Celebrating the life of Robert Burns at
the Alexandria
Burns Club Annual Supper
Robert Burns was born on 25 January
1759 and since not long after his death on 21 July 1796, Burns
enthusiasts around the world have been celebrating his life 
and
his genius each year at or around his birth date with "Burns
Suppers".
The popularity of these evenings means that the "Burns
Circuit",
as it is now called can stretch from early January until late
February. This is mainly because there are only a limited number
of learned and entertaining speakers available and they cannot
all be in the same place at one time.
This page contains information
about Robert Burns Night and Burns Suppers in general
including those organised by the Alexandria
Burns Club.
Report on our 2005 Burns Supper
Report on our 2006
Burns Supper
Report on our 2007
Burns Supper
Report on our 2008
Burns Supper
Report on our 2009 Burns Supper
Burns Supper Format
Who Organises Burns Suppers?
Burns Suppers can
be formal or light hearted affairs. This is dependent on who organises
them. Suppers organised by "official" Burns clubs who are affiliated
to the Robert
Burns World Federation tend to be more formal and to follow
programs similar to that detailed below. Other groups and organisations
also organise Burns suppers. These may range from the very formal
to less than serious affairs organised by
other clubs or groups of individuals who like the works
of the bard (or who are just looking for the opportunity to over
indulge with John Barleycorn.)
One thing you can be sure of is that the artistes
who are appearing will have to be knowledgeable and may have worked
very hard to prepare their contribution to the evening's entertainment. Many of Burns poems such as Tam
o'Shanter are
epics that take a lot of learning. They are also written in the
Scots dialect, most of which is no longer familiar to people, even
in Scotland.
Introduction of the Top Table
Guests must arrive on time and be seated for the arrival
of those at the "top table". When all the guests are assembled they
rise as the chairman leads in the artistes and speakers before welcoming
everyone to the evening and introducing all those now seated at the top table.
The Selkirk Grace
The evening now gets under way with the Selkirk
Grace, which is often attributed to Burns but apparently it was
in use before he was born.
"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 thankit."
Listen to the Selkirk
Grace here
Address to the Haggis
This is possibly the best known part of the Burns Supper programme.
Normally a piper will be employed to play some suitably stirring
bagpipe music as the chef enters with the Haggis. This is paraded
ceremoniously through the assembled guests as they applaud its
arrival with a "slow handclap".
Eventually it is placed in front
of the the artiste who as been engaged to recite the address, "To
a Haggis". This is done with much ceremony and when it gets
to the verse ...
"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!"
... the artiste plunges a large knife
into the haggis, which normally spews forth its contents in the
manner described by Burns. Drams (glasses of whisky) are then dispensed
to the artiste, the chef and the piper. If they are men at all
they will down these in one gulp! (Read about the life of a haggis.)
The Loyal Toast
In the more formal Burns suppers in the United Kingdom there is
normally a toast to the monarch at this time. If things are really
formal the gentlemen will
have been required to keep their jackets on until this point.
On these occasions the chairman will announce, "Gentleman, you
may now remove your jackets."
The Supper
At this point the meal is served and the assembled guests tuck
in and get on with the socialising and catching up with what
each other has been doing since the last event. Many guests travel
some distance to their annual supper so it may have been a year since they
last met. When the meal is done the guests
often retire to another room (or bar!) while the tables are cleared
in preparation for the more formal proceedings.
The Immortal Memory of Robert Burns
The first item on the programme of a Robert Burns night is always the "Immortal Memory".
This is a formal and personal tribute to Robert Burns from an
invited speaker. This tribute is normally lengthy, should be
original and it requires much study and preparation beforehand.
Whilst it is the most formal part of the proceedings it does
allow the speaker to introduce some humour. This is often advisable
to lighten up what can be a lengthy and serious speech. Typically
an Immortal Memory speech will last up to half an hour, sometimes
more.
Burns Songs
Singers are invited to perform songs by Burns during the
evening. Musical interludes usually punctuate the readings and
speeches that take place to provide a balanced program.
Toast to the Lassies
The Toast to the Lassies
is normally a 10 to 15 minute speech, which is much less formal and
more humorous than the Immortal Memory. It need not be based
on Burns work but references to this always help to retain the
focus of the evening. It is 100% about women and their influence
and effect on men. For obvious reasons this toast is much easier
at an all male event. If women are present the men rise and toast
them at the end of the speech and there is normally a reply by one of the ladies who are present. At all male events the toast is
sometimes directed to any women who are staff at the venue and
who may have been involved in the preparation and serving of
the meal.
Readings of Burns Work
As part of the programme there will normally be about four readings
of Burns's work. Some artistes make a specialty of particular
poems. Tam o' Shanter is
always popular, (if not a bit of a marathon for the person who
has to deliver it). Readings are often accompanied with appropriate
theatrics and those invited to deliver the readings are often
very skilled at what they do.
