Robert Burns Fraser University's Centre for Scottish Studies organized a marathon reading of Burns's poetry. Senator Heath Macquarrie quipped of Canada's first Prime Minister that "While the lovable [Robbie] Burns went in for wine, women and song, his fellow Scot, John A. did not chase women and was not musical!" 'Gung Haggis Fat Choy' is a hybrid of Chinese New Year and Robbie Burns Day, celebrated in Vancouver since the late 1990s. In January 1864, President Abraham Lincoln was invited to attend a Robert Burns celebration by Robert Crawford; and if unable to attend, send a toast. Lincoln composed a toast. An
Culture of the United Kingdom and much celebrated holiday in Scotland and Ireland on the night of 31 October. The name "Halloween" is first attested in the 16th century as a Scottish shortening of the fuller "All-Hallows-Even", and according to some historians has its roots in the Gaelic festival Samhain, when the Gaels believed the border between this world and the otherworld became thin, and the dead would revisit the mortal world. In 1780, Dumfries poet John Mayne makes note of pranks at Halloween; ""What fearfu' pranks ensue!"", as well as the supernatural associated with the night, ""Bogies"" (ghosts). Robert Burns' 1785 poem "Halloween" is