STATIONERS' BURNS SUPPER - 27 JANUARY 2023

“Pray silence for the haggis!” came the cry -  and to the skirl of the pipes, the star of the Stationers’ Burns Supper was paraded through the Great Hall to the delight of more than 130 guests. It was the start of an evening to remember.

The Ode to the Haggis, delivered by Scottish guest Fred Bains, reached its finale with a bloodthirsty swirl of a large knife before the guests stood to drink a whisky toast to the most important course of our upcoming dinner.

The traditional Selkirk Grace – “Some hae meat and canna eat, And some wad eat that want it, But we hae meat and we can eat, And sae the Lord be thankit” – was eloquently said by the Clerk in a well-rehearsed and entirely convincing Scottish accent.

The superb four-course meal was strictly traditional - Loch Fyne smoked salmon, haggis neeps and tatties, Scottish beef sirloin and cranachan for dessert – and the entertainment between courses would have been totally at home if presented north of the border.

The Immortal Memory of Rabbie Burns was honoured in a witty speech by Fred Bains, accompanied by piper Gerry Pigott, but it was two home-grown speeches that won most praises.

Livery Committee chairman Phil Elder proposed the Toast to the Lassies totally in verse, a feat of which Burns himself would have been proud. Then the Master replied on behalf of the Lassies in a humorous speech which brought forward much laughter and applause, especially from the ladies.

The supper ended with a grand auction and the drawing of the raffle before everyone stood and joined hands for the singing of Auld Lang Syne, probably Burns’s best-known work.

The hugely-successful event, organised by the Livery Committee on January 27, was in aid of the Stationers' Hall Charity.