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BURNSCHRONICLE

A ROBERT BURNS WORLD FEDERATION PUBLICATION

AUTUMN 2003

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LASSES LUNCHEON AT STRANRAERBelow: Top table at the Annual Federation Lasses Luncheon.

Centre and below some of the 90 ladies who took part.See report on page 48.

Motto — “A man’s a man for a’ that”

THE ROBERT BURNS WORLD FEDERATIONLIMITED

Company Registration No. 196895. Scottish Charity No. SCO29099

(Formerly THE BURNS FEDERATION) Instituted 1885

HEADQUARTERS: DEAN CASTLE COUNTRY PARK, DOWER HOUSE, KILMARNOCK. KA3 1XB. TEL/FAX: 01563 572469.OFFICE HOURS: MONDAY TO FRIDAY 9 a.m. - 5 p.m. CLOSED FOR LUNCH 1 p.m. - 2 p.m. RobertBurnsFederation@Kilmarnock26.freeserve.co.uk

DIRECTORSJAMES ROBERTSON, E-mail: jas.robertson@talk21.comHUGH WILSON LOGAN (Senior Vice President), Tel: 02828 272963WALTER WATSON (Junior Vice President), E-mail: walter.watson1@btopenworld.comJAMES GIBSON (Immediate Past President), E-mail: gibson.symington@virginANNE GAW, Tel: 01294 217481MURDO MORRISON, E-mail: murdo.morrisonmmpr@btinternet.comDr JAMES CONNOR, E-mail: jandeconnor@odyssey.on.caA. MacARTHUR IRVIN, E-mail: macirvin@mindspring.comJAMES O’LONE, E-mail: olone@iinet.com.auSHIRLEY BELL, E-mail: mail@inveresk.freeserve.co.ukPETER WESTWOOD, E-mail: peter@cairnsmore1.freeserve.co.ukWILSON OGILVIE, Tel: 01387 264267MOIRA DUNSMORE, E-mail: moiradunsmore@burnsferderation.fsnet.co.ukJOHN PATERSON, Tel: 01303 256670ANDREW McKEE, 27 Balfron Road, Ralston, Paisley. PA13 3HA.

HONORARY PRESIDENTSMrs. Stella Brown, Charles Murray, Lew W. Reid, George Irvine, Professor G. Ross Roy, Archie McArthur, William Williamson, Murdo Morrison, Lawrence Burness, Peter J. Westwood, James Hempstead, Provost of East Ayrshire, Joseph Campbell, Professor Henryk Minc, Kenneth McKellar, Alastair Gowans, Robert Cleland.

OFFICIALSChief Executive: SHIRLEY BELL, “Inveresk,” Kelton, Dumfries. DG1 4UA. Tel/Fax: 01387 770283. E-mail: mail@inveresk.freeserve.co.ukPresident: JIM ROBERTSON, 4 Hunter’s Close, Dunnington, York. YO1 5QH. Tel: 01904 489201. E-mail: jas.robertson@talk21.comSenior Vice-President: H. WILSON LOGAN, 64 Ballyhampton Road, Larne, N. Ireland. BT40 2SP.Junior Vice-President: WALTER N. WATSON, “Dreva”, 75 Peartree Close, South Ockenden, Essex. RM15 6PR. Tel: 01708 857509. E-mail: walterwatson1@btopeworld.comClerical Secretary: Mrs. MARGARET CRAIG, Dean Castle Country Park, Dower House, Kilmarnock. KA3 1XB.Editor: PETER J. WESTWOOD, 1 Cairnsmore Road, Castle Douglas. DG7 1BN. Tel/Fax: 01556 504448. E-mail: peter@cairnsmore1.freeserve.co.ukHonorary Legal Advisor: DAVID STEVENSON. Auditors: SMITH & WALLACE & CO.

CONVENERS200 Club: MOIRA RENNIE DUNSMORE, 59 Beechwood Court, Dunstable, Beds. LU6 1QA. Tel: 01582 705671. E-mail: moiradunsmore@burnsfederation.fsnet.co.ukSchools Competitions: ANNE GAW, 7 Highfield Place, Girdle Toll, Irvine. KA11 1BW. Tel: 01294 217481.Scottish Literature: JOHN G. PATERSON, Newlands, 35 Shorncliffe Road, Folkestone, Kent. CT20 2NQ.Memorials Committee:WILSON OGILVIE, “Lingerwood”, 2 Nelson Street, Dumfries. DG2 9AY.Marketing/Advertising: MURDO MORRISON, 110 Campbell Street, Wishaw. ML2 8HU. Tel: 01698 372638.Conference Committee: MOIRA RENNIE DUNSMORE, 59 Beechwood Court, Dunstable, Beds. LU6 1YA. Tel: 01582 705671.

PAST PRESIDENTSJames Gibson, John Skilling, Joe Campbell, Bob Dalziel, Moira Rennie Dunsmore, Andrew McKee, Murdo Morrison, David C. Smith, John Morrison, Charles Kennedy, Donald Urquhart, Hutchison Sneddon, C.B.E., J.P., Anne Gaw, Enez Anderson, J. Connor, M.D.I.R.C.P. (Edin), L.R.F.P.S. (Glas)., D. Wilson Ogilvie, M.A., F.S.A.Scot., John Inglis, T. McIlwraith, George Anderson, Mollie Rennie, S. K. Gaw.

