Burn’s Night celebrated with dinner and dancing
On Friday 24 January Green Templeton college celebrated Burns’ Night with a student dinner, in a celebration of the birthday of renowned Scottish poet and lyricist Robert Burns on 25 January 1759. Pre-dinner drinks were held in the Observatory common room, before fiddle music and bagpipes heralded the move to the dining hall for the dinner.
A traditional Scottish menu included Cullen Skink (smoked fish) soup to start, before further bagpipes signalled the famous Burns’ address to the Haggis (a savoury meat pudding), slicing it open with a large knife while reciting “Fair fa’ your honest, sonsie face, Great chieftain o’ the pudding-race!…”. The Haggis was then served with neeps and tatties (swede and potatoes), and toasted with whisky, before the meal was rounded with Cranachan, a Scottish dessert of raspberries, cream and oats.
Songs and poems by Burns’ were then recited, before the guests enjoyed some traditional Scottish dancing with a ceilidh held at the Maths Institute next door.
