Burns Night – the basics you need to know

1. Tartan. Tartan, tartan, tartan. It can be anything from a picnic blanket to leftover ribbons, just gather together as much as you can and decorate yourself and your house.

2. If you’re hosting the Burns Night supper, you’re going to need a haggis, some neeps (turnips or swedes) and tatties (potatoes). You can kick off with a cock-a-leekie starter, and for dessert serve up a Cranachan followed by Scottish cheeses and lots of whisky.

3. Burns Night is not just for adults, kids can join in too and Rabbie’s Rhymes (a wonderful book which you helped fund) translates the poems to make Burns accessible to ‘wee folk’ too.

4. Before tucking into the feast everyone must say The Selkirk Grace:

Some hae meat and canna eat,

And some wad eat that want it;

But we hae meat and we can eat,

And sae the Lord be thanket.

5. Addressing the haggis. The haggis should be paraded in by the chef (ideally with a piper to pipe it in). Then someone must read out Burns' ‘Address to a haggis’.

6. At the end of the meal, a series of toasts are made with Scotch whisky. Someone will toast 'the immortal memory', which is a 20 minute tribute to the poet. There’ll be the ‘toast to the lassies’, a reply and a ‘vote of thanks’.

7. After the toasts, get your dancing shoes on. For tips on the rights steps, check out: www.scottish-country-dancing-dictionary.com

8. Finally, the evening ends with everyone singing Auld Lang Syne – one of Burns’ most famous works.

Thanks to you, the life and works of Scotland’s most famous poet, Robert Burns, will be protected for future generations through funding to projects like the Robert Burns Birthplace Museum and the Robert Burns World Federation.