Tomorrow is the 246th aniv of Robbie Burns Birth - "a man's a man for

[papau]

all that" - the fellow who was at the beginning of the liberal/progressive fight for equal rights.

Shouldn't the folks at DU at least post a few Haggis recipes in honor of the occasion?

Here's to a fellow who died too young at age 37 -

a toast

:toast:

:-)

[auntAgonist]

1. To a Haggis *it truly is delicious*

by Robert Burns

http://www.electricscotland.com/burns/haggis.html

Fair fa' your honest, sonsie face,
Great Chieftan o' the Puddin-race!
Aboon them a' ye tak your place,
Painch, tripe, or thairm:
Weel are ye wordy of a grace
As lang's my arm.

The groaning trencher there ye fill,
Your hurdies like a distant hill,
Your pin wad help to mend a mill
In time o' need,
While thro' your pores the dews distil
Like amber bead.

His knife see Rustic-labour dight,
An' cut you up wi' ready slight,
Trenching your gushing entrails bright
Like onie ditch;
And then, O what a glorious sight,
Warm-reekin, rich!

Then, horn for horn they stretch an' strive,
Deil tak the hindmost, on they drive,
Till a' their weel-swall'd kytes belyve
Are bent like drums;
Then auld Guidman, maist like to rive,
Bethankit hums.

*continued* http://www.electricscotland.com/burns/haggis.html

RECIPE for Haggis:

Traditional Haggis (from Evelyn Hlabse, [e-mail])

1 sheep's pluck (stomach bag)
2 lb.. dry oatmeal
1 lb. suet
1 lb. lamb's liver
2 1/2 cups stock
1 large chopped onion
1/2 tsp. cayenne pepper, Jamaica pepper and salt

Boil liver and parboil the onion, then mince them together. Lightly brown the oatmeal. Mix all ingredients together. Fill the sheep's pluck with the mixture pressing it down to remove all the air, and sew up securely. Prick the haggis in several places so that it does not burst. Place haggis in boiling water and boil slowly for 4-5 hours. Serves approximately 12.

[papau]

3. Well done!

I add a bit of garlic!

:-)

[auntAgonist]

5. I think that would be good!

My mother always served it with mashed 'neeps (turnips). Growing up in Scotland it was 'just food'.
I have been to many Robbie Burns Suppers. As a young person I learned how to play bagpipes and was in a pipeband. I never had the honour of 'marching in the haggis'. I do remember nearly jumping out of my kilt though when the Man addressing the haggis STABBED it!

thanks for the memories!

[Itchinjim]

2. To Robbie!

:toast:

[papau]

4. To Robbie - and a dram for the piper!

Always wondered if the Scot's rep for "stingy" referred to giving a dram (an eighth of an ounce) of Scotch Whiskey) to the piper after the Haggis has been piped in for the dinner!

:toast:

:-)

[auntAgonist]

6. That sounds reasonable, but .. incorrect.

apparently the word 'stingy' comes from the word 'niggardly' which has nothing to do with a racial slur.

http://www.worldwidewords.org/qa/qa-nig1.htm

From Robyn Hodges: “I wonder if you could help me find the origin of the word niggardly?”

Despite the similarity in spelling—and the huge controversy at the beginning of 1999 over its use by a member of the staff of the Mayor of Washington, DC—this word has no connection with nigger. The adverb form niggardly was formed in the sixteenth century from niggard, the name for a miser or stingy person. In the Wycliffe Bible of 1384 it was spelt nygard; earlier still it can be found as nigon, and another form nig also existed. We are pretty sure this was borrowed from a Scandinavian source, because there are related words in several Germanic languages, for example, the Old Norse hnøgger, meaning “stingy”

[papau]

7. Curious - I think we agree! I thought you might say a Scot "dram"

was a wee bit more than an 1/8th of an oz - cause I think the piper should get a bit more!

:toast:

:-)