Planning a Burns Night Supper

We like any excuse for good food and after all the sadness that Christmas being over causes, it's nice to have something in January to look forward to. It can be a fun homeschool project.

We generally start with the decorations. The kids enjoy helping set the table! It generally involves their dad's horn drinking cup and a few weapons.

The food

January is an excellent month for hearty, filling food. The must-haves at a Burns Night Supper are:

• haggis
• neeps (mashed turnip or swede)
• tatties (mashed potatoes)

Last year we experimented and added:

• cranachan which my church friends taught me how to pronounce (emphasis on the beginning)
• selkirk bun which my mum-in-law calls 'just a really fruity loaf' and this is the perfect description for it. It doesn't even have cinnamon in it! The shock of having sultanas and no cinnamon actually makes it surprisingly original. You can really taste the sultanas and you really feel you're eating carbs. 

The Rituals

Robert Burns is known for his poetry after all. I don't know if these things are original Burns or if they are things he wrote down or just Scottish things but this is what we do.

We always say the Selkirk Prayer:

Some hae meat and canna eat,

And some wad eat that want it,

But we hae meat and we can eat,

Sae let the Lord be thankit.

For our kids we generally do an abbreviated form of the Address to the Haggis:

Fair fa' your honest, sonsie face, 
Great chieftain o the puddin'-race!
Aboon them a' ye tak your place,
Painch, tripe, or thairm:
Weel are ye worthy o' a grace
As lang's my arm.

But mark the Rustic, haggis-fed,
The trembling earth resounds his tread,
Clap in his walie nieve a blade,
He'll make it whissle;
An legs an arms, an heads will sned,
Like taps o thrissle [thistle].

and my husband will show the boys how to cut the haggis with a dirk - see picture below, it is a knife about the length of a newborn baby.

Day Trip: Wallace Monument

Everyone always thinks they want to see Stirling Castle, but once they get to the castle they look across the valley to the monument and say, 'What is that? Can we go there?'

Fast Facts:

• Distance from Edinburgh: 42 miles

• Using public transport: 1 hour and 42 minutes plus walking to get up the hill 

• History: While the Americans were fighting their Civil War in 1861, the Scottish couldn't agree where to erect a monument to their national hero, William Wallace. Glasgow was picked originally but Edinburgh folk were upset, so a compromise was made to build it in Stirling. It took 8 years and stands 219 ft tall. 

The view from the hill on which the Wallace Monument sits

reenactors in August acting out a scene from William Wallace's life

Pros:

• This is a great hike - in the summer it can be fun to make a day of it and picnic on the way or on top of the hill.

• There are many nature trails and parks in the area to explore

• There is a sword on display and some interesting information inside the monument

• Sometimes in the summer reenactors will perform outside

Cons:

• This is not a good activity for wet day or a cold day

• You have to be able to walk up the hill or at least up the winding staircases - if you take the bus up to the monument

Day Trip: Linlithgow

Linlithgow has the most interesting church in terms of blending old and new. Within easy striking distance of Edinburgh, Linlithgow castle is a fun one to go to on a medieval tournament day! 

Fast facts:

• Distance from Edinburgh: 19 miles
• Using public transport: 20 minutes
• History: Mary Queen of Scots was born here
• What there is to do: visit the church and the castle

Pros:

• The castle is an easy walk from the train station
• The train is quite direct
• The castle is on the Historic Scotland pass
• It does not feel like an overwhelming amount to see and do - unlike Stirling Castle for example

Cons:

• The castle is so ruinous that it is hard to imagine it ever being a cozy home - it is freezing even in June!

Day Trip: Sweetheart Abbey

This ruins is deeply romantic even without the name. On the historic Scotland pass, the abbey is outwith the 'central belt' section of Scotland. We were in Dumfries and Rockcliffe and decided to visit the abbey. I do not know if it is worth making the trek unless you are already in the area but as old church connoisseurs, we enjoyed it.

Quick facts:

• Distance from Edinburgh:  80 miles
• Using public transport: 2 and a half hours
• History: founded in the 1200's in memory of Lady Dervorgilla's husband, John Balliol, the abbey was named Dulce Cor. An order of Cistercian monks built it and lived there till the Reformation. The abbey is part of Historic Scotland.
• What there is to do: stroll around the inside of the abbey, then go through the gate and walk around the beautiful fields but watch out for the clingy sheep!

the funniest part was that these sheep wouldn't stop following us around

the old wall which the monks built

there were beautiful flowers in the fields around

It is amazingly well preserved for a ruins

Other things in the area

there USED to be the Costume Museum in this lovely old ancestral home - but they closed it in 2011 or so! Luckily you can view a lot of the treasures of historical dress in the National Museum in Edinburgh now - but I do miss this quaint old house

This old mill with a working water wheel

beautiful beaches - do not be put off by names like Rockcliffe!

