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Toast the Scottish Bard at the Robert Burns Supper in Murray

Matt Markgraf, WKMS

West Kentucky Highland Society hosts the annual dinner tribute to the immortal work of the legendary Scots bard, Robert "Rabbie" Burns, Saturday, January 24 at Murray Woman's Club. Festival spokesperson and supper 'compere' Robert Valentine stops by Sounds Good to talk about the poet's views on equality, the toast to the lassies and why haggis might actually be appetizing.

Robert Valentine says Scottish poet Robert Burns ranks among the likes of Shakespeare in terms of international appeal. Nearly everyone has recited a poem by Burns, he says, citing the New Year's traditional, "Auld Lang Syne." Friendship was an important theme in Burns' poetry, with aphorisms like "The wide world is all before us, but a world without a friend." Also important was equality. Burns was raised in a household that valued considering everyone equal and he often wrote about this, with the impression that if one is a good and honest person, no one should rank above them. "You appoint yourself as human royalty when you achieve the highest moral state and are most concerned with the welfare of other people," Valentine says in the spirit of Burns.

Haggis was a food that Burns said gave him a feeling of enjoyment and family reflection. Haggis to Burns was the essence of his youth and and of Scotland itself. Haggis is one of the traditional dishes served at the the Robert Burns Supper, along with shepherd's pie and scotch eggs. Traditionally, haggis was made with "variety meats." The good cuts went to the manor house and what was left - usually organs - were diced and cooked and boiled in a stomach casing stuffed with oats, spices and seasoning. It'd be sewn up and boiled, then put on the fire and roasted. Valentine describes the rich smell and crisp casing that cuts like parchment paper.

The supper also includes bagpipes, poetry recitation and a series of toasts: to Scotland, Murray, the haggis, the piper, the lassies, the laddies and Robert Burns. You don't have to be Scottish to attend and you don't have to eat the haggis. The purpose is to enjoy one another's company.

Tickets are available online

Matt Markgraf joined the WKMS team as a student in January 2007. He's served in a variety of roles over the years: as News Director March 2016-September 2019 and previously as the New Media & Promotions Coordinator beginning in 2011. Prior to that, he was a graduate and undergraduate assistant. He is currently the host of the international music show Imported on Sunday nights at 10 p.m.
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