Every year on 25 January Burns Night is celebrated throughout the world. The Burns Supper is an institution of Scottish life celebrating the life and works of the poet Robbie Burns. Suppers can range from formal to extremely informal and fun. Robbie Burns died young but he certainly made the most of his life apart from his talents, fathering several children by several women. During his funeral his wife was giving birth to his last child.
We were looking for something to do in January to fill that gap of after Christmas and the New Year, so why not Burns Night for Dorking u3a? Apparently, we are the only u3a to have celebrated this event.
I contacted Buckland Park Lake, where we have our Pimm’s Picnic, to see if it could be held at its Reverie restaurant. I was greeted with fantastic enthusiasm — and the rest is history. We were limited to 40 people; in fact, we had 48 as the bookings went very well.
Buckland Park Lake and the Reverie produced a fantastic setting, as the photos show, and an excellent Burns Night traditional menu. I am deeply grateful to them for turning my idea into such a successful evening. It did take an enormous amount of planning.
We started the evening with guests passing three burning fire pits on the path to the restaurant, where they were greeted by a Burns Cocktail and the piper to set the tone of the evening.
Pipers are hard to come by, and I was fortunate enough to get Graham, who came from Windsor and has been involved in playing at the castle for state banquets. He was superb.
Guests were seated at traditional long tables and I gave a short welcome address, followed by John Thom who said The Selkirk Grace. The starter, cullen skink, was served. The main part of the evening is the parade of the haggis, and this was beautifully done by the chef coming round the outside of the Reverie to the table indoors, escorted by the piper.
We all clapped and toasted the haggis with a ‘wee dram’. Mike Sheridan had kindly volunteered to give the Address to A Haggis, which was excellent. Meanwhile the piper played a variety of well-known tunes, to which we all sang.
The main course of haggis, neeps and tatties was served. The next stage is The Immortal Memory, which was delivered expertly by John Thom. This is the well-known story of Robbie Burns and was very entertaining. Mike Giles then entertained us with an appropriately Scottish story.
Dessert was served – Tipsy Trifle – and again John Thom was on his feet for the Toast to the Lassies. This was followed by Beryl Sinclair with the Toast to the Laddies. She had written a poem and managed a Scottish accent, which was great.
During the evening we had been selling raffle tickets, the first prize being a year’s membership for two people at Buckland Park Lake, also a hamper, whisky and other prizes. I drew the raffle and it was won by one of our newer members.
Coffee and shortbread completed the menu and we finished with a rendering of Auld Lang Syne – all the verses.
Everybody seemed to enjoy the evening, and I am hoping we can do it again next year.
Ianthe Cox