Born on January 25
Burns Night
Pipe in the haggis, raise a glass.
Next: January 25, 2027
Where it comes from
Burns Night celebrates Robert Burns, Scotland's national poet, on his birthday, 25 January. Five years after he died at 37, nine of his close friends, led by the Reverend Hamilton Paul, met at Burns Cottage in Alloway on 21 July 1801 to remember him.
How it's celebrated
At a Burns Supper the haggis is piped in and 'addressed' with Burns's poem before it is cut. There are toasts, the chief one the 'Immortal Memory' of the poet, readings of his poems and songs, and a wee dram.
Did you know
The friends planned to meet on his birthday the year after the first supper but got the date wrong, gathering on 29 January.
Read the full story of Burns Night
Star sign
Aquarius · January 20 – February 18 · Air sign
Original and independent, a little ahead of their time.