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BURNS CHRONICLEAUTUMN EDITION 2003

Editor: PETER J. WESTWOOD, 1 Cairnsmore Road, Castle Douglas. DG7 1BN. Tel/Fax: 01556 504448. E-mail: peter@cairnsmore1.freeserve.co.ukEditorial Consultant: Professor RAYMOND GRANT, University of Aberta, Edmonton, Canada.Advertising Manager: MURDO MORRISON, 110 Campbell Street, Wishaw, ML2 8HU. Tel/Fax: 01698 372638. E-mail: murdo.morrisonmmpr@btint

ContentsE D I T O R I A L

The Robert Burns World Federation Limited does not accept any responsibility for statements made or opinions expressed in the Burns Chronicle. Contributors are responsible for articles signed by them; the Editor is responsible for articles initialed or signed by him, as well as for those unsigned. Articles, photographs, items for review and all correspondence should be addressed and forwarded to the Editor at the above address. Articles offered should be in typescript with double spacing and on the one side of the sheet. A stamped addressed envelope should be forwarded for return of articles and photographs.

© THE ROBERT BURNS WORLD FEDERATION LIMITED

THE decision to publish the Burns Chronicle three times per annum has been welcomed by the membership, including those members of the executive who voted almost unanimously at a recent meeting of the Executive Committee. It was felt important that communication by means of the magazine to members was not really satisfactory once a year and therefore three times being more acceptable. Every effort is being made to try and reduce the cost per copy in the hope that this will encourage an increase in sales. Your views and comments on the magazine are most welcome. Your attention is drawn to our cover photographs and the article on page 11 which commemorates the 100th anniversary of the Poet’s House in Dumfries becoming a Museum. Used postage stamps from around the world are still required, thanks to all those who have contributed and in particular to the Robert Burns Club of Melbourne for the many thousands sent. When sufficient quantity have been collected they will be auctioned for Federation funds. Articles are still required for future issues and if on disc it reduces our production costs.

Peter J. Westwood,Editor

“Another Problem Solved”,Arran connection with Burns ...................2

Schubert and Burns – A Study of TwoLyric Poets ...............................................3

The Memorables of “Robin Cummell” ......7

Presentation to William Donachie ..........10

Burns House, Dumfries ..........................11

Gilbert Burns Youngest son of thePoet’s Brother ........................................15

“At Home” with Robert Burns ................19

“Bokhara Burnes” ..................................21

The Developments at Ellisland Farm ......25

The Story of Clochnahill ........................28

John Fulton’s Grand Orrery ...................32

Tam O’ Shanter and the CaledonianAntizyzygy .............................................34

Death of Mrs. McLehose’s son and herState of Health .......................................39

The Logistics of Arranging aBurns Supper in Moscow .......................41

Obituaries ..............................................45

Club Reports .........................................47

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“ANOTHER PROBLEM SOLVED”ARRAN CONNECTION WITH BURNS

Despite the fact that the Isle of Arran can be clearly seen (weather permitting) from the Ayrshire coast, there had never been any mention that Robert Burns or, indeed, any other member of the Burns family, had ever set foot on the Island. Therefore, it was interesting that recently a grave there was

given some publicity. It lies in the secluded Kirkyard of Kilmory in the south of the island and bears the following inscription:-

Erected by William Begg in memory of hisBrother James who rests in Jesus.

Born 19th. Sept. 1836. Died 8th. May 1874.Grand Nephew

Of thePoet Burns.

Having withstood the ravages of all kinds of weather and considering its age, it is little wonder that the inscription is showing signs of wear. Apparently somebody had once conceived the idea of lining out the letters and numbers with white paint but it is doubtful if this treatment was attended by the desired results as the paint has now flaked and became blotchy, making reading even more difficult. Some attention by way of a cleaning is called for. So, if anyone is over on the island on holiday this year they might consider giving it some careful remedial work.

These notes would not be complete without giving some details of James Begg. He was born in Kilmarnock and seems to have been the only near relative of the Poet to have lived on the Isle of Arran. Like Robert Burns, he died at the comparatively early age of 37. His father, John Begg, was born on 27 April 1796 at Mossgiel, Mauchline. John Begg was the second son of Isabella Burns, the Poet’s youngest sister. This confirms that it is correctly stated on the gravestone in Kilmory Churchyard that James Begg was a Grand Nephew of Robert Burns.

I had little difficulty in tracing his birth but I had a real struggle to find his death entry which had taken place, according to the inscription on the gravestone, on 8 May 1874, well after the registration of Births, Deaths and Marriages in Scotland had commenced. After spending some time exploring the remarkable system of our computerised registration records in Edinburgh, I suddenly came across it. It has been registered under the name of BEGGS. The death had been registered by the occupier of Claynod, the farm where James Begg had been working when he died. He knew practically nothing about James Begg. His age had been entered as “about 36 years of age”, the cause of death had been entered “Unknown. No medical attendant” and the colum for details of his parentage has been left blank. All this just goes to illustrate the difficulties with which genealogists are often faced when doing research. At the same time, it emphasises the tremendous satisfaction which can be experienced when the problem is finally solved.

