Acknowledgements 11 Abbreviations 13 List of Tables 15 Introduction 17 Part One: The Creation and Growth of the Burns Supper 23 CHAPTER ONE: Convivial Club Life in Burns''s Time 25 CHAPTER TWO: The Creation of the First Burns Supper 37 Alloway, July 1801 37 How Hamilton Paul Bonded the Elements of the Burns Supper Together 43 The Thomson Club: Antecedent or Anachronism? 49 CHAPTER THREE: The Charismatic Period 52 CHAPTER FOUR: The Traditional Period 77 International Scope 77 The United States of America 80 Canada 101 India 105 Australia 110 New Zealand 117 Hong Kong and the Far East 120 Africa 123 Back to the United Kingdom 126 CHAPTER FIVE: The Bureaucratic Period 151 The Federation 151 The All-too Mortal Memory of Hugh MacDiarmid 159 The Commemoration of Robert Burns and its Connection with the Past 164 The Orthodox or Institutionalised Burns Supper 171 CHAPTER SIX: The Burns Supper at War 175 CHAPTER SEVEN: Innovations and the Global Period 194 Communism 194 Broadcasting 200 The Advent of the Global Period 206 Part Two: The Elements of the Burns Supper 213 CHAPTER EIGHT: The Immortal Memory 214 Toasting Immortality and Immorality 216 The Immortal Memory at the Burns Supper 222 The Immortal Memory in Prose 231 The Form of the Toast 243 ''Join Me in a Toast'' 247 CHAPTER NINE: The Haggis 250 The Haggis for Scotland 250 The Haggis and Verse 259 The Haggis on the Menu 266 The Haggis in Ritual 272 Addressing the Haggis 280 CHAPTER TEN: Ale, Sangs An'' Clatter 285 Drink 286 Entertainment 296 The Songs 298 The Poems 314 CHAPTER ELEVEN: Beginning And Ending The Evening 324 Opening the Proceedings: Saying Grace 324 Closing the Proceedings: Singing Auld Lang Syne 339 CHAPTER TWELVE: Female Participation in Burns Suppers 347 Women Attending the Burns Supper 347 The Toast to the Lass(i)es 362 Conclusion 367 Appendices 371 Appendix A: Additional Account of the First Burns Supper from The Air Edition 371 Appendix B: Report of the First Meeting of the Paisley Burns Club, 29 January 1805 379 Appendix C: Biographies of the First Nine Burns Supper Guests - The Founding Members of the Allowa'' Club 387 Appendix D: Chronological Catalogue of Early Burns Suppers from 1801 to 1858 399 Appendix E: All Commemorative Celebrations Recorded in the Year 1859 440 Bibliography 456 Endnotes 526.