Burns Supper Companion

Collins Burns Supper Companion A guide to organizing your own Burns Supper and to enjoying this traditional Scottish event to the full. Robert Burns is Scotland's national bard, a poet whose talents were recognized in his own lifetime as well as by subsequent generations. The Burns Supper is celebrated every year on or around 25th January, the anniversary of the poet's death, and the elaborate ritual involved can be mystifying to the newcomer or daunting for the inexperienced organizer. This companion therefore details the formalities and pleasures of the evening. It includes: a step-by-step guide to the Supper with tips on organization, sample speeches, essential background information and correct etiquette; a biographical introduction to Burns, his poetry and the history of the occasion; and a selection of his finest poems and songs, with supporting notes on how they came to be written and accompanying quotations. So whether you want to organize your own Burns Supper, are delivering the "Immortal Memory" or simply attending one for the first time, the "Collins Burns Supper Companion" should help you get the most out of this highly enjoyable experience.

Immortal Memories The annual Burns Supper, held on or around his birthday, January 25, has become something of a cult in virtually every country in the world where "Scottish" is spoken - and even where it is not. This is an occasion when people gather around a dinner table to give tribute to a Scottish poet who died more than 200 years ago. It really is an extraordinary phenomenon". Thus begins John Cairney's work focusing on Scotland's national bard, Robert Burns. To be asked to deliver the "Immortal Memory", the chief toast and centrepiece of the traditional Burns Supper, is recognised as a privilege cherished by Burns enthusiasts the world over. "Immortal Memories" is an extensive collection of these toasts, spanning 200 years from the first Burns Supper in Alloway in 1801 to the Millennium Burns Suppers of 2001. For over thirty years Cairney has been recognised as the embodiment of Burns thanks to his portrayal of the poet in the 1968 Scottish TV production Burns. He has delivered toasts "To the Immortal Memory of Robert Burns" or performed his Burns one-man-show in almost every country in the world.

Return To Burns Supper