Last year’s Burns Night at the British Embassy residence was a hard act to follow with its all-star cast – Aberdeen-born Ambassador Kirsty Hayes as the perfect hostess orchestrating the event and toasting the laddies, that brilliant theatrical director Peter Macfarlane delivering an extremely erudite biography of Robert Burns (1759-1796) and a highly histrionic political attaché Sam Gilbert (whose Cambridge studies found time for Footlights) doing almost everything else, including reading out the Scottish poet’s ‘Address to a Haggis’ and toasting the lassies.
None of the above could be present this year save Macfarlane as a rank-and-file guest – hard luck on Kirsty Hayes in particular since her innovation of honouring both big days in the Scottish calendar has been reduced to one with the change of monarch since Saint Andrew’s Day now falls within the same fortnight as the Royal Birthday obviously taking priority for receptions – but their understudies rose magnificently to the occasion. Chargé d’affaires Bhavna Sharma’s presentation was followed by a spirited rendering of ‘Address to a Haggis’ by deputy defence attaché Major Tim Ward RE in a plausibly incomprehensible “Scots Wha Hae” accent. Recounting the poet’s all too short life was the task of the Embassy’s Simon Chater whose dry manner nevertheless conveyed very clearly that Rabbie Burns was quite a lad.
For those not in the ken (less than one might think because this journalist’s computer informed him that Burns Night was second among the trending topics of January 25, ahead of “Harry and Meghan” in fifth place, for example), Burns Night marks the birth of Scotland’s most famous poet Robert Burns – and of global fame thanks to ‘Auld Lang Syne’ – on January 25, 1759.
The anniversary was marked in style this year. The haggis was served tastefully (not always the case) with the traditional “nippies and tatties” (turnips and potatoes) but with plenty of other things to nibble and all washed down with a top brand of Scotch whisky – this journalist was unable to verify whether previous Ambassador Mark Kent, now CEO of the Scotch Whisky Association, had a hand in that.
Both the bagpipe music and dancing came from the South American Piping Association with the dancers doing their Highland (or ‘Ceilidh’ in the Gaelic) flings over crossed claymores with most of the guests joining in. A good time was had by all.
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