‘Rabbie Burns Day’ returns to a fully in-person celebration this year at Bobby’s Place Olde World Tavern on Wednesday, Jan. 25, from 6:30 to 8 p.m., accompanied by live music from local traditional Celtic band Desperate for Haggis.
Robert Burns (1759 – 1796), known today and forever as The Bard of Scotland, is famous the world over for his poetry, his championship of the poor and lower classes, and his promotion of Scots culture. Burns' suppers are traditionally held as close as possible to the poet’s birthday on Jan. 25, and are celebrated virtually everywhere by admirers and members of the Scottish diaspora.
[Editorial note: "Rabbie" with an 'a' is an intentional spelling of Burns' name due to the Scottish pronunciation.]
In Moose Jaw, the tradition of celebrating his life once a year with readings, prayers, music, and haggis dates to around 1908. That’s according to Don Mitchell, whose grandparents arrived from Scotland in 1910.
Mitchell is a member of Desperate for Haggis, a former mayor and city councillor, and a Burns Night enthusiast his entire life.
“The last three or four years have been just trying to do what we could,” Mitchell said. “The one a couple years ago was at St. Andrew’s, where it was videoed, and people could watch it online through YouTube.”
Mitchell has prepared a toast for the evening in which he will talk about the English oppression of Scotland, Burns’ political activism in support of the French and American revolutions, and the adoration all Scots and Scots’ descendants feel for Burns.
“Burns rekindled the Scottish culture. He did over 600 poems and songs and travelled through the Lowlands and the Highlands,” Mitchell explained. “He’s been celebrated by Scots, not just in Scotland, but around the world as they emigrated to various places.
“He’s kind of like Martin Luther King for (Black) Americans. Burns is that for the Scottish population, the broader Scottish classes, not just the lords and the aristocrats.”
Lisa McCormick of Regina, who has played the bagpipes with Desperate for Haggis in the past, will prepare the night’s haggis and bring it to Bobby’s. The haggis will be “piped in” by Michelle Gallagher, who has played at events around Moose Jaw for many years.
After Gallagher has piped the dish in, her husband Andrew, a teacher at Central Collegiate who is originally from Scotland, will read Address to a Haggis in dialect. Address to a Haggis (1786) was the Robbie Burns poem that resulted in haggis becoming Scotland’s national dish. The first line — in dialect — reads:
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 o' a grace
As lang's my airm.
Haggis is traditionally a peasant’s dish made from the leftover parts of a sheep carcass. The animal’s heart, liver, and lungs are minced together with onion, oatmeal, suet, spices, and stock, and stuffed into the sheep’s stomach for cooking.
Guests will be able to order roast beef with Yorkshire pudding, turnips, and mashed potatoes from the Bobby’s menu. No tickets are necessary — the event is open to the public.
