Celebrating the poetry of the past

Friday, Feb. 22, 2008

The dinner was hosted by the Celtic Society of Southern Maryland Inc.

The Celtic Society gathered to celebrate the life of Robert Burns, an 18th-century Scottish poet, who wrote about the life of the common man.

During the course of the night, there was music, dancing, toasts and the address to the haggis. Haggis, according to Mary Bent Dent of Annapolis and one of the founders of the society, is ground up leftovers of animals after the slaughter that are cooked in a sheep’s stomach, tied up and boiled.

‘‘Burns was born over 200 years ago in Ayrshire, Scotland, in a large family of farmers,” said Mark Smith of California, past president of the Celtic Society and master of ceremonies. ‘‘As he grew older, his parents were big into education. He was exposed to music, reading and critical thought. He wrote about things that were of interest to the common man, like injustice, the government, hypocrisy in religion. He had a way of distilling things in his poetry that inspired people. He attracted a lot of attention throughout Scotland when he was alive. A few years after he died, people started Robert Burns suppers.”

Throughout the night, people danced, listened to the poetry of Robert Burns and ate haggis, which had been addressed in Gaelic. The night ended with the Society singing ‘‘Auld Lang Syne,” the lyrics of which were written by Burns.

According to the biography provided by the Celtic society, Burns recognized the falseness and insincerity of his patrons. He spoke his mind on politics and religion and was often on the opposing side. Today, Burns is commonly recognized as the poet laureate of Scotland.

While many things have changed in the last 200 or so years since the first Burns supper, many things have not. The members of the society were treated to bagpipe music, Highland dancing and Scottish country dancing performed by Ben Williams and Calvert High School’s Calvert anthropology seminar.

‘‘I have been playing the bagpipes since 1965,” said Arthur Fournier of Chesapeake Beach. ‘‘Our group, the Chesapeake Caledonian Pipe Band, is playing tonight. Burns is very important to the Scots. I love Scottish, Celtic and Irish music and that is the tie to this evening.”

‘‘I am going to be dancing the ‘Village Maid’ and the ‘Blue Bonnet’ tonight,” said Kimberly Smith, 14, of St. Mary’s County. ‘‘My parents always took me to Celtic festivals and once we got there, you could always find me sitting right in front of the dance stage. Eventually my parents found a teacher for me.”

‘‘I have been with the anthropology group for the past four years. My teacher [Mr. Williams] asked if there was anyone that was Scottish, German or Irish and I happened to be all three,” said Jessica Knopp, 17, of Lusby.

‘‘The group sings Irish folk songs, German folk songs, we do Hessian wars and I love it. It’s something you have to be serious about it. During the winter, [the group] does Scottish singing and dancing. This is the first time I have done the dinner.”

smascia@somdnews.com