Lawrence R. Burness

Main Sponsorof

The Robert BurnsWorld Federation

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Schubert and Burns:A STUDY OF TWO LYRIC POETS.

By the Rev. Alexander Middleton, B.D.“Gallovidian” Vol XIV 1912

I DO not know that the names of Schubert and Burns have ever been associated before,

and yet the affinity between them is most obvious. They are our great song-writers. It was Liszt who called Schubert “the most poetical composer who ever lived,” and Carlyle says of Burns that “it is small praise to call him the first of our song-writers, for we know not where we shall find a second worthy to be named after him.” There must be some, nay, much affinity between the lyric genius among our own poets. A song is a brief heaving of the poetic soul, and whether it expresses itself in melodious words or in melodious tones, it is in itself the same. “A musical thought,” says Carlyle, “is one spoken by a mind that has penetrated into the inmost heart of the thing. All inmost things we may say are melodious – naturally utter themselves in song. The meaning of song goes deep. Who is there that in logical words can express the effect music has on us? A kind of inarticulate, unfathomable speech, which leads us to the edge of the infinite, and lets us for moments gaze into that.” It matters not that Schubert uses the universal language of music, and Burns the dialect of Ayrshire; for has he not made that, too, a universal speech? That, then, is our theme – and it seems to me that it is not, after all, so great a stretch of imagination as it might appear to associate the composer of the “Wild Rose” with the author of “Ye banks and braes”, the composer of the “Serenade” with the author of “Mary Morison,” the composer of “Ave Maria” with the author of “To Mary in Heaven,” and the worship scene in “The Cottar’s Saturday Night” with the musical setting of the “23rd Psalm” – to associate, in a word, the creator of German song with the creator of Scottish song; the leader of romanticism in music with one who, of not the first, was an independent leader of the Nature poetry which rejuvenated the literature of our land.

Both are supreme in their chosen realms of art. Schubert left over 600 songs, besides much else of imperishable value. Burns left 300 songs which have never been surpassed, perhaps never even euqalled, in originality, in depth of feeling, in perfection of art. Both have been enshrined in the hearts of men as only those who express the universal feelings and aspirations of men can ever be. It seems to me, therefore, that some comparison of their lives may illuminate both. The subject may claim some fitness in the pages of The Gallovidian; for the closing scenes of Burns’s too brief life are laid in and around the town of Dumfries; and, since the life and poems of Burns are so familiar, we may give a preponderating share of space to the life of the gifted child who was born in Vienna the year after our poet died.

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To begin with the early life – both were born in humble homes, but as regards the development of mental powers the advantages were all on the side of Schubert. Burns did indeed owe much to his father’s instructions and his mother’s gift of song; but the drudgery of a farm, which began when he was seven, did little to advance him on the path to be a poet. He himself describes it as “the cheerless gloom of a hermit, with the ceaseless toil of a galley salve.” There was not much in that to awaken ideas or call forth a poetic soul, and yet we have his own testimony that even then he felt the impulses of poetry and the aspirations which were dimly groping after the path of his destiny. Booklets of provincial verse were carried in his pocket, and studied as he drove his team afield or rested them at the end of the furrow. In “The Vision,” the poem in which he traces the growth of his poetical powers, his guardian angel is made to say –

“With future hope, I oft would gazeFond on thy little early ways,Thy rudely-carol’d chiming phrase, In uncouth rhymes,Fir’d at the simple, artless lays Of other times.”

Referring to the autumn, when “beardless, young and blate” he first took his place among the shearers in the harvest field, he says –

“Even then a wish – I mind its power –A wish that to my latest hour Shall strongly heave my brease,That I for puir auld Scotland’s sakeSome usefu’ plan or buik might make, Or sing a sang at least.

The rough bur thistle spreading wide Among the bearded bere,I turned the weeding clips aside And spared the symbol dear.”

In Burns’s case we must admit that he had little help from his surroundings, his companions, his duties. We recognise the power of his genius by the obstructions through which it had to burst its way.

From this picture of an Ayrshire farm we turn to the youth of Schubert. Born in the musical capital of Europe, in its golden era, the fourth son of a schoolmaster of good repute and musical tastes, Franz Schubert was happier in his early lot – happier, too, in this, that his father (unlike Beethoven’s) early recognised his musical gift, and did what he could to foster and develop his bent. At five he was a pianist, at seven a violinist, a little later, leading soprano in the parish church, where he also played the violin solos in the service and could even take the organ when required. “I never had such a pupil,” said the old organist; “when I teach him anything new he always knows it already.” At eleven, he was entered in the Imperial Academy for the training of boys for the Chapel Royal. Here he exchanged his homely grey for a gold-laced uniform, but he kept his boyish heart. The rations were none too liberal, and he wrote his brother Ferdinand, begging him to send a biscuit and an apple occasionally, fortifying his request with a Scripture text. Here, too, he was soon recognised above the crowd. The leader of the boys’ orchestra turned to see who was handling his volin so cleverly behind him. It was a little boy in

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spectacles, who confessed to the big boy that he “composed music for he could not help it, and would compose more if only he had paper.” Who does not love that little fellow in spectacles and gold lace who handles his violin so easily, who composes because he cannot help it, and withal is fond of an apple; who carries his compositions home at the week-end, where, with his brothers for first and second violin, himself with the viola, and his father struggling with the ‘cello part, he plays the quartette he had himself composed? “Herr Vater, there must be something wrong here.” The little bandmaster would modestly say. Very beautiful such a picture of home life, such devotion to music for its own sake. It is true his teachers at the academy failed to do all for him they might have done. They left him very much to take his own way. But at least they encouraged him, and the constant practice gave him that mastery of the orchestra which was to appear in all his instrumental works; for this went on till his 17th year.

