Speaker 1: Welcome to Brainstuff, a production of iHeartRadio, Hey Brainstuff. Lorn Vogelbaum. Here.
Speaker 1: Every January twenty fifth, Proud Scots from Edinburgh to Shanghai
Speaker 1: celebrate the life and literary genius of the eighteenth century
Speaker 1: Scottish poet Robert Burns through a beloved tradition called Burns Night,
Speaker 1: ranging from formal ceremonies with tilted bagpipers to small gatherings
Speaker 1: of old friends. A good Burns Night often has three
Speaker 1: things in common, a bottle of good Scotch whiskey, readings
Speaker 1: of classic Burns poems and songs, and a fat and
Speaker 1: juicy haggis. It's hard to overstate the heroic status of
Speaker 1: Burns in Scottish cultural psyche. Born on January twenty fifth
Speaker 1: of seventeen fifty nine, and not only was Burns the
Speaker 1: author of some five hundred and fifty songs and poems,
Speaker 1: including Odd Lang Sign, the second most sung song in
Speaker 1: the world after Happy Birthday, and favorites like My Love
Speaker 1: Is Like a Red Red Rose. He was also a
Speaker 1: man of the people, a lifelong farmer known as the
Speaker 1: heaven Top Plowman or the Plowman poet. Burns poems are
Speaker 1: some of the first taught in Scottish primary schools, and
Speaker 1: his dashing portrait is plastered on posters nationwide like Jay
Speaker 1: Guavera or John F. Kennedy. Before the article this episode
Speaker 1: is based on, has Stuff Works spoke with Alistair Braidwood,
Speaker 1: creator and host of the scott Swahey Podcast, a show
Speaker 1: about Scottish culture. He said, the fact that we can
Speaker 1: project different aspects of a national identity onto this figure
Speaker 1: has allowed him to endure. You could say Scotland is
Speaker 1: a hard drinking country and Burns did that, or Scotland
Speaker 1: is a socially liberal country and he was that. There's
Speaker 1: something about him, the man and his poetry that people
Speaker 1: can tap into. Burns is celebrated all year in Scotland,
Speaker 1: but a special veneration is reserved for his birthday. It
Speaker 1: started just a few years after Burn's untimely death at
Speaker 1: just thirty seven years of age from rheumatic fever, when
Speaker 1: his close friends gathered for a memorial supper in his honor.
Speaker 1: From there, the traditions spread across Scotland and eventually the world.
Speaker 1: Wherever you find a scot on January twenty fifth, you'll
Speaker 1: likely find a Burns Night a Formal suppers are held
Speaker 1: at these some two hundred and fifty official Burns clubs worldwide,
Speaker 1: and various restaurants and private individuals host suppers too. The
Speaker 1: main attraction of Burns Night is the Burns Supper, and
Speaker 1: the star of the supper is undeniably the haggis. Haggis
Speaker 1: is a type of sausage made of awfal meats, often
Speaker 1: including the heart, liver, and lung of sheep and sometimes
Speaker 1: other animals, that are simmered and minced up, then combined
Speaker 1: with onion about an equal portion of oats to meats
Speaker 1: and beef suet, then seasoned with things like salt, pepper, coriander, ginger, nutmeg,
Speaker 1: allspice and bay, and finally stuffed in either a sheep's
Speaker 1: stomach or a sausage casing and boiled until semi firm.
Speaker 1: It's often a large dish cut tableside with the crumbly
Speaker 1: interior dished out family style. A burn supper begins with
Speaker 1: opening remarks by the host and the recitation of the
Speaker 1: Selkirk Grace, traditional thanks of the Scot's language. It's associated
Speaker 1: with Burns because he's said to have translated it to
Speaker 1: English on the spot. At a dinner for the Earl
Speaker 1: of Selkirk. It goes as some have meat and cannot eat.
Speaker 1: Some cannot eat that want it. But we have meat
Speaker 1: and we can eat, so let the Lord be thanked.
Speaker 1: After that, the haggis is brought out with great fanfare,
Speaker 1: sometimes accompanied by a parade of bagpipes, which brings us
Speaker 1: to everyone's favorite part of the night. The recitation of
Speaker 1: Addressed to a haggis written in the Scots language. Like
Speaker 1: many of Burns's works, this poem is a humorous hymn
Speaker 1: to the iconic dish and which Burns scoffs at the
Speaker 1: high cuisine of the French and praises the rustic strength
Speaker 1: of haggis fed men. Rely does sound best in its
Speaker 1: original Scots, but since I don't speak that, but here's
Speaker 1: the opening in translation, good luck to you and your honest,
Speaker 1: plump face, great chieftain of the sausage race. The poem
Speaker 1: is meant to be recited with gusto, completely dramatic, and
Speaker 1: sometimes body hand gestures. For a non body example. There's
Speaker 1: a part where Burns describes cutting open the haggis again
Speaker 1: in English, his knife see the serving man wipe then
Speaker 1: cut you up with effort's slight, making a trench in
Speaker 1: your entrails bright just like a ditch. And then what
Speaker 1: a glorious sight, warm, steaming rich. Upon these words, the
Speaker 1: orator slits open the haggis from top to bottom, revealing
Speaker 1: its piping hot spiced sausage. Inerts. Braidwood said, it's just
Speaker 1: a great fun poem. Apart from everything else, I've seen
Speaker 1: people really give it their all when they're doing the
Speaker 1: address to a haggis, and you've got the cutting open
Speaker 1: of the haggis right there in the poem. It almost
Speaker 1: tells you how to enjoy a good Burns night. And
Speaker 1: that's not the only speech. Burne's famously appreciated women. He
Speaker 1: fathered twelve children, only nine with his wife, and the
Speaker 1: Toast to the Lassies is a chance for one intrepid
Speaker 1: guest to use some snippets of Burn's verse to praise
Speaker 1: and poke fun at the ladies and attendants. They have
Speaker 1: to be careful, though, because it's the women who get
Speaker 1: the last laugh with their bespoke reply to the Toast
Speaker 1: to the Lassies. This is usually written and delivered by
Speaker 1: one of those ladies in attendants, but it's all in
Speaker 1: good fun. The evening ends with everyone holding hands and
Speaker 1: singing old Lang sign. You can check out our whole
Speaker 1: episode about that song from December thirty first of twenty twenty.
Speaker 1: But basically, this is an old Scots language song that
Speaker 1: burns sat down as a poem about old friends meeting
Speaker 1: up over drinks and reminiscing about the good old days,
Speaker 1: a fitting cap on an evening of celebrating this man
Speaker 1: of the people. Today's episode is based on the article
Speaker 1: get out the Haggis It's Burns Night on HowStuffWorks dot com,
Speaker 1: written by Dave Ruse. Brainstuff is production of iHeartRadio in
Speaker 1: partnership with howstifforks dot com and is produced by Tyler Klang.
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