Attorney fulfills yearly Scottish tradition

Poetry, pride and tradition brought to bear for Burns’ and his parents’ sake Hamburg — Andrew Fraser Esq., a Hamburg resident and an attorney with the Sparta law firm Laddey Clark & Ryan, traded in his suit once again for his kilt as he helped commemorate the 251st birthday of Robert Burns, the Scottish national poet. Fraser and his family emigrated from Scotland to Connecticut in 1964. His parents, George and Margaret Fraser, wanted to keep their deep-rooted traditions alive and connect with other Scottish families and so they started Connecticut’s first Scottish Society, in part to join the world-wide celebration of Scottish national poet Robert Burns. Burns is most famous for a classic: “Auld Lang Syne.” “My parents started this Connecticut tradition in our home 27 years ago, and now the celebration has grown so large it attracts hundreds of people from around the country,” Fraser said. “Now that my parents are both gone, I make it a point every year to leave my home in Sussex County and travel back to Connecticut — to once again see their legacy celebrated.” This year, the Robert Burns Night in Mystic, Conn., attracted over 400 people from all over the United States. One of the rituals of the Burns Night is built around the centerpiece of the meal — Haggis. Haggis is a traditional Scottish dish consisting of oatmeal, spices, fat, stock and the heart, liver and lungs from a sheep. “The Address to a Haggis” is a Burns poem recited at the dinner. Once again, Fraser continued in his father’s footsteps and recited the poem for the audience. “It’s an honor for me to recite this poem just as my father had once done,” Fraser said. “ It is not an easy poem to recite because it’s not in English. However, I rehearse it by using a tape of my father reciting it from years ago. I had heard it so much as a child that it just comes to me.” The Scottish group started by Fraser’s parents has many facets, including the Mystic Highland Pipe Band and the Mystic Scottish Country Dancers. “It was amazing to be in the ballroom with hundreds of people who came to celebrate their heritage in part because of my parents,” recalls Fraser. “It would be great to spread my parents’ love of Scotland to Sussex County and eventually start a Scottish Heritage organization here.”