Address to a Haggis

Note: This article has been excerpted from a larger work in the public domain and shared here due to its historical value. It may contain outdated ideas and language that do not reflect TOTA’s opinions and beliefs.

“Address to a Haggis,” by Robert Burns, from Poetry, 1887.

[Note: Helpful translations from the original text have been included at the end of lines in brackets.]

I

Fair fa' your honest, sonsie face, [jolly]

Great chieftain o' the puddin-race!

Aboon them a' ye tak your place, [Above]

Painch, tripe, or thairm [Paunch]

Weel are ye wordy of a grace [small guts]

As lang's my arm.

II

The groaning trencher there ye fill,

Your hurdies like a distant hill, [buttocks]

Your pin wad help to mend a mill [skewer]

In time o' need,

While thro' your pores the dews distil

Like amber bead.

III

His knife see rustic Labour dight, [wipe]

An' cut ye up wi' ready slight, [skill]

Trenching your gushing entrails bright,

Like onie ditch;

And then, O what a glorious sight,

Warm-reekin, rich!

IV

Then, horn for horn, they stretch an' strive [spoon]

Deil tak the hindmost, on they drive,

Till a' their weel-swall'd kytes belyve [bellies: bye-and-bye]

Are bent like drums;

Then auld Guidman, maist like to rive, [burst]

'Bethankit!' hums.

V

Is there that owre his French ragout,

Or olio that wad staw a sow, [sicken]

Or fricassee wad mak her spew

Wi' perfect sconner, [disgust]

Looks down wi' sneering, scornfu' view

On sic a dinner?

VI

Poor devil! see him owre his trash,

As feckless as a wither'd rash, [weak; rush]

His spindle shank a guid whip-lash,

His nieve a nit; [fist; nut]

Thro’ bluidy flood or field to dash,

O how unfit!

VII

But mark the Rustic, haggis-fed,

The trembling earth resounds his tread,

Clap in his walie nieve a blade, [ample]

He’ll make it whissle;

An' legs, an' arms,, an' heads will sned [crop]

Like taps o' thrissle.

VIII

Ye Pow'rs, wha mak mankind your care,

And dish them out their bill o' fare,

Auld Scotland wants nae skinking ware, [watery]

That jaups in luggies; [splashes; porringers]

But, if ye wish her gratefu' prayer,

Gie her a Haggis!

Burns, Robert. "Address to a Haggis." In Poetry. Edited by W.E. Henly and T.F. Henderson. T.C. and E.C. Jack, 1897.

Robert Burns

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