Jimmy Wishart, an active member of the club for many years, still joins us on the occasion of the Haggis Gala .
Another year gone by and it was again Haggis Day at our club, a men’s Gala to celebrate the occasion. A few less teams than normal but still a good day in the sun on Green2, although many players found a strong NW wind in the afternoon was a bit of a problem.
At the end of the day’s play, the winners were announced as follows:
1st. John Gauman, Gary Burns, Rob Dean – 3 wins, 27 ends, 63 points
2nd. Ray Hudson, Bill Moran, Tony Owen – 3 wins, 26 ends, 49 points
3rd. Keith Galloway, Paul Gardner, Keith West – 3 wins, 24 ends, 49 points.
Following afternoon tea and the presentation of prizes to the winners, the club was again entertained with the Haggis ritual by John McAllister from Whitby. The following photos show us scenes of the event.
The young piper and drummer parade into the clubroom with the Haggis being carried in by Jimmy Adams.
John opens the next stage with a Toast.
John giving the address to the Haggis.
Haggis is a savoury pudding containing sheep’s pluck (heart, liver and lungs); minced with onion, oatmeal, suet, spices, and salt, mixed with stock, and traditionally encased in the animal’s stomach and simmered for approximately three hours. Most modern commercial haggis is prepared in a sausage casing rather than an actual stomach.
Haggis is traditionally served as part of the Burns supper on the week of January 25, when Scotland’s national poet, Robert Burns, is commemorated. Burns wrote the poem Address to a Haggis, which starts “Fair fa’ your honest, sonsie face, Great chieftain o’ the puddin-race!” In Burns’s lifetime haggis was a common dish of the poor as it was nourishing yet very cheap, being made from leftover parts of sheep otherwise thrown away.
John McAllister and John Buchan
And here we have our bowling Scot, dressed up for the occasion and making sure his ‘teeth’ are cleaned with his sword.