Further, in models, examples, and ideals of his art, the advantage was all on the side of Schubert. Of Burns Carlyle says: “He found himself in deepest obscurity, without help without instruction, without models, or with models only of the meanest sort.” Some minor Scottish poets – Ferguson and Ramsay and Lapraik; correspondence with old school-fellows for practice in prose; the Bachelors’ Club and the Freemasons’ Lodge for practice in oratory; and the theological fencing between sermons on Sunday! – verily we no not wonder that his genius blossomed late.

“Chill penury repressed the noble rage,And froze the genial current of the soul.”

Schubert lived in the city of Mozart and Haydn and Beethoven. Haydn was then the “Grand Old Man” of Vienna; he died 1809. Mozart, who died in 1791, he idolized as the very perfection of a composer. Of Beethoven, the still living master, he could not think without profoundest reverence. He has not seen him, but just before he joined the academy, the boys’ orchestra had performed in his presence, and little Franz was never tired hearing of this wonderful event. It stirred his soul. The very name of Beethoven was an inspiration. When it was said to him that he might do something in music, “I sometimes think so,” he replied; “but who can do anything after Beethoven?” He loved the G minor symphony of Mozart, “because in it you can hear the angels singing.” It seems to me that he could hear the angels singing without help of Mozart. This little boy – who composes because he cannot helpt it, who writes down the melodies that filled his soul, that were as spontaneous as they were inexhaustible – is he himself an angel who has strayed by strange mistake into the wrong star amid the myriad spheres of the universe? For no theory of growth and education has hitherto explained his wonderful genius. To us who read his story he remains still what he was to his teachers, a wonder and a mystery. How he felt towards Mozart is revealed from an entry made in his diary after hearing a quintet played: “Gently, as out of the distance, did the magic tones of Mozart’s music strike my ears. With what inconceivable force and tenderness did Schlesinger’s masterly playing impress it deep into my heart! Such lovely impressions remain on the soul, there to work for good, past all power of time or circumstance. In the darkness of this life they reveal a clear, bright, beautiful prospect, inspiring confidence and hope. O Mozart! Immortal Mozart! What countless consolatory images of a brighter, better world has thou stamped upon our souls!” His estimate of Beethoven is indicated in this way: “Mozart stands in the same relation to Beethoven as Schiller does to Shakespeare. Schiller is already understood: Shakespeare still far from being fully comprehended. Everyone understands Mozart: no one thoroughly comprehends Beethoven.”

Schubert lived in the constant presence of the greatest masters of harmony, and in the reverence for the highest ideals of the art. Burns was almost without the models, and altogether without the companionship of kindred minds.

Unlike in early privileges, both were alike in the struggles, hardships, and failures of early manhood. When Schubert left the academy at 17 years of age, he had determined to make music his life-work – to

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live for it, and to live by it, as other great masters had done before. Never, surely, had a youth better grounds to hope for a brilliant career; a native gift of melody never surpassed, and an industry that never flagged. But never, surely, did ideal hopes meet with so many disappointments; yet, through all, none ever proved more constant to his heavenly vision. Amid all changes, and all hardships, he went on listening to the music of his heart, and committing day by day to paper. Like the English poet –

“He wandered up and he wandered down,Singing his own sweet song,Ever alone with God.”

Let me indicate some of the wanderings. On leaving the school, the first necessity was to live. To evade the dangers of conscription (it was two years before Waterloo) he entered his father’s school as infant teacher. No task could have been less congenial to a truly gifted and poetic nature, yet for three years he fulfilled that humble duty. Nor were they lost years to his art. No fewer than 250 songs belong to those years, among them being the “Erl-King.” None of his songs as yet were published, but they were sung and circulated, and some of them found their way to distant parts. A young man named Schober, who deserves all the renown that Wordsworth bestowed on Raisley Calvert, had been struck by some of the songs, and coming to the University of Vienna, he made it his duty to seek out Schubert. He found him in his little den in his father’s house, surrounded by masses of MS. Music, and correcting school exercises. Himself a poet, he saw that this was not as it should be. With the consent of all, he took Schubert to his own house, presided over by his widowed mother, and did everything a brother could do for the gifted composer. But after a year Schober’s brother came upon the scene, and Schubert must go, though Schober gave him to understand that when in town he would always have a home for him. After this Count Esterhazy, a nobleman of musical tastes, invited him at a modest salary to be musical tutor to his daughters. Part of the time was spent in Vienna, and part at his country mansion at Zelex. This was a happy period, though they did not care for art in Schubert’s sense. The period fulfilled, he was glad to return to his beloved Vienna. He seems to have loved his haunts in Vienna as Johnson loved Fleet Street and the Strand.

