Great Chieftain o' the Pudding-Race!

"Aboon them a' ye tak your place"

So says Robbie Burns, singing the praise of haggis, in his poem, "Address to a Haggis". Having people on my paternal grandmother's side that hail from Robbie's homeland, I'm about to toss the recipe for the aforementioned delicacy at you. Read on and then you can decide if you agree that such a concoction should take the place of honour above all others.
If you have a strong stomach and just reading the recipe isn't enough to make you gag, you may actually want to tackle this traditional Scottish dish and serve it to your loved ones on January 25th, in celebration of the birth of Robbie Burns. (Burns is a beloved son of Scotland, a poet who lived in the 1700's.) You may want to forgo sharing the list of ingredients, however. Recipes abound, and I've even seen one for a vegetarian haggis, but that's just being foolish and such an idea would "mak (Burns) spew wi perfect sconner".

Here goes for the real thing ---

*1 sheep's bag (stomach) and pluck (heart, liver, windpipe and lungs)
*4 onions
*1/2 lb. oatmeal
*3 tablespoons salt
*1 tablespoon black pepper
* 1 lb suet

Scrub the bag clean first and soak it in cold, salted water overnight. Turn the bag the wrong side out. Wash the pluck carefully, being sure to scrub away any blood. Place all these bits and pieces in a pan large enough that you can cover them with water, and be sure to leave the windpipe hanging out over the side of the pan. Place a bowl or another pan beneath the windpipe to catch any drops of "impurities". Set the pan to boil, and simmer for two hours. Save some of the water used to boil the pluck. Remove the pan from the heat, and cut away from the pluck any gristle and odd extremities (including the windpipe) that you see.
Mince the suet and chop the onions. Also mince the pluck. Roll up your sleeves now and get your hands right in there. You need to mix together with the oatmeal and seasonings everything that you have chopped and minced. Add a little of the saved water to moisten it all.
Stuff this mixture into the bag and sew it up, but leave lots of room for the mix to expand. Pretend you're a kiltie taking your dirk to a hated sassenach and stab furiously away at the bag with a darning needle for a moment. You need to make holes that will allow steam to escape, to prevent the bag from bursting and spraying your kitchen with half-done haggis.
Boil without a lid for three hours and then the haggis will be ready to grace your table. Bring it out on your finest platter and have some bagpipe music playing, for best effect. Even better, honour tradition and have someone read the poem, "Address to a Haggis" while you carry the "warm-reekin', rich" creation to the table.
Enjoy!