The Scottish poet Robert Burns was one of the sharpest wits ever to put pen to paper. Of humble birth, sporadically schooled and a great observer of everyday life, Burns, who lived from 1759 to 1796, is probably best-known for writing the words to “Auld Lang Syne,” a song traditionally sung to celebrate the new year.

But to millions of people, he’s more than a poet; he’s something of a secular saint, a symbol of Scottish identity even to those who haven’t read a word of his verse.

It’s estimated that 9.5 million people every year commemorate his birthday on Jan. 25, and the most traditional celebration is a ritual feast known as a Burns supper, centered around a hearty Scottish meal, recitals of “Rabbie” Burns’ poetry and a lot of drinking.

“It’s not well known, but there will be hundreds of thousands of Burns suppers happening around the world on the 25th,” said Scott Fulton, a Scottish-born Mill Valley resident who’s organized three Burns suppers at the Mill Valley Golf Club thus far.

This year’s edition is sold out, but according to Fulton, you might be able to catch a cadre of kilt-wearing revelers at Mill Valley’s Corner Bar once the celebration wraps up around 10 p.m.

“It’s almost like a little secret community,” Fulton said. “Compare it to St. Patrick’s Day. The Irish have been much better at branding drunkenness than the Scots have.”

Fulton was born in Scotland and moved to England as a kid, where his parents introduced him to the tradition.

“They always held Burns suppers in the village that we lived in down there,” he said. “The Scots, as we’ve migrated around the world, we’ve sort of brought this tradition to whichever town we end up in.”

Fulton moved to Mill Valley in 2010 for a position in the software industry, and he says many of the other Mill Valley residents he’s met came across the pond to work in tech.

The Mill Valley Golf Club has become a hub for this small but tight-knit Scottish American community, thanks in part to golf’s origins in 15th-century Scotland and enduring popularity among its diaspora.

“I know maybe six Scottish couples in Mill Valley,” Fulton said. “We meet each other through the schools and connect, and we’ve all sort of stayed together.”

This is the third Burns supper the golf club has organized. The first two, in 2015 and 2018, benefitted Kiddo!, the primary fundraising organization for the Mill Valley School District. This one will help the golf club pay for renovations, including improved pathways and a new putting green for practice.

The centerpiece of a Burns supper is haggis, a savory pudding traditionally consisting of a sheep’s heart, liver and lungs minced with oatmeal and spices and boiled in the sheep’s stomach.

It’s the national dish of Scotland, thanks in no small part to Burns’ laudatory “Address to a Haggis,” which a speaker recites while plunging a knife into the haggis and cutting it open from end to end. It’s not easy to come by in the States due to restrictions on the import of the organ meats required to make the dish, but luckily, The Local Butcher Shop in Berkeley makes haggises with more American-friendly ingredients like tongue and kidney.

“It’s a very humble dish,” said Derek Scobie, another Scottish-born Mill Valley Golf Club member, who will deliver the “Immortal Memory,” a toast to Burns himself, at the feast. “It really espouses the idea of using the whole animal from nose to tail.”

Scots have lived in Marin for nearly 200 years, and many of the county’s names reflect the legacy of its early Scottish settlers, many of whom came West during the Gold Rush. Fairfax was named for Charles Snowden Fairfax, Marin County supervisor from 1865 to 1867, who held a Scottish peerage as the 10th Lord Fairfax of Cameron. Ross was named for Scottish-born pioneer James Ross, who set up a trading post in the area in the late 1850s. Inverness was named by rancher James Shafter after the city in Scotland from which his ancestors hailed.

Perhaps Marin’s most famous Scot was John Muir, the namesake of Muir Woods, who came to America at age 11 and was said to carry a book of Burns’ poetry on his treks through the wilderness.

“There’s probably something about the natural beauty of Marin that really attracts us to live here rather than the East Bay or the Peninsula,” Fulton said. “It feels a bit like Scotland with sunshine.”