TRURO - The Saturday closest to Jan. 25 is more than about celebrating Robbie Burns' birthday.
James Finnie, who is originally from Scotland but now lives in Truro, said it's about bringing Old and New Scotland together.
"It's bigger than just celebrating Scottish culture," he said after addressing the haggis during the Scottish Society of Colchester's Robbie Burns Day celebration held Saturday at the Best Western.
"If you take a look at all the names here, it's just like a gathering of the clans. If you look at Nova Scotia, that's what it's like. It's a Scottish/Canadian celebration."
Robbie Burns is engrained in Scottish psyche thanks to all the songs and poems he's written.
"If you look at it, it's all around the world," Finnie said with his Scottish accent. "We can all identify with this day. We just had a new year and everyone around the world sang Auld Lang Syne. That's how far one person's influence has reached."
Finnie's son, David, made the trip from Scotland, specifically for the celebration.
"I was asked to come along for a performance of traditional Scottish culture," said David, one of Scotland's top historical swordsmen.
The Finnies, along with Scott Whitelaw of Earltown, are Scottish re-enactors.
The eldest Finnie led the Veritas Vincit group in Scotland until arriving in Canada in 2009. David now leads the group, while his father and Whitelaw look after Veritas Vincit Nova Scotia, a sister group to the Scotland society.
To see the Nova Scotia re-enactment group in action, an annual Celtic celebration - a Gathering - will be held the first weekend in August at Sugar Moon Farms, which Whitelaw operates.
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