Gordon addresses the haggis © Ricky Yates
25th January is the birthday of the famous Scottish poet Robbie Burns (1759-1796). There is a long-standing tradition of holding a ‘Burn’s Night Supper on or around 25th January each year at which the life and poetry of Robbie Burns is celebrated. Brilliantly organised by my Church Treasurer, Gordon MacDonald Truefitt, St. Clement’s Church held a Burn’s Night Supper on the evening of Friday 25th January 2013 and combined it with a Ceilidh, at which various Scottish and Irish dances were taught and danced.
The evening was designed with two purposes in mind, both of which are somewhat inter-related. One was to try and put on a social event which would enable the disparate members of the congregation to spend time together and therefore get to know each other better. The second, was to provide an event to which members of the congregation could invite their non-worshipping friends, to experience and realise that Christians can have fun together and hopefully draw them into our worshipping community.
Through Gordon’s good offices we had both a most suitable venue – Michelský Dvur, belonging to the Sue Ryder Foundation. And we had an excellent Czech Celtic band ‘Mestská’, who entertained us whilst we ate and then provided the music for the Ceilidh that followed. Over fifty people attended of whom just over half were members of the congregation with the rest being invited friends and guests. As on any Sunday morning at St. Clement’s, the number of nationalities present ran into double figures.
I trust that the photographs below help to give a flavour to what was a wonderful evening.
Ceilidh dancing © Ricky Yates
David & Alison Hellam dancing with Larry & Celieta Leifeste © Ricky Yates
 Larry from Texas meets the haggis © Ricky Yates |
 Richard York, Australian Churchwarden, but who has a Scottish grandmother, and his Czech/Australian wife Karen © Ricky Yates |
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Oh what fun, Ricky. I would really have enjoyed that as much as the participants obviously did. Glad to see that Gordon wasn’t alone in his kilt. 🙂
It was fun Perpetua – a most enjoyable evening. Yes – we had a few men in kilts & several ladies in tartan skirts, one in tartan tights 🙂 & a few men wearing tartan ties.
I’m happy to hear your “Highland fling” went so well! I adore plaid and would love to learn Scottish dancing, if only there was a class in my area for it!
Last year, my dad bought me a book compiling the complete works of Robert Burns from an antique shop. It has a wonderful old red binding and pages that are worn with age. I pull it down from the shelf every once in a while when I hear one of his songs being played on a Celtic CD and want to learn it for myself.
Some of my favorite Burns poems/songs are: “A Man’s A Man for All That”, “Scots Wha’ Hae”, “The Soldier’s Return”, “MacPherson’s Farewell”, “Ae Fond Kiss”, “My Love is Like a Red, Red Rose”, “Ye Jacobites by Name”, and “Does Haughty Gaul Invasion Threat?”
What are your favorite Burns poems/songs? Also, do you know the tune of “Does Haughty Gaul Invasion Threat”? I’ve been searching for it everywhere with little success!
Hi Pearl – I’m afraid that I don’t know the tune you’re after. As to my favourite lines from the writing of Robert Burns, I like the Kirkudbright or Selkirk Grace which we used at our Burns Supper
Some have meat and cannot eat,
Some cannot eat that want it:
But we have meat and we can eat,
Sae let the Lord be thankit.
My other favourite snippet is two lines from ‘To a Louse’
O wad some Pow’r the giftie gie us
To see oursels as others see us!
We might act & behave in very different ways to what we do if only we could see ourselves as others see us 🙂