I want to wish you all a very Happy Thanksgiving! The short grace below is traditionally said before a Scottish meal. While it is attributed to Robert Burns, it’s based on a much older prayer.
Some hae meat and canna eat,
and some wad eat that want it,
but we hae meat and we can eat,
and sae the Lord be thankit.
In 1794 (or maybe the summer of 1743), Robert Burns was visiting Galloway with his good friend John Syme. They were staying with another friend, the Earl of Selkirk, in his family’s estate at St. Mary’s Isle in Kirkcudbright. After dinner, Burns entertained the family and guests await songs, poems, stories. But before dinner, he’d offer the grace. One night he recited an edited version of a very old and traditional Scottish grace known as the Covenanter’s Grace or the Galloway Grace. He made changes to the original version to suit his own writing and recitation style. This new version was such a huge hit, he was encouraged to publish it and called it the Selkirk Grace, in honor of his hosts. Now it is known as the Selkirk Grace. It is so simple and elegant that it is often said before both casual and formal meals.
