As legend has it, Mark Twain once lamented the fact that America didn’t have a national poet.
“But if there was one, it would be Robert Burns,” he said.
On Saturday about 100 Vineyarders clad in kilts and other forms of tartan gathered for a five-hour dinner at the Portuguese American Club to honor Bard of Scotland on the 260th anniversary of his birth.
Although Burns Nicht suppers take place around the globe, the 32nd annual dinner hosted by the Scottish Society of Martha’s Vineyard is likely the only one that hoists the Royal Rampant of Scotland between the Bandeiras de Portugal and the Stars and Stripes.
“It’s also the only place where you can see your local police chief play the bagpipes,” said Sarah Nevin, who wore an officially-registered Martha’s Vineyard tartan sash draped over her shoulders Saturday evening.
Burns suppers began 20 years after the poet’s death, when a group of his friends gathered in an Alloway cottage to pay tribute to his life, works and memory. Some two and a quarter centuries later, on a different Island in the Atlantic, Vineyarders sang, ate and toasted with tunes as time-honored as the Scottish bard himself.
“It all sounds like a long time ago, but it’s amazing how connected Burns is to our past,” said David Roy, whose lowland brogue gave away the fact that he flew in from Scotland to serve as the main speaker for the event. Because his initial flight was cancelled, Mr. Roy had to fly into Newburgh, N.Y. Edgartown Yacht Club manager Bill Roman drove 500 miles round trip to pick him up. Neither one minded the road trip — and both appreciated that their destination was named after Scottish royalty.
“It was called Stewart International Airport,” Mr. Roy said. “A very Scottish airport indeed.”
It was a night to soak up trivia about Robbie Burns, who according to Mr. Roy, was influential in American society. Burns poems (pronounced poy-ems by Mr. Roy) serve as the inspiration for the titles of great works of American literature, including Steinbeck’s Of Mice and Men and Salinger’s Catcher in the Rye. he said Frederick Douglass, who was emancipated by a group of Scottish bairds, annotated an entire book of Burns poetry during his stay in Scotland. And there are more statues of Robert Burns than anyone else in the United States.
“Twenty-four of them,” Mr. Roy said.
After Edgartown police chief Bruce McNamee piped in the haggis — a traditional, savory Scottish pudding — and the Scottish Society raffled off tartan pillows, tartan plush dolls, and a one-way catboat trip to Nova Scotia to support a scholarship fund for regional high school students, Mr. Roy gave the annual toast to the immortal memory of Rabbie Burns.
The Scottish Society Singers performed while the audience feasted on cock-a-leekie soup, prime rib, finnin haddie, and highland chicken. There were traditional toasts to the queen, the Scottish diaspora and the President of the United States.
“There’s a lot of stuff out there about what’s true and what’s fake,” presidential toaster Warren Hartwell said. “But we love our country, and we love a good single malt!”
The evening concluded with rousing renditions of Auld Lang Syne, Loch Lomond, and a bagpipe-accompanied Amazing Grace.
“If I can’t live in Edinburgh,” one Burns enthusiast said upon leaving, “Martha’s Vineyard will have to do.”
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