Legion salutes Scottish hero
By Chris Simon

A member of the Innisfil Pipes and Drums plays during the legion's annual Robbie Burns dinner.

The band was piping and the haggis was even hotter at the Royal Canadian Legion Branch 547's tribute to Robbie Burns.

Over 70 people attended the legion's annual tribute to "Scotland's favourite son". The tribute is one of the legion's most popular events, regardless of ethnicity, said legion president Ed Collins.

"It's a good reason in January to get together," said Collins, noting his honourary Scottish heritage. "I'm not a Scotsman, but it's a tradition at almost every legion."

Burns was a poet and lyricist who lived from 1759 to 1796. He is regarded as the national poet of Scotland, and is celebrated worldwide. He is the best-known of the poets who have written in the Scots language, although much of his writing is also in English and a 'light' Scots dialect.

He is regarded as a pioneer of the Romantic movement and became an important source for the founders of liberalism and socialism. Burns is still seen as a cultural icon in Scotland and among Scots who have relocated to other parts of the world. His influence on Scottish literature is still strong.

Haggis is carried into the Royal Canadian Legion Branch 547 dining room.

His most well-known poems include Auld Lang Syne, Scots Wha Hae, A Red, Red Rose, A Man's A Man for A' That, To a Louse, To a Mouse, and The Battle Ae Fond Kiss.

However, Burns was also known as a scandalous partygoer. It's how most at the legion choose to remember him, said Collins.

"It's part of our heritage," said Collins. "We do it all over Canada. He was a bad guy, a womanizer."

A bagpiper lead off the event, as two men dressed in Scottish regalia carried haggis into the legion's dining room. The haggis was placed at the front of the room, as an unofficial guest of honour, receiving toasts, salutes and a stabbing.

A traditional Scottish meal was followed by dinner and dancing.

"Everybody toasts the haggis," he said.

With files from www.wikipedia.com.