Vote of Thanks
At the end of the evening someone will propose a vote of thanks
to the artistes and speakers. This is an onerous task as the
person nominated must spend the evening making notes of what
everyone has done and trying to write a witty, 10 minute script
about this. For this person it often means that no serious drinking
can be done until the formal proceedings have ended!
The vote of thanks signals the end
of the evenings formal proceedings but the celebrations often continue
into the wee sma' hours of the morning.
Alexandria Burns Club - Record of Burns Suppers
The highlighted dates in the table below link
to scanned images of the actual programs for our annual Alexandria
Burns Club, Robert Burns Festival. There are some gaps and if anyone
can let me have scanned or original copies of the years that are
missing I will insert these. The images that I scanned are from
my own collection of programs. These were gathered in conditions
of extreme adversity during the actual Burns Suppers so please
accept my apologies if any whisky or haggis stains are evident!
As of 2005 we will also be including short reports
and some images from each of the suppers. Click the highlighted
venue for this.
| Date |
Venue |
Chairman |
Immortal Memory |
| 24 Jan 2009 |
Alexandria Masonic Temple |
Ian Collins Esq. |
Rev. Ian Miller |
| 26 Jan 2008 |
Alexandria
Masonic Temple |
Ian Collins Esq. |
Eddie Gaughan |
| 27 Jan 2007 |
Alexandria Masonic
Temple |
Harry Summers Esq. |
John Young |
| 28
Jan 2006 |
Alexandria Masonic
Temple |
Ian Collins, Esq. |
Donald Campbell |
| 22 Jan 2005 |
Alexandria Masonic Temple |
Ian Collins, Esq. |
George Munro |
| 24
Jan 2004 |
Alexandria Masonic Temple |
Ian Collins, Esq. |
Very Rev John Cairns |
| 25 Jan 2003 |
Alexandria Masonic
Temple |
Ian Collins, Esq. |
Willie Murray |
| 26
Jan 2002 |
Alexandria Masonic Temple |
Ian Collins, Esq. |
Moir Nelson |
| 27
Jan 2001 |
Alexandria Masonic Temple |
Ian Collins, Esq. |
John Hardie |
| 29
Jan 2000 |
Alexandria Masonic Temple |
Ian Collins, Esq. |
Harry Summers |
| 1999 |
Alexandria Masonic Temple |
Ian Collins, Esq. |
Mike Taylor |
| 1998 |
Alexandria Masonic Temple |
Ian Collins, Esq. |
Moir Nelson |
| 25
Jan 1997 |
Alexandria Masonic Temple |
Ian Collins, Esq. |
Fergus McLellan |
| 27
Jan 1996 |
Alexandria Masonic Temple |
Peter McLaren, Esq. |
Hugh Hunter |
| 28
Jan 1995 |
Alexandria Masonic Temple |
Peter McLaren, Esq. |
Ian Collins |
| 1994 |
Alexandria Masonic
Temple |
Peter McLaren,
Esq. |
John Dow |
| 23 Jan 1993 |
Alexandria Hotel |
Peter McLaren,
Esq. |
Louis McGougan |
| 25 Jan 1992 |
Alexandria
Hotel |
John Wood, Esq. |
Duncan McLean |
| 26
Jan 1991 |
Alexandria
Hotel |
John Wood, Esq. |
Dr Tom Barlow |
| 27
Jan 1990 |
Alexandria
Hotel |
John Wood, Esq. |
Joseph Keegan |
| 28
Jan 1989 |
Alexandria
Hotel |
John Wood, Esq. |
James McGill |
| 23
Jan 1988 |
Alexandria
Hotel |
John Wood, Esq. |
Bill Hendry |
| 24
Jan 1987 |
Alexandria
Hotel |
John Wood, Esq. |
Peter McLaren |
| 25
Jan 1986 |
Alexandria
Hotel |
James Gallacher, Esq. |
Tom Wilson |
| 26
Jan 1985 |
Alexandria
Hotel |
John Wood, Esq. |
Alex Green |
| 21
Jan 1984 |
Alexandria
Hotel |
James Gallacher, Esq. |
Lord Marnock
(Willie Ross) |
| 22
Jan 1983 |
Riverside Inn, Balloch |
James Gallacher, Esq. |
Cuthbert Douse |
| 23
Jan1982 |
Riverside Inn, Balloch |
James Gallacher, Esq. |
Tom Wilson |
| 24
Jan 1981 |
Riverside Inn, Balloch |
James Gallacher, Esq. |
Col L Robertson |
| 26 Jan 1980 |
Loch Lomond Hotel |
James Gallacher, Esq. |
Tom Wilson |
| 27 Jan 1979 |
Loch Lomond Hotel |
Robert Armstrong, Esq. |
Rev. Robert Paterson |
| 28 Jan 1978 |
Riverside Inn, Balloch |
Robert Armstrong. Esq. |
James L. Hempstead |
Burns Supper Records from Earlier years