His movements now are hard to trace. At one time he lodged with Mayrhofer, a poet, in a dark and dingy room; at another time with three other men, younger than himself, of somewhat Bohemian tastes. In the summer or autumn we hear of more than one tour through upper Austria. With Vogl, the singer, they made such a tour among Vogl’s friends; at another time they were fain, as it would seem to pay their was as wandering minstrels, giving concerts in the towns through which they passed. Time after time, too, poor Schubert applied for a post with some modest salary, but was never successful, “It is a comfort,” he would say, “that the appointment has gone to so good a man.” But composition went steadily on. Ever hearing the melodies of Heaven, ever writing them down, this wandering minstrel fared on through this world with a brave heart, unweiried in his devotion to his high calling.

I hardly need to recall the story of Burns, how, when wearied with farm drudgery, he tried flax-dressing at Irvine, where his lodging cost a shilling per week and his food was oatmeal from the farm, which gave out, and he must borrow till he got more; the death of his father in time to save him from a debtor’s goal; the removal to Mossgiel, where his remuneration was £7 per annum, with a stable-loft for a lodging; finally, his determination to go to the West Indies, and the publication of a thin volume of poetry to raise the £9 requisite for the passage. Both, surely, were alike in the misfortunes of early manhood.

Illustrations by Federation Member Colin Hunter McQueen, Glasgow.

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THE MEMORABLES OF “ROBIN CUMMELL”By

Joe Harkins

Robert Campbell, or “Robin Cummell” as he was called in the Ayrshire dialect of Burns day, worked as a servant to Alexander, the 10th Earl of Eglinton, at Eglinton Castle and was on friendly terms with the well-liked Earl. He was born circa 1746, as his father returned injured

from Culloden, fighting for the Government Forces. In his book (1) Robin gives his reminiscences from the time he was born till he was 75 in 1820, with such pithy gems as, when as a boy he walked past the gamekeeper of Eglinton with his bonnet full of stolen eggs as “Hainchy Conn, the gamekeeper, clapping me on the heid without a word aboot the eggs till they were a’ weel-blashed said ‘Ay, noo Robin rin your wa’s hame like a guid callan to your mither and tell her to kaimb your tawtit hair’”

He met the Earl when he was a youngster, the Earl taking an instant liking to Robin when he found him greeting over the grave of the Earl’s newly buried dog Toby. They remained friends till the Earl’s death, with Robin often accompanying the Earl when he went hunting.

Chapter by chapter Robin relates stories of the district of Irvine, Kilwinning and the surrounding areas. He devotes three chapters to Daft Wull Spier who was as Robin calls him ‘as tricky and as fu’ o fun as any kitten wi’ a string’. Unfortunately, Wull offended some ill-natured carl who promptly held Wull over the Garnock brig at Dalry when the water was in full spate and gave him such a fright that Wull kept himself to himself thereafter. Wull led a vagrant life and was well-kent and well-liked wherever he went but was thought to be a little slow and was the butt of some leg-pulling. Someone offered him the choice between a penny and a sixpence one day and Wull said “Well, I’ll no’ be greedy, I’ll juist tk’ the wee white ane”. It seems that Wull was daft the right way!

Wull also had a few encounters with the benevolent Earl. One day he tried to cadge a bottle of ale off the Earl who told him he hadn’t any money in his pooch but if he went into Leezie Wylie’s and mentioned his name Leezie would set one in front of him, adding I’ll be back in a wee and help ye drink it” When the Earl returned and sat down with Wull he said “Ye may be a prood man the day Wull

“And what for?” said Wull.“Sittin drinkin’ wi’ an Earl” replied the Earl.“Hech hech Man, said Wull “great cause to be prood, sittin drinkn wi’ an Earl that hasna a boodle in his

pooch!!”Wull often helped out at farmwork for his fare and one day, after filling up a lady’s coal cellar she

asked if he would like a glass of whisky or bide awhile till she masked the tea. “Weel mistress, said Wull “there’s a wheen o’ sudden deaths the noo and delays are verra dangerous. I think I’ll just tak the whisky till ye mak the tea ready”

Robin tells of the time he himself was on the road to Edinburgh and he met an old farmer friend Hughoc Gorby on the way. Hughoc was obviously a cheery chappie normally but this day he was looking ‘verra dowff and cheerless’. Robin asked him what was wrong. “Man, Robin, the wife dee’d late yestreen.” Robin asked if he had sent for a doctor. “Oh, we had nae doctor ava, but I gied her a bit powther we had lying in the hoose this twa year an’ mair for ane o’ the coos. Man I was aufu’ glad I didna tak it mysel’”

Robin relates the journey to Edinburgh in a very poetical way, mentioning the sights of the countryside he sees and the sounds he hears such as “a robin cheepit in the dyke and a whittrock scuttered oot owre the road, shaking the dewdrops frae the ripe black-byds and darning in the stibble o’ the field”. The peasant stock of Burns’s time must have been more in tune with Nature and more poetically minded than the present day generations.

Another Burns-like feature in the book is the tales of the De’il and the little folk Robin relates. He

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tells of the ‘Elfie Hame o’ the Blair’ and how they came out on Hallowe’en “riding their naigs, laughing and sporting among the forest leaves, shaded frae the moonbeams by a drooping flower. With acorn cups for quaiches they sit birling at the wine. Their horses are nae bigger than a moose and are pyotly or dapple grey, except the queens’ which is milk white and has whistles and bells at ilka tett o’ its mane. And see yonder how they sweep doon the winding glen, like a bonnie tocht through the mind o’ a man, blyth as the bumbees capering in the moonlicht. An lo! When you look again they are not there but have a’ fled awa like a lovely dream.”

