The Hallowed Haggis:
A Robert Burns Celebration
January 21, 2023
We all know January–the time of the year when holiday delights have faded into the snow and the dark cold nights of winter threaten despair… We have an antidote: The Hallowed Haggis: A Robert Burns Celebration.
Come push against the darkness, and join us for a seriously silly celebration of the words and song of the Ploughman Poet, Robert Burns. Indulge your whimsy, and join in the revelry as we enjoy the smoky taste of great whiskey, the play of candlelight against silver, the wail of the bagpipes, the Spillian Haggis Games, and a great feast of the Hallowed Haggis… Hilarity will ensue.
What the hell is Haggis, you ask? It’s liver, tongue and other unmentionable bits together with Scottish oats, onions, stock and herbs all cooked together into “the great chieftain o’ the pudding race.” Put away your mocking thoughts, and know that this is one delicious bit of pie. And, for those who dare not, we’re also concocting a vegan version o’ the great and powerful Haggis.
Our co-founder Leigh Melander and our great friends and colleagues, theatre artist Robert Smythe and textile artist Susan Smythe, will be co-directing the delights of the weekend and spurring you on to great Haggis heights. And John “Johnny Piper” McGovern will be evoking the highlands and bringing us into line with his bagpipes throughout the evening.
Join us as we push back winter’s dark cloak with games, verse, drinks and superb food, all invoking – and evoking – your inner Highlander.
Three ways to play:
- Come for the evening: The Hallowed Haggis Feast
- Come for the day: The Haggis Games and Feast Saturday
- Stay the night: The Full Haggis – The Haggis Games, Feast, and Overnight Stay
The Hallowed Haggis at Spillian. It’s Mythic. Local. Real.
The Haggis Games
- 1 to 4 PM: The Spillian Haggis Games, a superbly silly array of activities and competitions to get your inner Highlander primed for the Robert Burns Feast and contests. Learn, compete, laugh…including choices like:
- A Scots Dialect Lesson: Och, aye… Land in the language of Burns and explore your talent for accents and/or a touch of moxie. Click here for a list of Robert Burns poems you can practice on.
- An Ode to an Ode: A guided chance to release your inner poet and create an ode to that which you love, to share at the dinner table with your fellow celebrants and competitors. Fear not! Even if your inner poet is shy; sublime or absurd, we’ll help you get to full-on poet status for the evening.
- To the Toasts!: How to hold the heart and soul of what you’re honoring as you make a toast that will ring in the memories of all who join us.
- Rad Plaid Pads: Invent your own plaid as you weave your own hot pad holder. (Crafts for grownups!)
- The Spillian Auld Lang Syne Orchestra Rehearsal: Penny whistles, slide whistles, kalimbas and kazoos await those who are brave enough to become a member of the band. Only the smallest modicum of musical talent required…bravado counts. (And those of you who actually play instruments, feel free to bring yours and help guide the mayhem.)
- The Bar will open at one if you need some liquid courage, and we’ll have some Spillian-made snacks on hand for noshing.
The Saturday Robert Burns Feast
A family style feast around our extraordinary mahogany dining table, all dressed for the occasion. This table is a true place of convivium, where tales are topped, ideas are birthed, and friendships created. We will toast, dine, share stories, poetry, the music of the pipes, announce the winners of the Haggis Games.
The Menu
(Except for the traditional haggis, all other dishes can be vegan: you can choose when you register!)
Green Salad with Roasted Beets, Chestnuts, and Charred Cabbage (V)
The Mighty Haggis: Great Chieftan o’ the Puddin’ Race
Vegan Haggis in Savoy Cabbage with Cinnamon and Nutmeg
Neeps and Tatties: Glazed Rutabaga and Potatoes with Chive Whiskey Sauce
Carmelized Braised Leeks
Currant Bannocks
Gingerbread with crystallized ginger and spiced maple whiskey sauce
Coffee, Tea, Iced Tea, Water, Lemonade
The Schedule
- 5 PM: Cocktail hour featuring the Spillian Highland, with local Catskills whiskey, a whisper of the heather on the hills, and a curl of smoke. And some Spillian snacks…
- 7 PM: A full-flown Robert Burns Supper, with a feast from Spillian’s chef Christian Van Etten around our grand table, featuring traditional and vegan haggis along with his creative takes on the evocative flavors of Scotland; and all of the glorious pageantry of a traditional Burns Supper, featuring poetry, speechifying, and the magic of John “Johnny Piper” McGovern on bagpipes.
- After Dinner: The final round of Haggis Games contests, including the memorable Bonniest Knees Contest for our kilt-wearers (bribes will be accepted), awards, and rousing last chorus of Auld Lang Syne with the Spillian Tin Whistle Auld Lang Syne Orchestra. Click here for kilt maker who rents kilts in Highland NY!
Pricing
Saturday Robert Burns Supper & Festivities: $75 per person
Join us for the cocktail hour, supper, and festivities. Cocktails begin at 5 PM, dinner at 7 PM. Includes dinner and the evening’s entertainment. Cash bar, tax, and gratuities not included.
