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A Marblehead tradition for the last 18 years and a Scottish one since 1801, Burns Night will be celebrated again at The Landing restaurant on Thursday, Jan. 15. Robert Burns, the Scottish poet, songwriter and music collector, lived in the second half of the 18th century and wrote more than 700 poems and songs in his short life.
The first Burns Supper, an informal affair, was held in 1801 by nine of the poet’s closest friends in the same cottage in Alloway, Ayrshire, where he was born on Jan. 25, 1759. He had been dead for less than five years, but that small start led to a sort of immortality for “Scotland’s national bard” as hundreds of such events are now held each year across the world.
The Marblehead Burns Night is once again being organized by Rhod Sharp and his wife, Vicki Staveacre, who introduced Burns Suppers at Old North Church. For three years from 2018, they took over Marblehead Little Theatre for the original and highly successful “Love Scotland” shows. After COVID-19, Sharp teamed up with his original Burns Supper collaborators, Jeremy Bell and Julianne Gearhart, for a traditional Burns Night celebration with the enthusiastic help of Robert Simonelli and the staff of The Landing.
Sharp said, “We’re looking forward to celebrating the life and work of Burns, who I consider Scotland’s poet of revolution, with a three course dinner, stories and songs”. Burns lived through two revolutions, the American and the French, and his support for the American revolution in particular threatened to get him into trouble with the British authorities, who banned expressions of Scottish nationhood and were horrified by what had happened to their former colonies across the pond.
Now in its third year at The Landing, Burns Night will feature some of the classic Burns Supper traditions including the Address to the Haggis, the Selkirk Grace and the Immortal Memory together with a selection of Burns music and song presented by Jeremy Bell and well-known local soprano Julianne Gearhart.
The three-course dinner will feature Chef Brayan Medina’s exotic haggis appetizer, a choice of entree and dessert. The cost of the evening is $70 per person plus gratuity. For reservations, call Vicki Staveacre on 202-679-3356.
