In celebration of deceased Scottish poet Robbie Burns’ birthday on January 25, the First Presbyterian Church will be holding a Robbie Burns Night on Saturday, January 22 at six p.m., where people can enjoy traditional food, entertainment, and laughs.
Robert Burns is considered to be the most known among all Scottish poets, and admired by many for having spoken the ways of common people and for his lyrical understanding, which the church also aims towards. Although the church doesn’t support a lot of the substance in Burns’ poems, such as celebrating the sexual relations between a man and woman, the pride of the self-reliant man and woman, and of course, how pleasant sociable drinking can be, the church respects Burns for his love for the down-and-out people.
Robbie Burns Night has been a long spanned tradition of the church, being held in off and on for at least fifty years. The celebration will include readings of Robbie Burns’ famous poetry, a little bit of live music, sing a longs, and traditional Scottish foods. As well, toasts will be made which have been known to become quite comical.
In honor of Burns’ poem “To a Haggis”, it is tradition for haggis to be eaten at celebrations. Haggis is a Scottish pudding made up of the heart, liver and lungs of a sheep chopped together with toasted oatmeal, onions, and seasonings then boiled together in a bag made of sheep’s stomach. Although that sounds very unappealing to some, haggis is said to be a lot like stuffing and be quite delicious.
The Masons will be offering their help for this year’s event, and will be doing some of the cooking.
The First Presbyterian Church has turned Robbie Burn Night into more of a general Scottish night celebration, but that doesn’t mean that people who are not Scottish can’t take pleasure in the celebration. Anyone wishing to take part in Robbie Burns Night can purchase tickets by calling 250-624-
3683.