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| The food of Champions! |
Robert Burns
was the son of a peasant farmer and he was born, in Alloway, Ayrshire, on 25th
January 1759 (note the Scots claimed this date long before Mr Guinness did!).
In his very short life, he died aged 37 in 1796, he would become one of
Scotland’s greatest cultural icons, a voice of socialism and liberalism, through
the writing of some of the world’s best recognised songs and poems.
Perhaps one of
his best loved songs is sung every New Year’s Eve or Hogmanay. Not many of you
may know this but the song “Auld Lang Syne” was penned by Burns in 1788 and who
could have imagined that one day this song would be one of the world’s most recognised
tunes, some 200 years after the death of Robert Burns.
You may also
have heard of poems such as “A Red Red Rose”, “A Man’s a Man for A’ That” and
“Tam O’Shanter”. Burns even influenced Phil Coulter and the line in Ireland’s
Call “Come the day and come the hour” comes directly from the start of
the second verse from the Burns poem “Scots Wha Hae”, a song that for a time served as our unofficial
national anthem.
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| Robert or "Rabbie" Burns |
Robert Burns
was without doubt one of Scotland’s first ever superstars, the Robbie Williams
of his time. He was loved by the lassies and when he performed his poetry in the
Assembly Rooms, in Edinburgh, the lassies flocked in there hundreds and
thousands. The lassies just could not wait to hear his Ayrshire brogue and
“risky” views. He performed his stand-up in what is now one of Edinburgh’s leading
Fringe Festival venues and he was so liked, adored and admired by the fairer
sex that he fathered 13 children that we know of.
Burns would be
fondly remembered for the times he spent with his closest friends, in the local
pub, sipping whisky, debating politics, telling jokes, embellishing stories and
reciting his beloved poetry. He was comfortable with his friends and
neighbours, and much of what he penned was inspired by those around him, those
who told him of their trials and tribulations of the hard lives they were
leading and having to endure on a daily basis – times never change!
And why, may
you ask, I am telling you about one of Scotland’s national heroes and one of
our greatest ever exports?
Well, I was
eager to tell you about Robert Burns because one of our local German retailers
is in fact stocking Haggis, from Scotland, and I am delighted to see that in
this land of Saints and Scholars that one of my own is starting to get noticed.
If Burns lived
here, in Waterford City today, I would like to think that he would be a loud
and proud voice that stood up to authority and spoke for and on behalf of
the people. He would have confronted his perceived injustices of Government and
striven to make a better life for all the men and women of Waterford.
Creating a
better life for all of us here in Waterford really does lie in our own hands.
We must push Waterford to the forefront of Government debate and at the very
least ensure that we are at the dinner table, with or without Haggis, as at the
moment we are not even getting to look at the menu.
If you are
going to try a Haggis on Monday night remember the “bashit neeps an’ chappit
tatties”, lots of pepper on the neeps and of course a wee glass of whisky.
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| "I'm hunting Haggis!" |
“Fair fa' your honest, sonsie face,
Great chieftain o the puddin'-race!
Great chieftain o the puddin'-race!
......
His knife see rustic Labour dight,
An cut you up wi ready slight,
An cut you up wi ready slight,
......
But mark the Rustic, haggis-fed,
The trembling earth resounds his tread,
The trembling earth resounds his tread,
......
But, if ye wish her gratefu prayer,
Gie her a Haggis!”
Gie her a Haggis!”
