Burns cemented haggis as a national icon of Scotland by honoring the dish with a poem entitled, “Address to a Haggis, ” where he praises haggis as "Great chieftain o the puddin'- race!" You can read the whole poem here. If you find the original Scottish dialect difficult to read, the website provides a translation in English that might be more familiar to you. In the poem, the speaker commends the superiority and strength of the hardy, haggis-eating Scotts compared to the weak and spindly folk who eat fancier dishes one might find in continental Europe. Every year on January 25, people across Scotland celebrate Burns Night to honor the beloved bard. As part of the celebrations, “Address to a Haggis” is often dramatically recited before digging into a hardy meal of haggis, neeps, and tatties!
The elevation of haggis as a symbol of Scottish national pride also underlies the ubiquity of sheep across the whole country, which is readily apparent the moment you take a train ride outside of the main city centers. The vast majority of the Scottish population is concentrated in the “central belt” region between Glasgow and Edinburgh, and the rest of the country is largely rural farm land, characterized by picturesque rolling green hills dotted with sheep (and cows). In fact, the sheep population in Scotland (around 6.5 million) outnumbers humans (around 5.4 million)!
Haggis is just another example of the intimate connection between food, national identity, politics, class differences and even literature! It was very neat to try a food with such deep cultural signifigance.
