By Prince Albert Caledonian Society

A Description of the Robbie Burns Night -Steeped in Tradition, Soaking in Fun

Jan 12, 2011 | 12:02 PM

Here’s a little bit about what people can expect from the Prince Albert Robbie Burns Supper, January 21st.

For the last 210 years, people from around the world have been celebrating the life and times of Scotland’s national poet: Robbie Burns.  They celebrate his life by holding ‘Robbie Burns’ suppers which are steeped in traditions which have varied little since 1802.  These suppers usual involve the following components:

1.      Piping in of the Haggis

2.      Paying the Piper with a (not so) wee dram of single malt Scotch

3.      Reciting of “The Address to the Haggis” of which the first 2 stanzas are:

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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 arm.

The groaning trencher there ye fill,

Your hurdies like a distant hill,

Your pin wad help to mend a mill

In time o' need,

While thro' your pores the dews distil

Like amber bead.

4.      Next follows supper which includes the haggis, and it has been noted that the haggis in Prince Albert has the distinction of being the best haggis in Canada (if not even Scotland)

5.      Following the supper a tribute is presented to Robbie Burns himself.  Sometimes, historical and sometimes hysterical, it is always interesting.

6.      Of course the evening would not be complete without the “Toast to the Lassies” and the “Reply”  Below is a fun-spirited toast made to the lassies from a few years ago.

7.      And while the tradition around the globe often varies at this point, the evening in Prince Albert usually continues with the music of the Great Highland bagpipes (by the Prince Albert Highlanders Pipes & Drums) and the nimble footwork of Scottish Highland Dancers.

8.      Prince Albert is also known to have other entertainment and trivia questions at the supper with prizes being awarded.

Toast to the Lassies…by Michael McLaughlan 

 I asked my wife the other day what she liked best about me; my firm, trim body or my intellect. She said, “Your sense of humour dear.”

In writing this toast to the lassies, I couldn't help but notice the differences between lads and lassies, not the obvious differences that make them so pleasing to the eye, but the more subtle differences, such as:

– A successful man is one who makes more money than his wife can spend. A successful woman is one who can find such a man.

– Men believe they have the last word in arguments, but actually women have the last word. Anything a man says after that is the beginning of a new argument.

– A man has six items in his bathroom: a toothbrush, shaving cream, razor, a bar of soap, and a towel from the Holiday Inn. The average number of items in the typical woman's bathroom is 337 and a man would not be able to identify most of these items.

– And finally, children. A woman knows all about her children. She knows about dentist appointments and best friends and favourite foods and secret fears, and hopes and dreams. A man is vaguely aware of some short people living in the house.

But regardless of the differences that separate men and women, we are not complete without them and I have prepared the following toast, with the assistance of the same muse that aided Robbie Burns.

A Toast to the Lassies

Gentlemen, please rise…

Together we stand, here in praise

For the women around us and in our days,

Like Robert Burns, he once knew

That we love our lassies, though he had more than a few

When in our arms, they bring us untold pleasure

These are our lassies, for they are a true treasure,

We seek to marry them, it is said

For nothing more than to get them to … wed.

They feed our spirit, they feed our soul

For many of us, they fill our bowl.

They care for us, they keep us well

Though occasionally, they make it feel like … heaven.

They teach us manners, they teach us style,

For many of us, that takes quite a while.

They improve with age, while we do not

For that is clear, looking at you lot.

For the parcel of rogues, I see here tonight,

It is truly amazing, our lassies don't take flight,

For they put up with our habits, and we have all sorts,

Such as control of the remote and our preoccupation with sports.

For our lassies we would walk five hundred miles,

It must be because, of their feminine wiles.

Over heathery mountain and scroggy glen

We seek them out now and then.

But,

Tonight we stand, here in praise,

So join me lads, let your voices raise.

Prepare to toast, fill up your glasses,

Join me now, to our bonnie lasses.

To the Lasses !