HAGGIS
This dish is served on Burns's Anniversary, 25 January, and St. Andrew's
Day, 30 November, carried aloft on a silver tray by a highlander in full
Highland dress, preceded by a piper playing a national air.-Pat

To a Haggis

by Robert Burns
(originally published in 1787)

Fair fa' your honest, sonsie face,
Great Chieftan o' the Puddin-race!
Aboon them a' ye tak your place,
Painch, tripe, or thairm:
Weel are ye wordy of a grace
A lang's my arm.

The groaning trencher there ye fill,
Your hurdies like a distant hill,
Your pin wad help to mend a mill
In time o' need,
While thro' your pores the dews distil
Like amber bead.

His knife see Rustic-labour dight,
An' cut you up wi' ready slight,
Trenching your gushing entrails bright
Like onie ditch;
And then, O what a glorious sight,
Warm-reekin, rich!

Then horn for horn they stretch an' strive,
Deil tak the hindmost, on they drive,
Till a' their weel-swall'd kytes belyve
Are bent like drums;
Then auld Guidman, maist like to rive,
Bethankit hums.

Is there that owre his French ragout,
Or olio that wad staw a sow,
Or fricassee wad mak her spew
Wi' perfect sconner,
Looks down wi' sneering scornfu' view
On sic a dinner?

Poor devil! see him owre his trash,
As feckless as a wither'd rash,
His spindle-shank a guid whip-lash,
His nieve a nit;
Thro' bluidy flood or field to dash,
O how unfit!

But mark the Rustic, haggis-fed,
The trembling earth resounds his tread,
Clap in his walie nieve a blade,
He'll mak it whissle;
An' legs, an' arms, an' heads will sned,
Like taps o' thrissle.

Ye Pow'rs wha mak mankind your care,
An' dish them out their bill o' fare,
Auld Scotland wants nae skinking ware
That jaups in luggies;
But if ye wish her gratefu' pray'r,
Gie her a Haggis!

Ingredients

1 stomach bag
liver, lights, and heart of a sheep
1 breakfast cup oatmeal
2 onions
8 oz. shredded mutton suet
salt
black pepper

Clean stomach bag thoroughly and leave overnight in cold water to which salt
has been added. Turn rough side out. Put heart, lights and liver in a pan.
Bring to the boil and simmer for 1-1/2 hours. Toast the oatmeal on a tray in
the oven or under the grill. Chop the heart, lights, and liver. Mix al the
ingredients together with the suet, adding salt and pepper. Keep mixture
sappy, using the liquid in which the liver was boiled. Fill bag a little
over half full, as mixture needs room to swell. Sew securely and put in a
large pot of hot water. As soon as mixture begins to swell, prick with a
needle to prevent bag from bursting. Boil for 3 hours. Serve with mash
potatoes and mashed turnips. Serves 6-8.