Raise a glass to Robert Burns

Last year I almost missed this one, so this year I wanted to get a jump on it.

January 25th is Robert Burns Day – The Bard of Scotland. 

Probably best known (in America) for his rendition of Auld Lang Syne, Br. Burns was a prolific writer/poet/musician, and in 2009 he was chosen as the Greatest Scot by the Scottish people in a national TV vote.

In 2011, I posted a story on how to host a last minute Burns Dinner.

This year, I leave you two poems -

Fist – for the drinkers out there:

Scotch Drink

“Gie him strong drink, until he wink,
That’s sinking in despair;
An’ liquor guid to fire his bluid,
That’s prest wi’ grief an’ care;
There let him bouse, an’ deep carouse,
Wi’ bumpers flowing o’er,
Till he forgets his loves or debts,
An’ minds his griefs no more.”

Next – for the Brethren:

TO THE MEN AND BRETHREN

OF THE

MASONIC LODGE AT TARBOLTON.

Within your dear mansion may wayward contention
Or withering envy ne’er enter:
May secrecy round be the mystical bound,
And brotherly love be the centre.

Cheers