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Scottish First Minister Alex Salmond has been the driving force for independence [Getty Images]
Glasgow, United Kingdom - It is a yearly celebration of one of Scotland's most favourite sons, an event that sees Scots indulge in a feast of merriment incorporating a traditional helping of haggis, neeps and tatties - and reams of poetry.
Burns Night, a literary homage to Scotland's national bard - or poet - Robert Burns and, held on his birthday, one of the most iconic dates on the Scottish calendar, will today unite Scots from all corners of the globe. This Burns Night marks exactly 255 years since the man who composed the world-renowned Auld Lang Syne in 1788 was welcomed into the world - but as modern Scotland prepares to go to the polls on September 18 to decide whether to become an independent country and leave the United Kingdom, Scottish nationalists and unionists might be forgiven for having more than Burns' poetry on their mind.
Yet, as both sides of the divide - and those many undecided - raise a glass to this most flamboyant of Scotsmen, it is those in the nationalist camp with the most to do as they look to claw back lost ground in a constitutional race, where, for the first year since the pro-independence Scottish National Party (SNP) won a majority of seats in the Scottish Parliament election of May 2011, the finishing line of the referendum itself is in plain sight.
http://www.aljazeera.com/indepth/fea...722199420.html
Scottish First Minister Alex Salmond has been the driving force for independence [Getty Images]Glasgow, United Kingdom - It is a yearly celebration of one of Scotland's most favourite sons, an event that sees Scots indulge in a feast of merriment incorporating a traditional helping of haggis, neeps and tatties - and reams of poetry.
Burns Night, a literary homage to Scotland's national bard - or poet - Robert Burns and, held on his birthday, one of the most iconic dates on the Scottish calendar, will today unite Scots from all corners of the globe. This Burns Night marks exactly 255 years since the man who composed the world-renowned Auld Lang Syne in 1788 was welcomed into the world - but as modern Scotland prepares to go to the polls on September 18 to decide whether to become an independent country and leave the United Kingdom, Scottish nationalists and unionists might be forgiven for having more than Burns' poetry on their mind.
Yet, as both sides of the divide - and those many undecided - raise a glass to this most flamboyant of Scotsmen, it is those in the nationalist camp with the most to do as they look to claw back lost ground in a constitutional race, where, for the first year since the pro-independence Scottish National Party (SNP) won a majority of seats in the Scottish Parliament election of May 2011, the finishing line of the referendum itself is in plain sight.
http://www.aljazeera.com/indepth/fea...722199420.html