Borderland Rotary members and friends came together for Burns Night with a piper, and of course, a haggis – in fact – lots of haggises. Andy Young, a Scot and Bagpipe virtuoso was on hand to Pipe in the Haggis and performed the famous Rabbie Burns poem, Address to a Haggis.
The poem, which was written in 18th century Scottish dialect opens with the line, “Fair fa’ your honest, sonsie face”, which translates to, “Nice seeing your honest, chubby face”, and goes on into a eulogy to the fine and brave Haggis.
Cathy Osselton, who organised the event, said, “I think it’s wonderful that we keep these traditions going and although we are far from Scotland, many of us have ties with those north of the border as well as friends across our nearer border, with Wales. The Bagpipers create such an evocative sound and it’s great to hear Andy playing them so well”.
Robert Burns was born on the 25thJanuary 1759 (Hence the date of Burns Night) and became one of Scotland’s most influential poets, inspiring many liberal and socially minded figures through the years but most of us know him best for “Auld Lang Syne”, the song that we sing as we join hands at the turn of the year, on New Year’s Eve or Hogmanay.