JANUARY 15, 2009 ISSUE
Library Wants Input For Best Birthday Bash Ever
Robert Burns’ 250th Birthday Is January 25
The 250th anniversary of Robert Burns’ birth is January 25, and the Watauga County Public Library is planning a party on Saturday, January 24. If you have suggestions about activities the party should include, call Evelyn Johnson at 828-264-8784.Staff at Watauga County Public Library is planning to celebrate the 250th anniversary of the birth of Robert Burns, Scotland’s National Bard, and would like ideas and contributions from all High Country residents of Scottish ancestry to create a birthday bash to remember.
The core of the celebration will be a half-hour DVD about Burns’ life that will air on Saturday, January 24, at 1:00 p.m.
Burns, the author of “Auld Lang Syne” that men and women the world over sing at the start of the new year, was born on January 25, 1759. When he died on July 21, 1796, he was as famous as a modern-day pop star.
He hit Scotland’s “headlines” in 1786 with a book of poems “chiefly in the Scottish dialect.” When he died, he was working on a long-term project to record the melodies of and write new lyrics for traditional and ancient Scottish songs. Many of these are still famous worldwide.
“We want to celebrate Robert Burns’ birthday and recognize what was significant about his life,” said Evelyn Johnson, who is in charge of adult programming at the library.
She said she is currently looking into a Scottish dancing demonstration and possibly a couple of pipers, but added, “I would love High Country people of Scottish ancestry to contribute ideas about how to expand the program.”
Johnson called for suggestions—and even contributions—for Scottish food, decorations, music and anything else that will create a Scottish atmosphere and activities for the event.
The library’s party will join a long tradition. Around January 25 since 1808, Scots the world over have celebrated Burns’ birth with what are known as Burns Suppers. The 250th anniversary on January 25, 2009 has become the focus of a yearlong “homecoming” in Scotland—a call that Scots the world over have been invited to respond to in any appropriate way.
Yet the reason for the continuing worldwide renown of a man who died more than two centuries ago has long been something of a puzzle. Dr. Catherine Smith, author of The Stars of Robt Burns, a major new biography of the poet just published in Scotland, says it is partly because ordinary people identified with him. Burns, a gifted poet, struggled with the same kind of unrelenting hardship as the majority of the world’s population at the time and, like his compatriots, was a person displaced both because of political persecution and economic upheaval.
But the continuing affection in which the world holds him is also because he spoke up with both humor and scorn about hypocrisy and the injustices he and others around him were forced to live among—what Burns, a Freemason, called “man’s inhumanity to man,” she says.
He often spoke out in the language of ordinary people like himself so “the common man” understood what he said, and he did so in an era when freedom of speech could mean imprisonment and death.
Burns also recorded and celebrated the traditional folk wisdom then being wiped out with the advancement of science and the economic progress known as the Industrial Revolution.
Burns won no security in spite of his fame: he died facing the threat of debtors’ prison. His passing at age 37 produced an outpouring of grief among the people of Dumfries where he lived and worked as a tax collector. Thousands mobbed his funeral.
To contribute ideas and suggestions for the local library’s celebration, phone Johnson at 828-264-8784.
Nouvelle Cuisine Haggis
The centerpiece of traditional Burns Suppers is the haggis, a dish that Burns celebrated in a famous poem. Haggis, says Dr. Catherine Smith, author of a major new biography of Burns, means “heavy and greasy grub for ignorant Scots.”
But you can take that description with a pinch of salt: it’s a joke. Haggis, according to Burns, is “chief puddin’ o’ the puddin’ race.” In other words, it’s a savory food like the boudin of South Louisiana.
For adventuresome High Country Scots who’d like to try haggis but are a wee bit wary, here’s what Smith calls her “nouvelle cuisine” version, created specially for the 250th anniversary of Burns’ birth.
Its name comes from the Crochallan Fencibles, a “rude men’s drinking club” that intellectual snobs of Burns’ time in Edinburgh felt they just had to belong to.
“Haggis Crochallan is thus a rude way to enjoy the finest goat’s cheese and slivers of smoked salmon, and remember the name of Robert Burns,” Smith said.
Haggis Crochallan
1 pound haggis (either meat or vegetarian haggis, usually available in cans at Everything Scottish in Linville)
One round slice of goat’s cheese, frozen so it does not liquidate during frying
Eight long thin strips of smoked salmon
Baby greens, watercress and fine chopped herbs
Good quality olive oil
Break the haggis into smallish pieces in a small frying pan with some olive oil. Heat gently but thoroughly for about 10 minutes. When heated through, form into four flat rounds.
Meanwhile, heat some olive oil until it is very hot in another pan. Fry the frozen goat’s cheese until one side is crispy brown. Turn gently and fry the second side until crispy brown. The cheese should be unfrozen but not dripping any whey.
Place one flat hot haggis round on each of four plates.
Cut the goat’s cheese into four, and place one quarter on top of each haggis round.
Place the smoked salmon strips in a Scottish cross (“x”) over the top of the goat’s cheese.
Scatter each plate with the baby greens, watercress and fine chopped herbs and serve.
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