Burns' Night

Andover's Scottish ties date back to the early 1800s when two brothers and a friend from Brechin, Scotland, opened a textile mill in Frye Village.

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Robert Burns

January 25^th is just another day for many people, but for our Scottish friends, it’s an important date. It’s the birth date of the Scottish national bard, Robert Burns.

Robert Burns, portait in the National Galleries of Scotland

Since Burns’ birthday is right around the corner, you might want to start your Burns Night preparations. Warm up your singing voice. Prepare a poem to recite. Get your toast ready. Choose your whisky (if you’re so inclined). Practice your best dance moves. Prep and steam the haggis.

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Scottish Andover and Robert Burns

Andover’s Scottish community started to grow dramatically in the early 1800s. Brechin, Scotland native John Smith came to the United States in 1816 with nothing more than “a shilling, Bible, and machinists’ tools.”¹

John Smith, his brother Peter Smith, and friend John Dove formed Smith and Dove & Company in 1835 and set up manufacturing linen in Andover’s Frye Village (now Shawsheen Village). By 1843, the company had grown and moved operations to the much larger Abbot Village (now Dundee Park). Smith and Dove & Company produced linen thread and twines for carpet weaving, shoes, and canvas.²

NOTE: Back in 2020 and 2021, we ran a multi-part series on Smith and Dove and Frye Village. You can read part one here (link). Or, on the History Buzz homepage, search for “Frye Village Stories.”

Smith and Dove recruited factory operatives from their hometown of Brechin, Scotland. The influx of Scottish workers and their families shaped a significant portion of Andover for over a century. Streets, such as Brechin Terrace, still bear the names of their Scottish roots. The Clan McPherson Pipe and Drum corps still performs regularly in Andover and beyond.

According to the January 27, 1928 Andover Townsman, Clan McPherson was an auxiliary of Clan Johnson. For many years, Andover was also home to a Burns Club.

The Burns' Club was named for Scottish national poet Robert Burns. Burns was popular then, and now, for his use of the Scottish language and his relatable content.³

The poems can be satirical but also full of sentiment; they deal with love and lust (Burns being well versed in these), human foibles and hypocrisies; they show a deep knowledge of and love of the natural world (especially horses, dogs, mice and lice); they can be funny and moving by turns.

You probably know one Burns poems – or at least the first chorus.

Should auld acquaintance be forgot,
And never brought to mind?
Should auld acquaintance be forgot,
And auld lang syne!

     Chorus:
For auld lang syne, my dear,
     For auld lang syne.
     We’ll tak a cup o’ kindness yet,
     For auld lang syne.

Click on the footnote number here to read the rest of the song lyrics.⁴

The lyrics of “Auld Lang Syne” are in the Scots language. The title, translated literally into standard English, is Old Long Since. The words can be interpreted as since long ago or for old times’ sake. The lyrics are about old friends having a drink and recalling adventures they had long ago. There is no specific reference to the new year.⁵

It’s said that it was Guy Lombardi and His Royal Canadians who popularized the singing of Auld Lang Syne at midnight on New Year’s Eve.⁶

Burns’ Night

Burns’ birthday is often commemorated by hosting a “Burns’ Night.” In addition to recitations of Burns’ poetry, signing, and music, the traditional Scottish dish, haggis, plays a key role. One of Burns’ most notable poems is “Address to a Haggis.” So important to the event is the haggis, that its arrival is marked by the playing of bagpipes.

Burns’ Night order⁷

1. Piping in the guests - to bagpipe or traditional music 
2. Reciting of the Selkirk Grace 
3. Piping in the haggis - guests stand to welcome the haggis to the table 
4. Toast to the haggis - honouring the most important ingredient of the meal with a recitation of Address to a Haggis 
5. The Immortal Memory - an account of the life of Robbie Burns, followed by Burns' songs and poems 
6. Toast to the lassies - a traditional thank you to the women involved in the preparations, and the women in Burns' life and writing 
7. Reply: Toast from the lassies - a contemporary addition to what was traditionally a male-only event 
8. Chair's vote of thanks, and the finale with Auld Lang Syne 

Burns’ “Selkirk Grace”

Some hae meat and canna eat,
And some wad eat that want it,
But we hae meat and we can eat,
Sae let the Lord be Thankit!

Some have meat but cannot eat,
Some have none that want it;
But we have meat and we can eat,
So let the Lord be thanked.

Robert Burns’ “Address to a Haggis”

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Now for a slight diversion from our Andover story with a word about haggis.

A traditional haggis is made from the heart and lungs of a sheep, mixed with onions, oatmeal, and some basic seasonings. The meats, cooked and minced fine, are mixed with the other ingredients, stuffed into the sheep’s stomach, and steamed. From what I’ve read, even in Scotland traditional haggis is an acquired taste.

Since selling livestock lungs for human consumption is not legal in the United States, any haggis made and served here today lacks this ingredient. I found a simplified haggis recipe on line (https://www.carolinescooking.com/haggis/) that calls for ground lamb and chicken livers instead.

NOTE: Be sure to read the readers’ comments at the end of the post for more about haggis. I learned from readers that haggis is a peppery dish. That didn’t come through in the recipes I read.