Saturday Haggis Games, Robert Burns Supper & Festivities: $95 per person
Join us for the Haggis Games, cocktail hour, supper, and festivities. Games begin at 1 PM. Includes afternoon games, dinner and the evening’s entertainment. Cash bar, tax, and gratuities not included. Advance reservations required.
The Full Hallowed Haggis: $355 per couple
Make it a getaway! The Full Hallowed Haggis includes The Haggis Games, cocktail hour, supper, the evening’s entertainment, and an overnight stay with a light breakfast featuring our house-made bagels and turnovers on Sunday morning. Cash bar, tax, and gratuities not included. Click here to learn more about our splendid guest rooms! Check in at noon on Saturday, check out at 11 AM on Sunday.
About Robert Smythe
Robert is an acclaimed theater artist and the founder of Mum Puppettheatre, the only regional theater in the United States dedicated to puppetry, serving as its Artistic Director for 23 years. During that time he wrote, directed and performed over 20 original productions using puppets, masks and human actors, winning numerous awards and honors, including four Barrymore Awards for himself and 13 for the company. He also led Mum on international tours on four continents.
Robert is the recipient of Guggenheim, Pew, NEA and six Pennsylvania Council on the Arts fellowships, and six Barrymore Awards for Excellence in Theater in areas ranging from education to choreography. According to Philadelphia City Paper, Smythe’s work with Mum “sparked the theater renaissance that continues to this day.” He was the first artist to receive a commission from the Philadelphia International Festival of the Arts in 2008, and the resulting collaboration between him and the Chamber Orchestra of Philadelphia, Stravinsky’s “l’Histoire du Soldat,” won the 2011 Barrymore Award for Outstanding Collaboration.
He is the founder of the Playwriting Program for the International Puppetry Conference at the Tony-winning O’Neill Theater Center. His work on motor contagion was been published in Acta Psychologica; his ground-breaking application of narrative theory to puppetry, “Reading a Puppet Show: Understanding the Three-Dimensional Narrative,” was published in The Routledge Companion to Puppetry and Material Performance. Robert received his MFA in Playwrighting from Temple University, where he was a University Fellow. Philadelphia Magazine named him “Best Professor” in their annual “Best of Philadelphia” issue in 2010. He is now the Culinary Lead Baker for Swarthmore College, where he makes hundreds of desserts every day. He also is currently directing and acting at the acclaimed Hedgerow Theatre in Philadelphia, teaches playwrighting in workshops internationally, and works as a voiceover specialist in national advertising.
About Susan Smythe
Susan is delighted to be working again at Spillian. Long-time Philadelphia costume designer and two-time Barrymore nominee for her work at Mum Puppettheatre, she has also had a long association with InterAct Theatre, with Uncanny Valley, Gideon’s Knot, The How and the Why, Two Jews Walk into a War, Jihad Jones and the Kalashnikov Babes, Other projects: L’Histoire du Soldat for the innaugural PIFA at the Kimmel Center, other companies: The Berserker Residents, Tribe of Fools, Drexel University,and Swarthmore College Theater and Dance. Susan also designs and sells housewares and accessories at Crooked Dog Designs.
About Johnny Piper
By day an attorney, and at all other moments, wild man Johnny Piper, John McGovern is a talented traditional bagpipe player, playing both with Ulster County Sheriff’s Office Honor Guard & Alternative Ulster, a punk/Celtic fusion band that raises every roof in a 20 mile radius. Johnny will be joining us in full kit and as much sobriety as the occasion invites, providing a memorable bagpipe soundtrack to our evening’s entertainments.
About Leigh Melander, PhD
Leigh has a doctorate in cultural mythology and psychology from Pacifica Graduate Institute and wrote her dissertation on frivolity as an entry into imagination. She has an eclectic background in the arts as well as consulting in strategic planning, outreach and marketing, and event planning for over 20 years. She has performed, and taught and facilitated explorations of imagination and creativity internationally, working with individuals and groups to help them find their way to bringing their wild ideas to life.
Her undergraduate degree is in performance, literature, and history from Penn State, and she studied writing by invitation with Nobel Poet Laureate Derek Walcott at Boston University. She has has appeared in various media outlets, including the History Channel, as a mythology expert, and has published articles in Spring Journal, The Routledge International Handbook of Jungian Film Studies, The Mythology CD-ROM. She hosted two weekly radio shows on an NPR affiliate for several years: Myth America (now available as a podcast), an exploration into how myth shapes our sense of identity; and The Reveling Radio Hour, an irreverent mashup of her take on the old Fleischmanns Yeast Radio Hour variety shows, self-help podcasts, and Being John Malkovich. She served for four years as the Vice President of the Joseph Campbell Foundation and the editor of their MythBlast series. She is a presenter and coach in creativity and imagination, and her first book, Psyche’s Choice: The Frivolous Revolution is available on Amazon Kindle.
