Pipes and haggis for Burns

Christopher Capozziello

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It was like Brigadoon brought to York Street. On January 25, local alumni held their first Burns Supper, a celebration of the life and work of the Scottish bard Robert Burns. Fifty alumni, faculty, students, and staff gathered at Rose Alumni House for an evening of food and readings. Of course, no Scottish evening would be complete without a haggis—the “great chieftain o’ the pudding race,” in Burns’s words. (The dish involves poaching, in a sheep’s stomach, a mixture of organs, oatmeal, onion, and spices.) The haggis was presented to diners with the skirl of a Great Highland Bagpipe and served with “bashed neeps and champit tatties” (i.e., parsnips and mashed potatoes) and malt whisky. The supper, organized by the Association of Yale Alumni and the Young Alumni Council of Connecticut, also included a number of toasts and songs.