Burns Night

What the day is

Burns Night is observed on January 25, the birthday of Robert Burns, Scotland's national poet, who was born in 1759 in Alloway, Ayrshire. It is marked with a Burns supper, a meal of traditional Scottish food, with readings, toasts and songs, held by Burns clubs, Scottish societies and families in Scotland and by Scots communities around the world.

Burns wrote in both English and Scots, and his work, from love songs to sharp satire, is still widely read and quoted. His poem Auld Lang Syne is sung on New Year's Eve in many countries.

Origin and background

The first Burns supper is traditionally dated to 1801, five years after Burns died in 1796, when a group of his friends gathered at his cottage to remember him. The custom spread through the nineteenth century as Scottish emigrants carried it abroad, and it has been kept alive ever since.

A formal supper follows a familiar order. Guests are welcomed, the Selkirk Grace is said, and the haggis is brought in to the sound of bagpipes and addressed with Burns's own poem, Address to a Haggis, before it is cut open. The meal is haggis with neeps and tatties, which are mashed turnip, or swede, and potatoes, and it is often followed by cranachan, a dessert of cream, oats, raspberries and whisky. There are toasts, including the Immortal Memory to Burns himself, readings of his poems, and the evening closes with Auld Lang Syne.

Haggis is made from sheep's heart, liver and lungs mixed with oatmeal, onion, suet and spices. Traditional haggis made with lung cannot be imported into the United States, so American versions leave it out, and vegetarian haggis is widely available too.

How to take part

• Host a small Burns supper with haggis, neeps and tatties, and a dram of Scotch whisky for those who drink.
• Read aloud one of Burns's poems, such as A Red, Red Rose or To a Mouse.
• Join a local Burns club or a supper in your area, many of which welcome guests.
• Listen to a recording of Burns's songs set to traditional tunes.
• Finish the evening by joining hands and singing Auld Lang Syne.