Robbie Burns dinner slated tomorrow

Once again the calendar has rolled around to a special time of year.
But it’s not a religious holiday. Nor it’s not a commercial holiday created to force lovestruck young men to purchase a plethora of chocolates and flowers for the lass that has caught their eye.
And it’s not an mock holiday event designed solely to determine whether a small ground-dwelling rodent sees its shadow in an effort to predict the length of winter.
No. It’s a 200-year-old Scottish celebration with the purpose to remember one man: Scotland’s national poet, Robbie Burns.
Designed to celebrate his life and his works, it started a few years after his death in 1796 by several of his friends.
Locally, the celebration doesn’t fall on deaf ears. The annual Robbie Burns dinner, hosted by members of the Fort Frances Highlanders, goes tomorrow night at La Place Rendez-Vous.
The night once again will be a celebration of Scottish fare and culture, with cocktails (“the gathering hour”) at 6 p.m. followed by the meal at 7, highlighted by the receiving of the haggis.
That’s right, the Scottish (though some argue English) delicacy that so many people like to turn their nose up at. This traditional food of sheep organs, oatmeal, and spices baked in a sheep’s stomach is the centrepiece of the time-honoured meal of “Haggis, Neeps and Tatties.”
It was a favourite of the bard’s.
The ceremony includes the haggis being piped into the room as everyone follows, slowly clapping. Then the crowd brashly recites Burns’ poem, “To A Haggis.”
The delicacy is named after a mythical Scottish beast with two long legs and two short legs for running along the highland hillsides. As Burns wrote:
Fair fa’ your honest, sonsie face,
Great chieftain o the puddin’-race!
Aboon them a’ ye tak your place,
Painch, tripe, or thairm:
Weel are ye wordy of a grace
As lang’s my arm.
Burns was born to a Scottish farmer on Jan. 25, 1759 and penned his first verse at the age of 15. He began writing to escape the arduous work on the farm.
He very quickly gained notoriety for his works and received much critical acclaim. He even became known as the “Ploughman Poet” by the established scholastic crowd.
He died at the age of 37 of heart disease. He was so loved by his countrymen that 10,000 people paid their respects on the day of his burial.
Burns was not a saint. Even at a young age, he enjoyed the drink and had illegitimate children. Some of his poetry and song reflected that. But he was truly the people’s poet who composed some of the most memorable verses ever penned by a Scot.
The bard’s works still are discussed in schools around the world and many of his works are used without people even knowing it, such as New Year’s traditional song, “Auld Lang Syne.”