Holyrood House

Holyrood House is the original Renaissance safe house with an insurance package - the attached abbey where royal exiles could flee for sanctuary. The palace is beautiful and still a residence of the queen so you may not be able to view it particularly in late June or any other time if the royal family is in occupation.

History

Dating to the 1100's for the abbey, there have been many building projects over the years. The current abbey was destroyed during the Reformation by a mob.

Planning your visit

You should allow at least an hour and a half for Holyrood House. We enjoyed the audio tour.

There is parking nearby and the 35 bus goes quite close.

If you get your ticket stamped at the end, it turns into a year pass.

Holyrood House usually has a free day near or on St. Andrew's Day - on that day you cannot turn your ticket into a year pass.

Taking Kids

What could be more fun than going to see the queen's house?

We actually enjoyed the front courtyard most. There were the guard posts.

and the lion sculptures on random walls

The palace has a children's room. There are coloring sheets available.

Also laid out are old fashioned toys and tools.

There are costumes.

What really disgusts me is that the Holyrood House website claims the gardens are wonderful and well worth a visit - but when we visited there were signs everywhere saying to keep off the grass and every path except the main thoroughfare was roped off!

It is a gross lie to say it's a great place for kids to explore when there's nothing to explore! We were done doing the garden path circuit in 5 minutes.

Places to see in Edinburgh

Edinburgh is a world-class city with centuries of history and probably more listed buildings than anywhere else in the UK. It is walkable, with museums, castles, monuments and hills.

Check out sites within a couple of hours' travel as well. See here for a short 2-day spree of Edinburgh.

I have lived in Edinburgh for six years and it never fails to blossom with interesting places to explore.

The majority of our visitors are students so I have included the prices for each place. My brother, when an undergrad, made a point of visiting all the free places first. Here is what my guests and I have agreed are the highlights.

• Edinburgh Castle - tickets are 16.50 per adult but you can purchase a Historic Scotland pass or Explorer pass to bring the price per castle down.
  
• Arthur's Seat or Calton Hill if you like a hike and great views

  

  
  

• St Giles - our Presbyterian cathedral, home to the Thistle Chapel, free to view

  

  the crowd outside St. Giles on 7/7/16 to see the queen and the Order of the Thistle
• John Knox's grave in the car park behind St. Giles
  
• Holyrood palace and abbey - 12 pounds per adult but if you get your ticket signed on your way out, it can function as an annual pass. See my blog post about it here.
  
• Museum of Childhood - free
  
• Scottish Parliament - free but you go through security so leave sharps at home
  
• National Museum of Scotland - this is definitely the best museum in town, where you may see the first cloned animal, the Queen Mary harp, the Lewis chessmen, and the silver picnic set belonging to Bonny Prince Charlie - free
  
• Writers' Museum - this focuses mainly on Robert Burns, Robert Louis Stevenson and Sir Walter Scott - free
  
• Museum of Edinburgh - this has been revamped and now has a short film to show how Edinburgh grew over the years, and many interesting artifacts from the past, as well as great rooms for kids - free
  
• Museum on the Mound - aka 'the money museum' where you can learn about the invention of insurance, different currencies from around the world, the evolution of the British pounds and much more - free
  
• Celtic Tour, Medieval Tour, Christian Heritage Tour or Mystery Tour by the Christian Heritage Centre or download the ipod tour for free

• see http://www.soulofscotlandtours.com/index.html or http://www.christianheritageedinburgh.org.uk/
• or call Paul to book on  07985070899
• The Christian Heritage Centre - usually open in the summer out of St. Columba's Free Church on the Royal Mile at 1 Johnston Terrace but this year doing an on street version due to delays with St. Columba's maintenance works
  
• Greyfriar's Kirkyard - free
  
• Greyfriar's Bobby - free 
  
• Sir Walter Scott monument - £5 to climb
  
• Art museum - free
  
• The Royal Botanics - free
  
• The Elephant House where parts of Harry Potter were written
  
• John Knox's House is also fun to visit though they have a rather warped view of him so it can be a bit demoralizing.
• 

Particularly of interest for the young:

• Edinburgh Zoo - the penguins promenade at midday 
  
• Gorgie City Farm 
  
• the soft play at Dynamic Earth 
  

You may want to schedule your trip around annual events such as

• The Military Tattoo
• The Festival/Fringe
• The Traquair Medieval Fayre
• The New Years firework display
• Firework Day/November 5th/Guy Fawkes Night
• International Film Festival

the crossing to Inchcolm Island for a performance of Macbeth as part of the Edinburgh Fringe in 2012

Edinburgh is a great place to visit. There are loads of places to see and lots of fun events throughout the year. Let me know what your favorite parts of Edinburgh are!