national identity onto this figure

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<v Speaker 1>has allowed him to endure. You could say Scotland is

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<v Speaker 1>a hard drinking country and Burns did that, or Scotland

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<v Speaker 1>is a socially liberal country and he was that. There's

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<v Speaker 1>something about him, the man and his poetry that people

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<v Speaker 1>can tap into. Burns is celebrated all year in Scotland,

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<v Speaker 1>but a special veneration is reserved for his birthday. It

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<v Speaker 1>started just a few years after Burn's untimely death at

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<v Speaker 1>just thirty seven years of age from rheumatic fever, when

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<v Speaker 1>his close friends gathered for a memorial supper in his honor.

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<v Speaker 1>From there, the traditions spread across Scotland and eventually the world.

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<v Speaker 1>Wherever you find a scot on January twenty fifth, you'll

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<v Speaker 1>likely find a Burns Night a Formal suppers are held

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<v Speaker 1>at these some two hundred and fifty official Burns clubs worldwide,

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<v Speaker 1>and various restaurants and private individuals host suppers too. The

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<v Speaker 1>main attraction of Burns Night is the Burns Supper, and

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<v Speaker 1>the star of the supper is undeniably the haggis. Haggis

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<v Speaker 1>is a type of sausage made of awfal meats, often

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<v Speaker 1>including the heart, liver, and lung of sheep and sometimes

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<v Speaker 1>other animals, that are simmered and minced up, then combined

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<v Speaker 1>with onion about an equal portion of oats to meats

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<v Speaker 1>and beef suet, then seasoned with things like salt, pepper, coriander, ginger, nutmeg,

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<v Speaker 1>allspice and bay, and finally stuffed in either a sheep's

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<v Speaker 1>stomach or a sausage casing and boiled until semi firm.

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<v Speaker 1>It's often a large dish cut tableside with the crumbly

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<v Speaker 1>interior dished out family style. A burn supper begins with

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<v Speaker 1>opening remarks by the host and the recitation of the

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<v Speaker 1>Selkirk Grace, traditional thanks of the Scot's language. It's associated

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<v Speaker 1>with Burns because he's said to have translated it to

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<v Speaker 1>English on the spot. At a dinner for the Earl

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<v Speaker 1>of Selkirk. It goes as some have meat and cannot eat.

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<v Speaker 1>Some cannot eat that want it. But we have meat

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<v Speaker 1>and we can eat, so let the Lord be thanked.

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<v Speaker 1>After that, the haggis is brought out with great fanfare,

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<v Speaker 1>sometimes accompanied by a parade of bagpipes, which brings us

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<v Speaker 1>to everyone's favorite part of the night. The recitation of

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<v Speaker 1>Addressed to a haggis written in the Scots language. Like

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<v Speaker 1>many of Burns's works, this poem is a humorous hymn

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<v Speaker 1>to the iconic dish and which Burns scoffs at the

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<v Speaker 1>high cuisine of the French and praises the rustic strength

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<v Speaker 1>of haggis fed men. Rely does sound best in its

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<v Speaker 1>original Scots, but since I don't speak that, but here's

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<v Speaker 1>the opening in translation, good luck to you and your honest,

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<v Speaker 1>plump face, great chieftain of the sausage race. The poem

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<v Speaker 1>is meant to be recited with gusto, completely dramatic, and

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<v Speaker 1>sometimes body hand gestures. For a non body example. There's

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<v Speaker 1>a part where Burns describes cutting open the haggis again

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<v Speaker 1>in English, his knife see the serving man wipe then

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<v Speaker 1>cut you up with effort's slight, making a trench in

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<v Speaker 1>your entrails bright just like a ditch. And then what

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<v Speaker 1>a glorious sight, warm, steaming rich. Upon these words, the

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<v Speaker 1>orator slits open the haggis from top to bottom, revealing

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<v Speaker 1>its piping hot spiced sausage. Inerts. Braidwood said, it's just

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<v Speaker 1>a great fun poem. Apart from everything else, I've seen

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<v Speaker 1>people really give it their all when they're doing the

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<v Speaker 1>address to a haggis, and you've got the cutting open

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<v Speaker 1>of the haggis right there in the poem. It almost

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<v Speaker 1>tells you how to enjoy a good Burns night. And

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<v Speaker 1>that's not the only speech. Burne's famously appreciated women. He

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<v Speaker 1>fathered twelve children, only nine with his wife, and the

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<v Speaker 1>Toast to the Lassies is a chance for one intrepid

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<v Speaker 1>guest to use some snippets of Burn's verse to praise

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<v Speaker 1>and poke fun at the ladies and attendants. They have

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<v Speaker 1>to be careful, though, because it's the women who get

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<v Speaker 1>the last laugh with their bespoke reply to the Toast

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<v Speaker 1>to the Lassies. This is usually written and delivered by

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<v Speaker 1>one of those ladies in attendants, but it's all in

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<v Speaker 1>good fun. The evening ends with everyone holding hands and

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<v Speaker 1>singing old Lang sign. You can check out our whole

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<v Speaker 1>episode about that song from December thirty first of twenty twenty.

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<v Speaker 1>But basically, this is an old Scots language song that

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<v Speaker 1>burns sat down as a poem about old friends meeting

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<v Speaker 1>up over drinks and reminiscing about the good old days,

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<v Speaker 1>a fitting cap on an evening of celebrating this man

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<v Speaker 1>of the people. Today's episode is based on the article

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<v Speaker 1>get out the Haggis It's Burns Night on HowStuffWorks dot com,

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<v Speaker 1>written by Dave Ruse. Brainstuff is production of iHeartRadio in

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<v Speaker 1>partnership with howstifforks dot com and is produced by Tyler Klang.

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<v Speaker 1>For more podcasts my heart Radio, visit the iHeartRadio app,

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