Montreat Scottish Society -- Dialup Robbie Burns Tea

Annual Robbie Burns Tea — Saturday, February 3, 2007
2 - 4:00 pm, at Bill & Susanne McCaskill's home, 114 John Knox Road, Montreat

   On the first Saturday in February each year, members and friends of the Montreat Scottish Society eagerly assemble for our celebration of Robert Burns' birthday. Joe Bailey, our illustrious Pipe Major, pipes us into the festive atmosphere of Bill and Susanne's beautiful home. There we will enjoy Scottish cookies, cakes, and haggis.
   Scottish attire is not required, but many who attend will be proudly wearing their colorful tartans. The surroundings will be decorated with tartans and Scottish memorabilia. This is a great time to see old friends and meet new ones.
   Call 828-669-8101 to let Bill or Susanne McCaskill know if you are planning on attending this free event. That number also will have a message on Saturday, Feb. 3, if inclement weather threatens to cancel the tea.

Robert Burns (born January 25, 1759, died July 21, 1796)
   By reinvigorating the Scottish vernacular through his poetry and his recording hundreds of the Scottish folk songs, Robert Burns became popularly known as the "national poet of Scotland."
   In 1786, he published a collection of his poems in the county town of Kilmarnock — "Poems, Chiefly in the Scottish Dialect". The book (now known as the Kilmarnock Edition) was an instant success and he went to Edinburgh where he was welcomed by a number of leading literary figures.
   In Edinburgh, he met James Johnson, another keen collector of Scottish songs. Johnson was producing a series of volumes on songs complete with music, and Burns was soon the chief part of the production team. James Johnson's The Scots Musical Museum (1787-1803) was published in six volumes and contained 200 of Burns' songs. He also wrote the words for many songs found in George Thomson's Select Collection of Original Scottish Airs (1793-1813), published in five volumes.

Scots and descendants worldwide celebrate the man who brought the world poems and songs, such as Auld Lang Syne, The Selkirk Grace, Tam O’Shanter and, of course, the famous (or infamous) Address to the Haggis.
From the first celebration in 1800 of 9 men in Scotland, annual Burns gatherings now are held from Edinburgh to Fiji to Montreat.