Robert Burns' poem "Address to Haggis"

This postcard withholds a great deal of information, more specifically about the cuisine and culture of Scotland. This postcard may seem like a mundane Scottish menu, yet it holds many phrases and text that refer to significant cultural figures and writings. This allows for a deeper analysis of this postcard to be conducted. The most noticeable feature of this postcard is the dishes that are all native to Scotland and the dialect that it is written in. From the foods that are listed on the postcard, we can learn that there is not a significant difference from the cuisine back when this postcard was made compared to today. Most of the food listed on the postcard is food that is still popular in the current Scottish diet yet may seem unfamiliar due to being written in the Scots language. Furthermore, it lists haggis alone as one of the sub-headers and this highlights how important the dish is to Scotland and why it is a national dish. Haggis is traditionally a Scottish dish that consists of the heart, liver, and lungs of a sheep or a calf minced with suet, onions, oatmeal, and seasonings and boiled in the stomach of the animal. Haggis also has origins that relate directly to Robert Burn who seems to be the subtle but main subject of the postcard. Haggis was first popularized by Robert Burns’ poem "Address to Haggis" in 1787 and is the main dish in Burn’s Supper which is why haggis is emphasized on the menu and appears to be the main dish of this postcard.

A map showing the distilleries in the Scottish Lowlands 

We can also learn about the rich drinking culture that resides in Scotland. In the postcard, at the end of every section of the menu, it mentions drinking some "dram". In Scotland, dram refers to a small glass of whiskey, usually scotch, that one would drink in one mouthful. Dram appearing repeatedly on the postcard highlights the importance of whiskey to the Scottish. Interestingly, during the 1800s there was an agricultural revolution in Scotland where the Lowlands were populated for their rich farming grounds and due to a depression in the Highland’s economy. The Scottish mainly farmed barley and oat which would later be used to brew and distill whiskey. This resulted in many distilleries being founded in the mid-eighteenth century in the Scottish Lowlands. Other than Scotland’s reputation for its drinking culture, this would explain why a menu postcard supposedly from the Lowlands would frequently incorporate dram in its text due to its importance in the economy and society.