Image by david tollmie from Pixabay. Tap to view the source.

Tonight — the evening of January 25th — is Burns Night, a celebration of the life and works of Robert Burns, Scotland’s national poet. While I have no traceable Scots heritage in my family (it’s Irish, thankyeverramuch), Anitra does, and I’m never going to turn down a celebration where scotch whisky is involved.

You probably know at least one of Burns’ works, whether you realize it or not. He’s behind such classics as:

  • Auld Lang Syne, which was originally meant to be sung at Hogmanay, the last day of the year, and eventually became the unofficial song of New Year’s.
  • (My Love is Like) A Red Red Rose, one of the standards of romantic poetry.
  • Tam O’Shanter, the poem from which the cap gets it name.
  • To a Mouse, an actual poem written after Burns was ploughing his field and unintentionally destroyed a mouse nest, which the mice would have needed to survive the winter. This poem contains the line “The best-laid schemes of mice and men /
    Go oft awry,” which became the figure of speech we know today.
  • Address to a Haggis, because if a food ever deserved a poem, it’s that most ugly-delicious of Scots dishes:

Even though we’re still in the middle of a plague and can’t host a Burns Supper tonight, we’ll still celebrate: I’ve got a lamb loin roasting in the turbo broiler…

Tap to view the meaty goodness at full size.

…and I have some scotch handy. As for poetry — well, I have to write some code tonight, and when done well, code is poetry: Rich, expressive, and saying so much with an economy of language.

Have a great Burns Night, everyone!

Joey deVilla

Recent Posts

U.S. post-election post #7: Don’t worry, it’ll trickle down…

Tap to see the source. This is yesterday’s daily New Yorker cartoon, created by Brendan…

2 days ago

U.S. post-election post #6: One key election is still undecided…

C’mon, let it not be Asians this time. Last time was pretty bad. Here’s the…

3 days ago

U.S. post-election post #5: Come bend the arc with me!

Jon Stewart’s right, and we’ve been here before. Where we are now, I’ve been before…

3 days ago

Veteran’s Day, Remembrance Day, and “In Flanders Fields”

Poppies thrive in overturned soil, which is why they bloom in battlefields. I’m in the…

3 days ago

U.S. post-election post #4: We have to be better

In times of high dudgeon, there’s a tendency to throw integrity out the window. One…

4 days ago

U.S. post-election post #3: Now they’re emboldened

A demonstrator at Texas State University in Austin, Texas on Wednesday, November 6, 2024. Photo…

5 days ago