Admittedly, Burns Night doesn’t obviously have anything to do with Shakespeare. Burns Night–or a Burns Supper–celebrates the birthday of Scottish poet Robert Burns. But it is a really fun way to celebrate poetry of all kinds.
Haggis is the key part of the Burns Supper. It is presented and cut as Burns’ poem Address to a Haggis is read. Specifically, the haggis is cut into at the most colorful lines: “An’ cut you up wi’ ready sleight,/Trenching your gushing entrails bright.” My first experience with Burns Night was at a local garden. Rather than a full Burns Supper, the event was a tasting. At the tasting, a small portion of haggis (a type of Haggis that passes American food regulations) was served on a slice of potato while we drank tea and nibbled on shortbread, oatcakes, and Scottish heather fudge. Our tasting included a talk about Scotland, Robert Burns and the Burns Supper, but I knew that poetry was typically shared at Burns Suppers.
In following years, we began incorporating a Burns Supper into our family. I would put our plaid table cloth on the dining room table and the kids would wrap themselves in tartan inspired shawls. I made a Scottish meat pie and read Address to a Haggis. I would also ask the kids to bring a poem to read, and made sure they knew that funny poems were perfectly acceptable.
When we started Shakespeare Club, we decided to bring this tradition there as well. We topped our table with the same plaid table cloth. Rather than haggis or a Scottish meat pie, we put out Scottish shortbread and tea. We had asked everyone to bring their favorite poem to share. The poem could be from Shakespeare, but it did not have to be. As I had with my own children, I let the kids know they were welcome to share funny poems as well as serious poems.
We, of course, wanted to pay tribute to Robert Burns, but I was reluctant to read the Scottish dialect myself in front of the entire group. Happily, I located a recording of the Burns’ poem To a Mouse read by Scottish All Creatures Great and Small star, Nicholas Ralph. You can find that recording here.
The kids in our Shakespeare Club then shared the poems they brought. There were funny poems and thought-provoking poems. We also spent time talking about Sonnet 29. The bottom line is Burns Night is a great time to celebrate poetry and a great excuse to each shortbread.
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