Julie Goucher ~ Anglers Rest

Having written the earlier post about Burns Night (Burns Night Part 1), I realised that I had not explored the surname more fully. I don’t have time to create a significant post, but did want to share a few things with you, as I was quite surprised.

I headed to Forebears.io and looked at the distribution of the surname BURNS for 1881 – direct link to the data HERE

Distribution Map from Forebears.io for 1881 – Surname of BURNS

The map shows that in 1881 there were no instances of the surname anywhere but the United Kingdom. There are some anomalies here.

The data does refers to Great Britain which is England, Wales and Scotland. Isle of Man, Jersey and Guernsey are not the part of Great Britain or the UK, but they are Crown Dependencies.

The results show there were more that double instances of England than in Scotland.

There is some data for 1880, which is only for the United States, but if you look at the distribution map and click the actual map, it does populate each state – Check this out HERE

The site also provides some data for 1901, with only Ireland being shown. At this point, Ireland was one country.

There is no further historical data, what is available from the site is relative to the Census data. As you might expect by 2014, which is the other date that provides data, the distribution map shows the surname is more widespread.

Distribution Map from Forebears.io for 2014 – Surname of BURNS

The data for 2014 shows the distribution across the most incidences for the top 10 locations, and you can click the link to see more data

Looking at surname distribution is one of the elements of the Introduction to One-Name Studies course – The latest course has just started, but if you click the link above you can be added to the list for information on the next start date.

Robert Burns, 1759 – 1796

This is a rather long post, which I have split into three parts.

Across the globe, thousands of people with Scottish Heritage celebrate the birth of the Scottish Poet Robbie Burns on 25 January. The first Burns supper was hosted by the Burns Club on 29 January 1802 which was thought to be the poet’s birthday, however, a search of the Ayr parish records revealed that he was born on 25 January.

Traditionally there is a Burns Supper of Haggis, Neep and Tatties to celebrate the event.

The formal supper starts with a welcome and announcements then the Selkirk Grace.

Selkirk is one of the oldest towns in the Borders of Scotland. The Grace itself is a prayer and said before a meal. Here is the prayer in both Scottish and English translation:

Some hae meat and canna eat,
And some wad eat that want it,
But we hae meat and we can eat,
Sae let the Lord be thankit.

Some have food and cannot eat,
And some would eat that lack it,
But we have food and we can eat,
So let God be thanked.

CHORUS

Ready cooked Haggis

Haggis can be found in most super markets here in the UK. They are usually found on the fresh meat counters and can be frozen. I routinely have at least two in the freezer. They do need defrosting before cooking.

Haggis can be cooked in a variety of ways

1. Haggis can be cooked on the hob, in a pan of boiled water. As soon as the water boils reduce the heat and add the Haggis, with the water simmering it takes around an hour.
2. Haggis can also be cooked in the oven, remove from the plastic casing and wrap in tin foil. Place the Haggis into an oven proof dish with a little water and cook, usually for around an hour.
3. Haggis can also be cooked via the microwave, I usually remove the outer plastic and skin, and don’t forget the metal clips at the ends! Cut the Haggis into small segments and cook on full power. Length of time will vary depending on your microwave.

Haggis Pie

Cook Suede and Potatoes
Haggis cooked for about 3 minutes in the microwave (mine is 900w)
Cut Haggis into sections and place in bottom of a dish, I use a Lasagne dish
Mash Suede and place on top of Haggis
Mash potato and place on top of Suede.
Place in Oven for (mine is fan assisted) so 20 minutes until nice and brown.

Wee Beestie!

Cook Haggis and break into bits with a fork.
Serve on a bed of mashed potato and mashed suede (neep)
cover with cheese sauce and a light dusting of black pepper to taste

Haggis is available in most supermarkets in the UK, either as fresh, or in some cases tinned – our preference is for the fresh.

For those residing in Scotland there is ready meal of Haggis, Tattie and Neep available all year round, they even make a larger portion for the big night itself. We can vouch for the ready meal, and no trip to Scotland is complete until we have picked up some to bring home!

© Julie Goucher, October 2022

2011, and we were about to board a ferry to the Isle of Bute. There was a phone call; a rescue Border Terrier that needed to be re-homed. As soon as we were back we went to see the BT. There we saw a very sad Stanley aged two. I was sceptical, what would the little one be like? was he coming with history?

We could not leave him there, his little face looking at us, so he came home with us on 22 July 2011. We wanted to put his sad life behind him, and gave him a name change, to Alfie. He settled in, he quickly mastered the point of squeaky dog toys, chews & treats.

The last 18 months have been a challenge, problems with his liver but we elected him to bring him home and enjoy what time we had, as long as he was doing ok. We saw the vet frequently. That time ran out today, when we made the decision to say a final farewell to Alfie, who was 18 1/2, by far the oldest BT the vet had seen.

Alfie was a loyal little thing. He preferred Stuart to me, he loved sleeping, exploring, eating cheese & even steak. He followed us around, knew when it was time for a walk. He was loved & loved us back.

Alfie, you are very missed.
May 2009 – 31 Dec 2025

© Julie Goucher, October 2022