Scottish Life & Traditions Back to Inside The Highlander A Short History of the Haggis by Bowen Pearse Fair fa' your honest, sonsei face, Great Cheiftain o' the Puddin'-race! Aboon them a' ye tak your place, Painch, tripe or thairm: Weel are ye wordy o' a grace As lang's my arm. So goes the opening stanza of Burn's mock-heroic Address to the Haggis, which he wrote on his first visit to Edinburgh in 1786. It is read with a flourish every Burns Night on the date of the poet's birth, January 25, by Scots all over the world. The haggis is the centerpiece of the occasion, carried in by the chef on a silver platter. A kilted bagpiper leads the procession. The other guests follow, some carrying the customary "neeps and tatties," the mashed turnips and mashed potatoes. Burns' Address is then recited and the haggis is stabbed with the traditional sgian-dhu, or black knife, sheathed in the Highlander's stocking. This general celebration is usually lubricated with many "wee drams" of Scotch whisky, the other great star in Scottish gastronomy. The Highland Drovers by Graham Phillips-Lewis Throughout the often troubled history of Scotland, with its great movements of men, we find an accompanying movement of cattle. This is because cattle were the wealth of the Highland clans from the earliest days. This trade in cattle from earliest times required men to "drive" them on the long, often dangerous routes to the south. These men, described by a contemporary writer of the 18th century as "great stalwart men, shaggy, unkempt and wild with a liking for strong drink," were mostly Highlanders born into cattle-raising. Often they had Western Islanders as their companions -- men who were escaping the drudgery of the island crofts. Drovers had to be as hardy as their beasts, because the routes to the south crossed the great high wastes of the Highlands via thousand-year-old paths. More Excerpts Choose from the topics below to view more excerpts, or return to Inside The Highlander. Historic Events Scottish Castles Military History Battles & Uprisings Famous Scots Historic Places Scottish Life & Traditions Clans Legends Music & Celebrations Genealogy

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