Burns Night at Inner Temple.

I have a friend who is a member of The Honourable Society of Inner Temple, and they were having a Burns Night on Friday, so he invited me and a few other friends to go with him. It was a black tie event, so we got dressed up and then got a taxi to the place, and were greeted by a piper. There was a drinks reception first, and then we were led into the main hall, which was absolutely beautiful!

Of course there was the Piping in of the Haggis;
‘Chairman asks the guests to be upstanding to receive the Haggis. The piper leads a small procession comprising, the Chef, presenting the Haggis on a silver platter; the person who will “Address the Haggis”; and sometimes a third person carrying a tray with a “tot” of whisky for each in the procession to “toast” the Haggis. During the procession, the guests clap in time to the music until the Haggis reaches its destination at the table. The music stops and everyone is seated in anticipation of the Address to the Haggis’

After the piping in of the Haggis we had our three course meal. The portion of Haggis in the main meal was huge! I love Haggis, but it is extremely filling, and I just couldn’t eat it all the portion was so big. We also met a really interesting guy, he had been in the Army when he was younger, and then built up his own company, and now he’s training at Inner Temple to be a Barrister. He also served in Rwanda during the Civil War, and he told us to watch Shooting Dogs, because apparently that film is closest to the reality of what it was like to be out there. His stories of being in Rwanda were incredible!