Burns must inspire us to pack the pubs again
The snow and ice in January 2010 meant it was a dire start to last year for the UK on-trade. So the relatively balmy January 2011 has brought favourable comparisons!
North of the border, 1 and 2 January are holidays (to recover from Hogmanay, maybe) before the focus switches to Burns' Night.
The 25 January date is celebrated worldwide as Scots mark their Shakespeare equivalent.
I do not wish to debate the relative merits of their poetry, but I do wish to highlight Burns as an inspiration for the on-trade.
The date, to many, was not marked in most outlets' budgets as a bumper day, but it should be a themed event for more people — and it is potentially a great hook to get people back into the pub as their new-year resolutions begin to fade!
If you have not had the pleasure — the theatre of the Selkirk Grace, followed by some Burns set to music, a Toast to the Lassies and The Lassies' Reply before an appreciative vote of thanks — some would say you were lucky!
But most would agree there are valid reasons why Burns' Nights have existed since 1802.
People come together, the pipes 'play in' the haggis and there is a real atmosphere in the room.
Cock-a-leekie soup, haggis, neeps and tatties, followed by cranachan — simple fare but enjoyable, flavoursome items as people drink beer and whisky — ideal for a pub-based event.
"The Bard" was also a very sociable frequenter of pubs and lived life to the full.
So was his legacy to create an opportunity for licensees to make money out of celebrating his life and words?
As we were joining hands to sing Auld Lang Syne at the end of our Burns' Night at Caledonian Brewery a few days ago, I thought there must be other such legacies and occasions for the pub calendar that cry out for quality British ingredients at the heart of the great British pub.
A little entertainment, simple hearty British food, good company and great British drinks can often conjure up great times in the pub.
Why not let Should Auld Acquaintance be forgot…. inspire us to overcome the challenges of this year and beyond and use Great British food, drink and its people to keep our pubs at the heart of the proposed 'Big Society'?
Stephen Crawley is managing director at Caledonian Brewery