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Burns’ Night in Andover

Andover’s Burns Club is mentioned in the April 1857 Andover Advertiser newspaper when a “soiree” for several hundred people was held in Frye Village. Although not a Burns’ Night, the event included a lot of the same features: recitations, speeches, songs, music, and lots of humor.

In January 1859, the club celebrated the 100^th birthday of the bard. The evening included a “sumptuous supper” along with the recitations and speeches. Shortly after the event, the newspaper printed a recipe for “A Real Scotch Haggis.”

A REAL SCOTCH HAGGIS – Parboil a sheep’s liver, take 3 lbs of suet and 2 lbs of onions, mince them fine and mix the with 3 lb of oatmeal; ad seasoning to taste; clean and scald a sheep’s stomach, lay it in salt and water 24 hours, changing the water every six hours, fill the stomach with the above; sew up in a cloth and boil five hours. As prepared for the Andover Burns Club at their Festival on the 25^th inst, minus the liver and 1 lb. of suet left out. M.

It leaves me to wonder . . . with no mention of meat at all . . . what was “real” about this haggis.

In 1888, the Lawrence American ran a recipe for “Dundee Haggis.” This version included cold “veal, mutton or poultry,” breadcrumbs, and eggs in addition to the oatmeal. A variation at the end notes that one could add chicken giblets, calf or lamb liver instead of the hearts and lungs of the traditional version. Rather than steaming the mixture, this version is packed into a mold and baked. I’m thinking it would come out more like a dense meatloaf than the traditional crumbly haggis, but I could be wrong there.

In Andover, later Burns’ Nights were not always held at night. Some were daytime affairs. And the menu changed over time. In 1901 the newspaper reported on an elaborate two-day event that features sandwiches, coffee, ice cream, and cake for lunch.

The 1930s saw more Burns’ Night events in Andover. Often the banquets were followed by concerts and dancing. In October 1935, Free Christian Church hosted two-day Caladonian Fair. On the last day of the fair, a supper was held and the haggis was piped in.

They piped in the haggis at Free Church parish house last Friday evening, and they had a good time doing it. John Whyte provided by bagpipe accompaniment while Robert V. Deyermond bore in the haggis, carrying it aloft on a platter that was so large that it must have been especially imported for the occasion. Then Bob read a Scotch – very, very Scotch – grace, and the grace worked, for not a single one of the many who ate a portion of the haggis came down sick.

There’s something to be said for that.

Burns’ Night 2024 is approaching

With Burns’ Night just a few evenings away, now is the time to start prepping your big event. I’m an adventurous cook and I’m tempted to try the simplified haggis recipe, but might not be able to convince my family to partake. Maybe if I don’t give them all the details . . .

There are local options, however, if you’d like to participate in a Boston-area Burns’ Night event.

• Possibly the most traditional event will be hosted by The Haven restaurant in Jamaica Plain. Haggis will be on the menu, along with a vegetarian option. The Haven will host two events, January 25 and January 27, 2024. Link here: https://thehavenjp.com/2023/12/burns-supper-2024/

• Scots in New England is hosting an event at the Crystal Ballroom in Davis Square, Somerville, on January 25, 2024. Link here: https://scotsnewengland.org/event/burns-night-sine-2024/

• The New England based Scottish Arts will be hosting an evening on January 20, 2024, with a traditional supper, whisky toasts, music, and song. Link here: https://nhssa.org/burns-night/

How about you? Have you ever been to a Burns’ Night event? Ever tried a traditional or modern version of haggis? I’d love to know!

As always, thanks for reading!
~Elaine

1. Mofford, Juliet Haines, Andover Massachusetts: Selections from Three Centuries, page 101.

2. IBID.

3. Scottish Poetry Library, https://www.scottishpoetrylibrary.org.uk/poet/robert-burns/

4. Should auld acquaintance be forgot,
And never brought to mind?
Should auld acquaintance be forgot,
And auld lang syne!

     Chorus:
For auld lang syne, my dear,
     For auld lang syne.
     We’ll tak a cup o’ kindness yet,
     For auld lang syne.

And surely ye'll be your pint stowp!
And surely I’ll be mine!
And we’ll tak a cup o’ kindness yet,
For auld lang syne.

     Chorus

We twa hae run about the braes,
And pou’d the gowans fine;
But we’ve wander’d mony a weary fit,
Sin’ auld lang syne.

     Chorus

We twa hae paidl’d in the burn,
Frae morning sun till dine;
But seas between us braid hae roar’d
Sin’ auld lang syne.

     Chorus

And there’s a hand, my trusty fere!
And gie’s a hand o’ thine!
And we’ll tak a right gude-willie waught,
For auld lang syne.

     Chorus

5. Britannica, https://www.britannica.com/topic/Auld-Lang-Syne

6. https://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/en/article/auld-lang-syne-the-sweetest-music-this-side-of-heaven-feature

7. https://www.scottishpoetrylibrary.org.uk/burns-supper/

Some hae meat and canna eat,
And some wad eat that want it,
But we hae meat and we can eat,
Sae let the Lord be Thankit!

Some have meat but cannot eat,
Some have none that want it;
But we have meat and we can eat,
So let the Lord be thanked.