Journal

Another Burns season done and dusted

In the years since I got involved in doing a turn at Burns’ Suppers, I’ve been to all sorts of takes on them. From the grand affairs with over 100 people packed into a splendid hall to those held in people’s homes. To me, so long as people enjoy a bit of Burns and have a good time, it doesn’t really matter what the scale or venue or conformity to tradition is.

My 2015 Burns season comprised of five very different events and I enjoyed each of them in different ways. Which is why I thought I’d give my account of them here, so that I might look back in years to come and be reminded of an almost perfect collection of ways to celebrate Robert Burns.

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Journal

More serious Burns

Since 2010 I’ve been getting more involved in the Burns’ scene – performing the Address to the Haggis at various Burns’ Suppers. In early 2013 I attended one in London organised by Cousin Iain, where once again I did the Address to the Haggis. I pretty much nailed that one and was pleased with my performance – the same was true when I did it again at the Colgrain Bowling Club.

When I was done with the latter one I spoke with the lady who organises it and we both agreed that, after doing three in a row there, I’d done my bit and if I came back in 2014 I’d do something different. This was fine by me, as I’d done the Address to a Toothache at both the Helensburgh Bowling Club and the Clyde Bar Burns’ Suppers and quite enjoyed the new material.

However, in 2013, I did so many Burns events that I was struggling to maintain my enthusiasm as the season wore on. So I decided that, in 2014, I was going to attend and perform at far fewer events than had come to be the case.  I would attend the local Masonic lodge Burns Supper because I’ve done that every year since I’ve been back in Scotland, but my aim was quality over quantity.

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Journal

Great chieftain o’ the puddin-race!

Last night marked my second go at addressing the haggis at a local Burns Supper. I’d been called upon by Crazy Uncle John a few weeks back to perform the duty again, after he’d been asked to recite a couple of poems at the Colgrain Bowling Club.

The 12th of February is a little bit late for a Burns Supper, but it did give me few weeks to brush up. I was actually surprised that it only took me an hour or so of going through the poem in my head before I could do it from memory again. Considering it had been a year since I really thought about it I can only marvel at the capacity of the human brain for deep learning through repetition!

Even so, I printed the words out and kept them under my monitor on my desk at work, just to make sure I wasn’t being cavalier in my approach. I did, after all, miss a line out when I addressed the haggis at the Rosslea Hall Hotel last year, so I was mindful that I couldn’t practice enough.

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