By Chelsea Laskowski

PHOTOS: Prince Albert pays homage to Scottish culture

Jan 25, 2014 | 2:36 PM

An annual supper named after Robert Burns uses the Scottish poet as the centrepiece to celebrate Scottish culture in Prince Albert.

The Caledonian Society hosted the Robert Burns Supper at the Travelodge on Friday night.

A little over 100 people came out for a full supper, Highland dancing and music, scotch, and a traditional reading of Burns’ late poem Address to Haggis from the late 1700s.

“That is recited and it’s a ceremonial process in which a sort of innocent little haggis is stabbed to death in front of everybody’s eyes,” said former president of the Caledonian Society and event organizer Bill Kerr.Jan. 25 is Burns’ birthday, and while not everyone at the event has Scottish heritage, the poet’s farming past appeals to locals.

“He was just a pretty ordinary fellow actually,” Kerr said. “He actually died very, very young. And that’s the fact that he got through so much and became so well known in such a short time was quite incredible in its own right.”

Learn the signs

How often should you change your brakes?

51m ago

Missing pet

'She means the world to our family': Woman seeks help in finding missing pet parrot

22h ago

BE CAREFUL ON THE ROADS

Semi flips outside P.A.; one of dozens of incidents on Sask. roads due to winter weather

22h ago

Despite Burns’ humble roots, his poetry made it to Edinburgh, which was “a hot bed of Scottish culture,” Kerr explained.

Society events in Scotland’s capital over 200 years ago echoed the entertainment enjoyed on Friday in Prince Albert.

This included a “toast to lassies,” because Burns was inspired by women “which seems to be a big part of his life. He had a hell of a lot of girlfriends,” Kerr added.Haggis is also a big part of the night, although it was prepared a little differently than tradition dictates.

A combination of as much animal meat as possible, oats and herbs used to be stuffed into a sheep’s stomach but health authorities don’t allow that anymore, Kerr explained.

The Caledonian Society’s haggis has a province-wide reputation, he added, although its modern incarnation is mostly ground lamb, herbs and a sausage casing that looks similar to the stomach.

The event is the biggest annual undertaking for the Caledonian Society and dates back decades.

Kerr pointed out that the St. Andrew’s Society, a pre-Caledonian Society group that celebrates Scotland, held a Burns Anniversary as early as 1924.

claskowski@panow.com

On Twitter: @chelsealaskowsk