Robert (Rabbie) Burns was born on 25th January 1759.
"The first Burns supper was held in memoriam at Burns Cottage in Ayrshire by Burns's friends, on 21 July 1801, the fifth anniversary of his death. The first still extant Burns Club was founded in Greenock in 1801 by merchants who were born in Ayrshire. They held the first Burns supper on what they thought was his birthday, 29 January 1802, but in 1803, they discovered the Ayr parish records that noted his date of birth was actually 25 January 1759."
Fortunately, we got the date right and on Saturday 25th January Harrogate Bowling Club members – both Scots and Sassenachs – got together to celebrate the birth of the great Scottish bard.
Our Master of Ceremonies gets the supper underway.
The haggis enters the room...
...and is proudly paraded.
And honoured with "The Address to the Haggis".
For those who would like to read the full address, it can be found here...
The haggis with its neeps and tatties. Delicious.
Supper has been very happily consumed. 👍
"The Loyal Toast" was proposed by our Club President, Derek Chappel (above).
The evening then continued with the traditional "Toast to the Lassies" and "Reply on behalf of the Lassies, undertaken by Frank Devaney and Sue Russell, respectively.
The raffle was held, managed by Cynthia Parker and Joyce Johnson, all raffle prizes having been generously donated by club members.
It had been a terrific evening and Gary Preston, Mens' Captain, proposed "The Vote of Thanks" to all concerned. Not least...
...the ladies who served supper
And our fantastic bar team.
Finally, thanks go to Frank Devaney, Organiser-in-Chief. Excellent job, Frank.
A lot of hard work goes into making our events a success.
Photographs: John Drake/Jeff Jaycock
Words: Jeff Jaycock