Another chapter tells of how the Laid o’ Auchenskeigh was tricked by auld Nanny Polique who made “twa o’ his kye rin wud and rammish to deid, bewitched his hens that they wadna lay and she cuist glamourie on the kirn that the butter wadna jeel” When the Laid’s son was born Nanny turned up and said the bairn was forspoken. At that the Leddy o’ Auchinskeigh signed herself and prayer and Nanny “at the soond o’t, maist dwaamed wi’ dreid and turnes up the whites o’ her een like a deein’ doo” The Laid chased her and rained curses down on her but she hoodwinked him into making a pact with the De’il and after many years of plenty on his farm the De’il came back to claim his reward and the Laird disappeared “doon an auld heuch at the Walcat Holes in a flash o’ fire” And some say he never de’ed awa but rides wi’ the fairies yet, and has been seen by folk coming home through the moors at Auchentiber.

Tales such as these were perhaps similar to the ones the young Burns heard at the feet of Betty Davidson, in the comfort of the hearthside, as the wind howled outside. One can imagine the effect these tales must have had on an impressionable youngster, especially one so touched by the Muse as Burns.

Robin once went down to London to bring a message to Lord Eglinton who was down doing his Parliamentary duties. Language difficulties were the same then as they are now, as Robin so richly put it “as a fine craw pie, wi’ it’s rich gemmy flavour, is to a fusionless barn-door chookie, so is our good braid Scots to their English tongue.” He did receive one bit of advice from Leezie Thomson who had lived in England, “A’ ye had to do was to miss oot the H’s and the R’s and gie the words a bit chow in the middle”. Robin wasn’t willing to compromise so he stuck to his ain guid Ayrshire with the result that he was laughed at and derided. He did meet one big burly chiel ‘wi’ a gey red face who had a thickness in his speech that made it kittle to un’erstaun.’ “Yer no’ a Fifer, nor yet an Aberdonian man, nor Dumfries. Man, I’m just jaloosin ye maun be frae the Borders” ‘but the man telt me he cam frae ‘canny Newcassel’ and what surprised me maist of a’ was that he seemed as prood an’ uplifted aboot it as if he had been a Scotsman born!”

Robin said that ‘Leddy Susanna’, the Earl’s wife, was a great beauty in nature as well as in looks and he states that she ‘signed her face in a luggiefu’ o’ soo’s milk and that, they say, is the secret of her lovely skin.” Lady Burnsians take note.

Robin devotes more than a few chapters to stories and anecdotes of his time with Burns, from 1781 till his death in 1796. Robin first met Burns in Irvine where both men were friends of Richard Brown, or Ritchie Broon as Robin calls him. The first time he met Burns was in Templetons bookshop where Burns, “this wonderfu’ being, wi’ his blazing black een” was discussin the female of the species with Templeton and Brown. Burns stated that women were a ‘finer type o’ clay, purer and better and if they gaed kennin wrang their religion was great and their repentance was great. Ritchie Broon countered that the only great things he kenned o’ women were three – “their great conceit, their great deceit and the great and wonderfu’ weeness o’ their minds” – an example of Captain Brown’s attitude to women as opposed to Burns idealized opinion of them perhaps?

Robin states that they often met in the Wheat Sheaf inn for a chappin or two o’ the reamin’ swats, or a gill o’ the dooble nappy. As he explained of Burns popularity “a coerious thing aboot Robin was that anither man’s misfortunes in business or in life seemed aye to affect him as though they were his aim. And that was what endeared him to us a.’ If ye tell’t him a story o’ puirtith or of fatherless weans he would stap a’ the siller he had in your haun and say – ‘G’ wa an’ by them bread’ or ‘Wheehst man, wheesht, it hursts me to hear ’t”

When Peacock’s wife burnt the hecklin shop in the Vennel Cummell’s father brought the news to

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Robin the next day. Robin took a pound out of the drawer and, meeting Burns in the street, pressed him to take it.

“Man Robin,” said Burns “they’re a’ guid to me the day and I’ll never forget it. Ye’ve a’ been owre guid to me and some o’ ye I ken canna weel afford it yoursel’s. But there be nae kin like the kin o’ sorrow and the puir are aye the kindest to the puir.”

Whilst blethering in the Wheat Sheaf one night Robin Cummel told the company of how Leezie Paterson was mudered at an auld dye mill at Lugton by her boyfriend because she went off with someone else. The boyfriend then went home to Beith and shot himself in his father’s garden but suffered great agonies of remorse before he died. At this, Burns proceeded to wax lyrical on the poetic agonies the dying man went through; of how he must have thought on the time when his love for Leezie was just new and they kept their tryst on the Loch Libo moors; of how the ‘wiler’ wi’ his cunning tongue and snaring arts won Leezie over and the madness gripped the boy for revenge.

