Could haggis conquer America?
Call for ban on national dish to be lifted
Scottish people living in the USA may celebrate Burns night
tomorrow but their supper tables will be missing our national
dish.
Haggis has been banned in America for over 40 years because it
contains sheep's lungs. People there are not allowed to eat
the lungs of any livestock animals because they are considered to
be unhealthy.
Also, all red meat from Scotland and the rest of the European
Union has been banned in the USA since the outbreak of mad cow
disease in the 1980s.
But the Scottish government is trying to help haggis to conquer
the States.
Officials have contacted the United States Department of
Agriculture and argued that the dish is perfectly safe to eat and
should be allowed to be imported, along with other Scottish red
meat products.
Jo Macsween, the boss of Macsween, one of Scotland's leading
haggis makers, said:
"In our experience, American visitors love our haggis when they
taste it while in Scotland and it would be lovely if they could not
only be permitted to take some home with them at the end of their
stay here, but purchase it in America too."
Until the ban is lifted, people on the other side of the
Atlantic will have to eat fake haggis, or a vegetarian version
which has apparently become quite popular since it was featured on
a chat show.
But a government spokeswoman said that these substitute haggis
products were "not a patch" on the real thing.
Click
here to try our fun Robert Burns interactive.
Lesson ideas and suggestions
Read and discuss lesson ideas on our Facebook page
Join our mailing list (Glow login
required)
Could haggis conquer America?
What to recite at a Burns Supper when you can't address
a haggis
Robert Burns's Address to a Haggis will be recited at suppers
around the world tomorrow night, apart from in America where the
dish is banned. "Address to a Vegetarian Substitute Haggis" doesn't
have quite the same ring to it.
But there are plenty of other poems that stateside Burns fans
could choose instead for their celebrations of the national bard's
birthday.
They could go for Tam o'Shanter, which was named the most
popular Burns poem in a survey this week, taking nearly a quarter
of the votes.
Or they could listen to the recommendations of some famous Scots
who have described their favourite work by Robert Burns:
Nicola Benedetti, violinist: Second Epistle to
Davie
The fiddle is one of the three national instruments of
Scotland, so it is fitting that the violin is closely associated
with our national poet. Burns was a capable fiddler himself and
would often play when he frequented the Bachelors Club, which he
founded, in Tarbolton, South Ayrshire. It was there that he met
David Sillar, one year younger than him, and like, Burns the son of
a small farmer. The two men became firm friends. Sillar was the
recipient of two verse-epistles from Burns. "The Second Epistle to
Davie" is a heartfelt testament to their close friendship in which
Burns pays tribute to Sillar's talents as a fiddle player and poet.
In truth, although he published a set of poems in 1789, he was no
great poet but, by all accounts, Sillar was a better fiddler than
Burns! From the end of 1783 Davie Sillar lived in Irvine, north
Ayrshire, where I myself was born earning his living first as a
grocer and then as a schoolmaster. He was an Irvine Councillor and
eventually a Baillie and died in Irvine - much respected - in
1830.
Gerard Burns, artist: Tam o'Shanter
"It's amazing how literature is opened up to you if somebody
points you in the right direction. How many Scots would know what a
'cutty sark' is? Most people would think of the ship but in Tam
o'Shanter it means a short skirt. He is referring to Meg, the
witch, who is dancing round Tam with a short skirt on. After I
found that out I heard Karen Dunbar reading it and all of a sudden
it jumped to life for me. It's about a guy basically who is
following his baser instincts. The more I learn about his poems the
more I believe that he is an absolute force. His poetry is amazing
but we need to be taught it in the same way that we are taught
Shakespeare because the language is so foreign to us and we can
miss a lot of the subtlety."
Karen Dunbar, comedian: Willie Wassle
One of my favourite rabbie works is the poem 'Willie
Wassle', a take of a poor wee man who lives on the river Tweed and
has a harridan of a wife and a mother-in-law to match!
The narrator describes every ugly ailment of the woman and ends
each verse with his relief at not having a wife like that! As much
as it wouldn't be very PC these days it makes me laugh. Colourful
descriptions like 'her nose and chin, they threaten ither' like
they're so close they're about to do battle and 'her wally neeves
like midden creels' (big lumbering hands hanging like lobster
baskets) are so humorous and paint a picture of a most - uncomely
wench! Mind you, we never hear if Willie is a good looking bloke do
we? Maybe that information is conspicuous by its absence.
Graeme Obree, cyclist: To A Mouse
I'm a huge Burns fan, and my ultimate favourite is To A Mouse. It
shows Burns' tolerance and his innate humanity. I tend to call upon
the sentiment and message behind this quote more often that I ought
to, I think it's a good way of looking at situations that go wrong.
It shows that even though you think you have a good thing, it might
not always work out like that and positives can quickly change to
negatives, but to understand that that's ok. I have lost count of
how many times I have said "The best laid schemes" throughout my
life and work. Despite what may go wrong in life, it makes me
thankful that I have a house to live in and food to eat and
everything that I have. In this day and age a bit of positivity
doesn't go a miss - we need to take it where we can get it.
Eddi Reader, singer: A Man's A Man for a'
that
One Christmas eve, I met a man in George Square, he wanted to say
hello. He told me he worked on the Shipyards with my Dad Danny
Reader, during their apprenticeships in the early 1950's. I told
him I was doing well but my dad had passed away. He told me he
noticed that I was interested in Robert Burns and had heard some
music I had recorded using Burns. I told him the world was a
stranger place without my dad in it and I moaned about the music
world, how Burns would deal with music and poetry today, would he
see style dominating over substance and would he comment on it
through poetry. He took my cold hand in his tough, older, but
warmer, one and recited the above verse. When he got to the last
line of that verse: 'the man o independent mind -" He leaned in
closer and emphasised: "- He looks and laughs at a' that!". It made
me smile and reminded me of who I am. With our cheerios I felt I
had just heard the best version of a Robert Burns poem ever
recited. I felt proud to come from such a culture that throws up
the likes of Robert Burns, my dad and his pal.
Click
here to try our fun Robert Burns interactive.
Lesson ideas and suggestions
Read and discuss lesson ideas on our Facebook page
Join our mailing list (Glow login
required)