USU joins worldwide celebration of poet
Each year, a Robert Burns supper is hosted everywhere around the world to celebrate the birthday of the great Scottish poet, and this year, the Utah Scottish Association hosted the annual Robert Burns Supper at USU in the Taggart Student Center Ballroom Friday.
According to the Utah Scottish Association, Robert Burns lived from Jan. 25, 1759, to July 21, 1796. He died at age 37 from heart disease, but he will live forever as Scotland’s poet, the site stated.
Some of his most popular poems include “Auld Lang Syne,” “My Love Is Like a Red, Red, Rose” and “My Heart’s In the Highlands.”
“Cache Valley is filled with people of Scottish heritage,” said professor Jay Anderson, who has been a member of the English and history departments at USU for 10 years and teaches many courses in Scottish folklore.
“This is the first time our Scottish Association has put on this event here in Cache Valley,” said Robert Gallimore, member of the Utah Scottish Association Board. “Here are enumerable families that are deeply Scottish. Many parts of this valley are deeply tied by name to Scotland. This building is actually named after someone of Scottish decent. Taggart comes from MacTaggart, which is a very high-end clan.”
Many places in Utah have names of Scottish decent, according to the USA Web site, including Logan, Murray, Ogden, Layton, Provo, Price and Brigham City.
“This is a traditional Scottish event. It is held all over the world to celebrate Robert Burns’ birthday, who is the great Scottish poet,” Anderson said. “It is held in the U.S., Canada, France, Australia and wherever there are Scots. They always get together and have this dinner for Robert Burns, and it’s amazing.
“USU should be very, very proud of what it has done to host this Scottish Burns night. It’s really great to have it come to USU. There are so many people here, and everyone is excited and laughing,” Anderson said.
The ballroom was filled with the music of bagpipes and people of Scottish ancestry gathering together. Many people were in kilts and other traditional Scottish dress.
“Kilts have become a symbol of Scotland,” Gallimore said. “They were adopted in the early 1700s as the national attire. Even lowland families started wearing them, although it traditionally wasn’t lowland attire.”
Gallimore said the tradition of the Tartan, which is the fabric of the kilt, goes back to 1200 BC. It was worn by Scottish ancestors who had a preference to things with bright colors, he said.
Some men were also wearing fly plaids, which Gallimore said “came from the ancient garment they wore which was contemporarily called ‘the great kilt.'” It was a large piece of fabric traditionally used as a sort of umbrella they pulled over themselves to protect them from bad weather. He said women wore a similar garment that was very heavy.
The dress wasn’t the only great part of the night though, he said. The traditional Scottish food was the highlight of the night for some people.
“The food services people at universities know how to put on the cuisine we have. What we are eating tonight is a very typical Scottish food and it’s tough to do that if you don’t have a chef,” Gallimore said.
Toasts were also part of the night, as well as Burns’ poetry and music sampling, dancing and socializing.
“It’s a wonderful tradition, and it’s so marvelous,” Anderson said. “You couldn’t ask for anything better. USU should be very, very proud of what it has done to host this Scottish Burns night.”
-amy.m.mattson@aggiemail.usu.edu