Burns was cut short by Ritchie Broon – “Ach, ten to ane she would a’ made him a boul-horned guidwife and kaimbed his heid wi’ the tattie-beetle. Can ye no’ hear the chaunerin’ and yammer o’ the meeserable cratur, the nag-nagging o’ her tongue. Maybe he had an awfu’ escape. Women are like weans, weel enough for a wee when they’re guid but droon them when they get yeattery” Captain Brown’s maritime experiences in the bordellos of the world influencing his opinion of women perhaps? Or perhaps he is just paraphrasing Robin Cummell’s pithy quote that “next to nae wife, they say a guid ane is best”.

Robin Cummell describes 1786 as “this was the year the poems appeared” and 1796 as “Scotland’s greatest grief since Flodden.” He echoes the sentiments of Maria Riddell when he says`“wonnerfu’ an a’ as his sangs and poems are, they are but as a flash in the pan to the strong bleeze o’ wut and genius that broke through a’ that he said. It was like a dram to me to hear him. When he rose in the fury of his intellectual micht to crush some impiddent snachle his scornfu’ black een flashed wrath and fire, while a spate of furious eloquence rained from his tongue. Then, wandering on to worthier themes he would melt the most glorious images of tenderness and beauty, till we thought we had been hearkening to a sang of the gods. In a line that should be included in every Immortal Memory from now on Cummell concludes – “O tell ye sirs, the Almichty juist sent Robbie doon to let us see what He could mak’”

Robin Cummell died around 1840 when he was almost 95 years old. In this book (1) the atmosphere of Burns time in Ayrshire comes bursting out of the pages. The book finishes in 1820 when Robin was 75 years old so, like most personal recollections of Burns by people late on in life, the rosy hue has to be looked behind and every word not taken as gospel. However, the guid Ayrshire tongue of Burns and the day to day life, the places and people therein related, still transport the reader back in time to Burns. The reader can almost smell the reek of the peak, the aroma of the hay, the chirping of the countryside and feel the warmth of the roaring fireside and, in reading anything of or about Burns, these feelings are probably the closest any Burnsian will get to Burns the man.(1) The Memorables of Robin Cummell by John Service, Paisley : Alexander Gardner, 1913.

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BURNS FESTIVAL PLEACalls have been made for the annual Ayrshire Burns

Festival to be extended to Dumfries and Galloway.South of Scotland Tory MSP David Mundell has

written to the organisers to investigate the possibility of future Festivals incorporating the region.

He has repeatedly called on the Scottish Parliament for more recognition and support for the legacy of the Bard.

Mr. Mundell said: “Very large sums of public money have been invested already in making this Festival happen and there is no reason why it should only be focused in Ayrshire.

“The Burns’ legacy does not belong to any particular community, however Dumfries played a key part in his life and many of his works and of course, he died here.”

Dumfries Courier (May Issue)

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PRESENTATION TO

WILLIAM DONACHIE

As reported in the Spring issue of the Chronicle Chief Executive Shirley Bell travelled to Saleilles in the South of France to the home of William and

Monique Donachie, where she presented William with an Honorary Membership Scroll on behalf of the

Burns Federation (Left) in appreciation of his most generous gift of the major items connected with the production

of the Tam o’ Shanter Ballet, first performed in Lodz, Poland in 1976. William is pictured below with some

of his artistic work.

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ROBERT BURNS’ LAST HOMEAND HOW IT BECAME A MUSEUM

In 1903 Robert Burns’ last home in Dumfries was in a poor state, both externally and internally. The Dumfries and Maxwelltown Education Society, who had been left the house in the will of Colonel William Nicol Burns had given up using it as a house for the supervisor of their Industrial School,

which occupied the property next door. They were letting it out to a wood turner on condition that he gave access to visitors. He had the right to charge them three pence each and was, “allowed to supply refreshments of an unintoxicating kind”. The interior of the house was simply his home, furnished with his own furniture. It contained nothing directly associated with Robert Burns.

Its poor condition may explain why it played no part in the events organised to mark the centenary of Robert Burns’ death in 1896. The guest of honour, The Earl of Rosebery, was shown around many of the Burns related places in the area, but notably Burns House was omitted from his tour. The centenary procession itself did not pass along Burns Street, but skirted around it.

Over the previous decades it had been suggested that various organisations take the lease of the house from the Education Society and put the matter right. In 1903 the Town Council of Dumfries took this on. Their efforts, combined with those of Dumfries Burns Club, lead to the house in which Robert Burns died becoming a museum to his memory.

The house was repaired and repainted. The larger of the two bedrooms was set out as a museum, (see back of cover). Dumfries Burns Club contributed their ceremonial ware to the display, and also the items associated with the poet which the club had collected over the years. There was an appeal for objects and other collectors made gifts to the growing collection or placed important items there on loan.

The Council then appointed a caretaker, who had the use of the remaining rooms of the house, on condition that they be shown to visitors on request. The admission charge was set at three pence (just over 1 pence). But now the museum acquired its own interesting “exhibit”. The caretaker appointed was Thomas Brown, and his wife Jane was the grand daughter of Robert Burns! (see front cover).

Jane Emma Burns Brown was the daughter of Robert Burns’ eldest son, Robert, by his common law wife, Emma Bland. He had met her in London and returned to Dumfries with her and their young family when he retired from his position in the Civil Service. Jane Brown came to Dumfries in 1833. She was only three years old when Jean Armour died the next year and the Burns family home was broken up but it is possible that she had some memories of it.

