The Burns Supper

<P><EM>This annual celebration of the life and works </EM><EM>of the poet Robert Burns is held in Scotland </EM><EM>and across the globe around the anniversary </EM><EM>of the poet’s birthday in the form of a </EM><EM>convivial dinner with particular, some may </EM><EM>say peculiar, ritual traditions.</EM></P><P><STRONG>Robert Burns:</STRONG><SPAN> </SPAN>Scotland’s national poet.<BR><STRONG>Burns Supper:</STRONG><SPAN> </SPAN>the celebration of the life and poetry of Robert Burns, on or around his birthday on 25 January every year.</P><P>When the Reverend Hamilton Paul agreed to arrange the first anniversary dinner for Robert Burns’ patrons and friends in July 1801, he began a tradition that quite soon became a global celebration.</P><P>Over two hundred years later, Burns Suppers<SPAN> </SPAN>are held all over the world to commemorate the<SPAN> </SPAN>life and work of a poet beloved wherever people<SPAN> </SPAN>celebrate life, love and liberty. From its beginning<SPAN> </SPAN>with nine Scotsmen in Burns Cottage, to today,<SPAN> </SPAN>where over nine million people join in the<SPAN> </SPAN>Burns Supper festivities, from the USA to Russia,<SPAN> </SPAN>Australia to China, and somewhere near you. The<SPAN> </SPAN>long and happy story of Burns Night is explored<SPAN> </SPAN>in this history of the annual event which has been<SPAN> </SPAN>called ‘the biggest party in the world’.</P>