BEST LAID SCHEMES

Jacqueline Wake Young admits it will not be Burns Night as normal – but at least you can look the part

T he plans for Burns Night, like everything else, may have changed, but it’s still a good idea to throw on some tartan and knock up a haggis supper.

Some day soon we’ll gather with friends to eat and drink and it will be oh so very merry. This Burns Night, however, won’t be that time and we’ll just have to adapt as we did with Hogmanay, Christmas, Halloween and all the other traditions and events we take for granted.

Burns Night, perhaps more than any other of these occasions, is often a packed, even chaotic affair, with people mingling, singing, piping and squishing together – all the things we mustn’t do at the moment.

This makes it all the harder to replicate the atmosphere with just immediate family in the living room.

And yet, nothing could be more fitting, as the origins of Burns Night were not so very far removed from just such a homely scene.

Held at the tiny Burns Cottage, the ploughman poet’s first home, built by his father, that first Burns Night in 1801 was an intimate gathering of friends.

The purpose was simply to remember him, and even though Burns Nights now can be anything from readings around a kitchen table to huge corporate, black-tie affairs, that purpose remains the same.

And so, this Burns Night, we’ll remember him again – and all the great Burns Nights we’ve been to – and look forward to the next one when we can put on our party clothes and sing and dine together.

In the meantime, there’s nothing to stop us honouring Scotland’s national poet with a flash of tartan – and with luck, come St Andrew’s Day, it can have a proper outing.

Red tartan bodysuit and navy trousers (0-24 months), £12, Tu Clothing. Red tartan blazer, £28, Tu Clothing.

Chiffon check dress, was £50, now £25, Joe Browns. Summer check dress, £50, Joe Browns.

Red tartan slippers (0-18 months), £4.50, Tu Clothing.

Funky check jacket, £75, Joe Browns.

Red tartan skirt, £18, Tu Clothing.

Cheery check waistcoat, was £45, now £31, Joe Browns.

Tartan 10 tailored shirt, £79.95, Barbour.

Three-piece skirt set, £14, F&F.