Burns Night

Robert Burns is the National Poet of Scotland.  He was also a lush and a womanizer, so every year Scots at home and around the world get together for a Burns' Night.  Along with lots of alcohol, the host of the party reads Robert Burns poems which include Auld Lang Syne and lines such as

The best laid schemes o' Mice an' Men,
Gang aft agley.
An' lea'e us nought but grief an' pain,
For promis'd joy!

 But to see her was to love her,
Love but her, and love forever.
Had we never lou'd sae kindly,
Had we never lou'd sae blindly,
Never met - or never parted -
We had ne'er been broken hearted

The highlight was the Haggis.  Haggis is made from whatever is left of a sheep after you sell the good parts.  It was awesome.  I had several plates.  My only complaint is that the taste lingered for days.

With my buddy John, and the Scot who invited us, Stuart.

An ice sculpture of Mr Burns.

and of course, no Scottish event is complete without some bagpipes.  They played this towards the end, when they wanted people to start making their way home.