Robert Burns Night AC
Image: Nintendo Life

"Aloha!" as we say here in Scotland, and welcome to an impromptu Nintendo Life Burns Night celebration, with me, an Irish fella.

Now, for those unaware, and to get things off in a high-brow sort of way through the illusion of learning, Robert Burns was a Scottish poet, now the country's national poet no less, who lived from 1759 until 1796. Just 37 years. However! In this tragically short lifespan, he managed to imprint himself permanently on the Scottish psyche through his powerful works which contributed greatly to the Romantic movement, don't you know.

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The fact that Burns wrote in a Scots dialect (although he did use a watered-down version, making his verses and lyrics much easier to parse for non-native speakers) made him incredibly popular and personal to the Scots, and in death he's become a figure of inspiration for socialist and liberal movements, in particular.

Of course, we probably all know Auld Lang Syne, his poem which became lyrics sung on New Year's Eve to "ring in the bells" as folk say up here in Scotland (they kidnapped me in 2007 and made me live here, please help). But other works — and we're getting to the end of the learning bit now, class, so stay strong — include very well-known stuff like A Red, Red Rose and Tam o' Shanter.

Robert Burns Night AC
Image: Nintendo Life

Yes, Tam o' Shanter. That's right. If this rings a bell, gamers, it's because back in 2010 Nintendo helped celebrate Burns Night with a special Animal Crossing item. Burns Night — which happens every 25th January (Burns' birthday) and which I'm currently enjoying immensely, thank you — sees some folk in Scotland read and/or perform from a selection of the poets' works, eat lots of haggis, neeps and tatties (that's turnip and potatoes to you), and, well, some people may even like to have small thimble of whiskey, too. Then straight to bed!

If you happened to have been playing Animal Crossing: City Folk, or Animal Crossing: Let's Go To The City as it was known o'er here — sorry, went all Burns there — back in 2010, you'll have got to celebrate your very own Burn's Night by nabbing a very exciting (mild sarcasm detected) "Tam o' Shanter" hat. Aye, a wee Scottish tartan bonnet for putting oan the in-game heid eh a bonnie wee lad/and or lassie. (Apologies to all my Scottish friends for that sentence.)

The coolest thing about this particular hat, as you'll no doubt already know, was that it gave your character a shaggy new Scottish hairdo as an extra to boot, and this celebration of Scotland's national bard has also gone on to feature in both Animal Crossing: New Leaf and Animal Crossing: New Horizons (hey, that just got an update!).

So, seeing as it's Burns Night and all that, and seeing how I'm currently in Glasgow, the unofficial capital of Scotland, why not join me, in...well...it's not exactly the same as raising a glass to the great man, but why not hop into your copy of Animal Crossing: New Horizons (or New Leaf), stick yer hat oan, and join me in some deep breathing exercises as we consider Robert Burns, and his many, many excellent poems. But most especially Tam o' Shanter, as it's the one holding this vaguely game-related article together.

With me? Right! Can't find your Tam o' Shanter? To nab the headgear in New Horizons, you need to get it from Gulliver as a reward for helping him find his communicator parts. No worries, you can just jump into the game's custom designs portal to look for (or design!) some Scottish and tartan-themed gear. If you're wondering, you got the hat from Pelly or Phyllis at the Post Office in New Leaf.

Once you've got your hat on, and have your plate of haggis (that's sheep liver, lungs, heart, etcetera, all mixed up with delicious oatmeal, or there's a veggie option available!), grab yourself a thimble of something delicious and we'll offer up a toast to Rabbie Burns, and to Animal Crossing, I guess, on this latest Burns Night.

And to close out, here's a little excerpt from Tam o' Shanter, in which we contemplate the transient nature of joy, man's inability to control time, and the nature of mortality. Annnnnnnd relax:

But pleasures are like poppies spread,
You seize the flow'r, its bloom is shed;
Or like the snow-falls in the river,
A moment white–then melts forever . . .
. . .
Or like the rainbow's lovely form
Evanishing amid the storm.–
Nae man can tether time or tide;
The hour approaches Tam maun ride;
That hour o' night's black arch the key-stane,
That dreary hour Tam mounts his beast in;
And sic a night he taks the road in,
As ne'er poor sinner was abroad in.

Now, I'm off over to Wikipedia to get this Animal Crossing malarkey added to the site's official list of cultural references for Robert Burns.

Gabh cùram!

Robert Burns Night AC
Image: Nintendo Life

Enjoying Burns Night? Got any favourite verses to spit? Drop 'em in the comments!

Oh, and should Animal Crossing not be your thing, you can still get a little more Scottish and bring some highland vibes for the evening by checking out some Scotland-based bangers on Switch consoles, such as Farewell North, Hellblade: Senua's Sacrifice, A Highland Song, or Broken Sword: Shadow of the Templars in its fancy new Switch 2 form.