Luxembourg Burns Supper Celebrates Life of Scotland's National Poet

On Friday 24 January 2025, the Hotel Parc Belair in Luxembourg City hosted the 41st edition of the Burns Committee of Luxembourg’s Burn Supper.

A packed room saw 120 people in attendance to celebrate the birthday of Scotland's national poet, Robert Burns (born 25 January 1759; died 21 July 1796). Many of the men had adorned the traditional Scottish kilt, with the ladies adding flashes of tartan to their evening dresses as they showed their respect for Rabbi, the “Plowright Poet”, a reference to his humble beginnings on the farms of Ayrshire in southern Scotland.

To the people of Scotland and Scots around the world, the works and life of Robert Burns hold a special place in the country’s culture, with his writings holding a significance akin to that of William Shakespeare for the English.

Setting the atmosphere in the room were Scottish musical duo "Heelster Gowdie" (consisting of multi-instrumentalists Russell Wheeler and Vincent Mellon) who performed an acoustic set of Burns-themed music as the attendees enjoyed a standing reception before the main proceedings began.

With a packed programme ahead, the evening’s Chair, Clive Griffiths, instructed everyone to take their seats at their pre-designated tables so that the evening could begin. To open the event, Clive welcomed the guests, many of whom had travelled to Luxembourg specifically for the event, before delivering a poignant speech and toast to David Young, a long-standing member of the Burns Committee of Luxembourg who had recently passed away. It was a touching moment for all in the room, particularly for those who have attended the event repeatedly over the past 40 years.

The opening speech was then followed by a rendition of Burn’s “Killiecrankie” by Heelster Gowdie, and a reading of the Selkirk Grace by Julie Lang, a Scots-language prayer traditionally read before the evening’s food is served to the guests.

Further Burns-related music was then performed before the piper-in-residence, Anthony Orr (who has performed at all 41 of these Burns Supper events in Luxembourg), took to the floor with his bagpipes to perform the piping-in of the haggis. With the haggis carried in on a sliver salver (platter), it was paraded around the room to a stirring bagpipe soundtrack before being placed on a table in the middle of the room, in preparation for one of the highlights of the event, the address to the haggis.

The address to the haggis is the centrepiece of every Burns supper, involving a designated speaker reciting the Burn’s poem “Address to a Haggis” directly to the traditional Scottish dish before it is served up as part of the main meal. A theatric and energetic rendition of the poem, undertaken by Fiona Urquhart, was highly entertaining and met with rapturous applause upon completion. The haggis was then escorted back to the kitchen to be prepared consumption.

After an extended musical interlude, the feast began with a traditional Scottish starter of Cock-a-Leekie (chicken and leek) soup, followed by haggis, bashed neeps (mashed turnips) and champit tatties (mashed potatoes), with equally impressive vegetarian equivalents made available to those who had requested them. This was followed by a dessert of ice cream and fruit, and then coffee.

With everyone well fed, guest speaker, Scottish journalist Drew Cochran, took to the floor to deliver the next staple of the supper, the Immortal Memory. It was a highly amusing and anecdotal speech detailing Burns’ various works and tales of his short but prolific life.

After another enjoyable musical break, it was time for the two less traditional speech of the night, firstly in the form of the "Toast to the Lassies" delivered by Steven Miller (of Chronicle.lu), and the "Reply to the Toast" performed by Luxembourg journalist Cordula Schnuer. Each of these speeches is intended to be playful and less traditional than the others which feature throughout the night, deliberately taking turns to poke fun at the ladies and then the gentlemen in attendance. Neither disappointed, adding an additional layer of fun to an already humorous but respectful event.

Before the next speech, Heelster Gowdie performed a fantastic and emotional version of the Burns classic “Ae Fond Kiss” with it proving to be a real highlight of the evening’s proceedings.

For the last of the guest speeches, Drew Cochrane returned to the floor to deliver a wonderfully animated and full-blooded take on another Burns staple, this time the famous ghost tale of Tam o' Shanter. With Cochrane using a change of clothes to transform into the protagonist of the poem, as well as utilising a pantomime horse prop and sound effects for added emphasis, his run through of the tale of a man chased by witches as he returns home from a late night out was undeniably the highlight of the evening, drawing a standing ovation from everyone in the room.

The night’s Chair, Clive Griffiths, then returned to thank those all involved in the preparations of the evening before inviting all guests to stand and close proceedings with a rendition of “Scots Wha Hae”, Burn’s patriotic rallying cry of defiance towards Edward I, King of England, and his invading forces.

With everyone in fine mood, Heelster Gowdie took to the stage one last time to provide a soundtrack to some traditional Scottish dancing and a finale of the most famous of Robert Burns’ works, “Auld Lang Syne”.

It was a fitting end to a superbly organised and executed evening which only added to the fine history of Burns supper events in Luxembourg.