Burns Night

St. Cross held a Burns supper to celebrate Burns Night, the Scottish holiday that honors Robert Burns, the man widely considered to be the national poet of Scotland (and the writer of Auld Lang Syne).

I attended STX formal hall on Tuesday night, and the theme was Burns Night (Burns Night is actually on January 25, Burns' birthday). Burns Night honors the Scottish poet Robert Burns, and Burns suppers traditionally include eating haggis, drinking whisky, and listening to Burns' poetry. All of the places in the hall were booked, and they upped the dress code from daily wear and gowns to tartans or lounge suits (formal attire) and gowns. A bunch of guys showed up in kilts - and many of them weren't even Scottish!

Appetizer: leek, chive and potato soup (non-veg was cullen skink, a Scottish soup)
Entree: (vegetarian) haggis, tatties (mahsed potatoes) and neeps (mashed turnips)
Dessert: raspberry cranachan trifle
There was also a whisky-pairing option, but I passed on that.

The main course of haggis was brought in on a large dish, there was a bagpiper, and everyone had to stand.

The Master then read a poem called "Address to a Haggis". Haggis is made of sheep heart/liver/lungs and oats, and is usually served in the animal's stomach. I'm not sure what the veggie haggis consisted of, but it seemed like barley and a bunch of other stuff. It was very dry without the sauce.

After dinner, we went into the common room to listen to the toasts. A man is supposed to give a 'toast to the lassies' (an amusing speech about views of women) and then a woman gives a response speech called the 'toast to the laddies.' Nobody volunteered beforehand to give the toast to the lassies, so after the toast to the laddies, some Scottish (I presume) guy gave a spontaneous toast to the lassies.

Then we went back into the hall for a ceilidh with a ceilidh band. Apparently every Scot knows the ceilidh dances since they learn them in school. It is basically like the Scottish folk dancing version of square dancing. I got involved after watching the first dance. It was fun, though we all messed up quite often.