Bringing Supper time traditions together

A NEW campaign is gathering information to create a Burns Supper archive to mark the 225th anniversary of the bard’s birth.

Created by the University of Glasgow’s Centre for Robert Burns Studies (CRBS), people from all over the world are being invited to contribute their traditions to create a crowdsourced archive of Burns Suppers events.

All the submissions will be added to an interactive global map to be launched in July next year on the 225th anniversary of the first Burns Supper. It is hoped the new archive and map will feature poems and songs performed at Burns Suppers around the world, as well as videos, photographs, recipes and clothing worn.

Professor Pauline Mackay, director of the CRBS, said: “The Burns Supper is not just a historic ritual, it’s a modern phenomenon and one of the most wide-reaching and impactful examples of intangible cultural heritage to come out of Scotland and, indeed, the UK.

“This celebration is a living tradition that continues to evolve and we want to capture that and link people around the globe celebrating Scotland’s national bard by finding out what foods they eat, what they drink and which Burns poems or songs feature in their celebrations. We are not only interested in who celebrates the Burns Supper and how, but also the ways in which it has been adapted to incorporate different cultures.”

More than 9.5 million people now celebrate Burns Night each year on January 25, and researchers hope the archive will form a submission to be recognised as UK living heritage following ratification of the UNESCO Convention on Intangible Cultural Heritage.

The Centre has appointed Dr Cleo O’Callaghan Yeoman as research associate to lead this next chapter.

* To participate, visit the Centre for Robert Burns Studies’ website, or contact Professor Mackay and Dr O’Callaghan Yeoman at [email protected].