Tradition says that one of the first recorded Burns Suppers was a "gents-only" affair, when the sergeant's mess of the Argyll militia marched to the "clay biggin" where the bard was born (turned into an alehouse not long after his death) and held a supper in honour of Burns.

I attend two stag suppers every year, and they are great fun. The copies of The Merry Muses of Caledonia come out unlike the co-ed Burns Supper I attend.

T.