The elderly couple moved into Burns House with their unmarried daughter, Jean Armour Burns Brown, who became a celebrity in her own right due to her resemblance to her famous great grand father. The local newspaper reported,“…the presence of his interesting descendents has greatly tended to increase the number of callers”. The philanthropist, Andrew Carnegie, settled £60 per year on Mr. and Mrs. Brown in order to secure this advantageous situation.

The newly launched Burns House was a success. It opened to the public in late May 1903. In July that year the Highland and Agricultural Show was held in Dumfries, bringing thousands of people into the town and by early August the Burns House visitors’ book shows that there had been over 1,600 visitors.

Robert Burns and his family came to live in this simple two storey sandstone house in Mill Street, Dumfries in May 1793. The house was rented from Captain John Hamilton, who had also been the landlord of their previous home in Bank Street. The two roomed upstairs flat had seemed cramped, particularly after their life on the farm at Ellisland. This new house offered the space they needed for

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their growing family, a parlour where they could entertain guests and even a small study in which Burns could write. The house was not grand but it was the finest that either Robert or Jean had ever lived in. Their rent was £8 per year.

Robert Burns was only to spend three years here. He died in July 1796 and was buried close by in St Michael’s churchyard on the same day that Jean gave birth to their ninth child. His death left her a widow, at just 31 years old, with six children to bring up, her own five boys and her adopted daughter, Elizabeth, the illegitimate child of Robert Burns and Anna Park, whom Jean had taken into the family. Burns’ friends moved quickly to support the family. Within the week, Jean had an offer from a benefactor, James Fergusson of Banks, Ayrshire, to take care of the children’s education, but on condition that she moved to Ayr. It was, after all, close to her family and friends. Other suggetions were made which would have meant the boys leaving home to live with relatives.

Jean turned these offers down. She seemed determined to remain in the house in Mill Street and to keep the family together. She wanted the house to become a monument to her late husband - a place where those who admired his work could visit and pay their respects. She lived there herself for another 38 years, until her death in 1834. Throughout the rest of her life she welcomed visitors into her home and patiently answered their questions. She was generous to those seeking relics of the poet, giving away manuscripts in his handwriting and even, it seems, having the bed in which he died broken up so that the wood could be made into souvenirs. Mill Street was renamed Burns Street and a mausoleum was built in St Michael’s churchyard to mark her husband’s grave. Over the years her home became a place of public interest, almost of pilgrimage.

Many famous people came to the door. In 1803 the poets, William Wordsworth and Samuel Taylor Coleridge came to Dumfries, whilst on a six week tour of Scotland. Wordsworth went on to write three poems about his experience of Robert Burns’ life in Dumfries.

They were accompanied by William’s sister, Dorothy, whose journal gives us the first visitor’s impression of Burns House. This was only 7 years after Robert Burns’ death. They called on the 18th August and Jean and the children were away at the seaside. Her second son, Francis Wallace Burns had died the month before aged 13 years.

“We spoke to the servant-maid at the door, who invited us forward, and we sat down in the parlour. The walls were coloured with a blue wash; on one side of the fire was a mahogany desk, opposite to the window a clock, and over the desk a print from the ‘Cotter’s Saturday Night,’ which Burns mentions in one of his letters having received as a present. The house was cleanly and neat in the inside, the stairs of stone, scoured white, the kitchen on the right side of the passage, the parlour on the left. In the room above the parlour the Poet died, and his son after him in the same room. The servant told us she had lived five years with Mrs. Burns, who was now in great sorrow for the death of ‘Wallace’.”

The poet John Keats was on a walking tour of the Lake District and Scotland in 1818 when he visited Dumfries. He wrote a sonnet, “On Visiting the Tomb of Burns”. Unfortunately the letter to his brother, Tom, which would have told of his visit to Burns House, is lost. All we have is, “Mrs. Burns lives in this place, most likely we shall see her tomorrow.”! In 1822, the author, Hew Ainslie when recounting his own visit to Jean, describes her as being “overrun with visitors”.

After her death and the sale of her belongings, where ordinary household objects made prices well beyond their value due to their associations with the poet, the story of Burns House becomes complicated. It took a further 70 years for it to become a museum.

Sometime after the poet’s death the house had been purchased from Captain Hamilton by Dr. William Maxwell, Burns’ physician and friend. Throughout her lifetime Jean’s rent had been provided by “a benefactor”, possibly Maxwell himself. In the early 1840s the house was occupied by a “seemingly very poor journeyman painter” and was not identified as a place of significance according to Lord Henry Cockburn, a judge of the Court of Session, in his journal. (Later published as “Circuit Journeys”).

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In 1845 a lease of Burns House was taken by the Dumfries and Maxwelltown Education Society and it was used as a house for the supervisor of their Ragged School or orphanage which was in an adjoining building. In 1847 the house was sold by Dr. Maxwell’s family, but the Education Society still held the lease of the property.

This arrangement continued until 1851 when it was purchased by Robert Burns’ son, Colonel William Nicol Burns, who had recently retired after a successful career in the British East India Service. His intention was to secure the future of the house as a monument to his father and to place it in the hands of a local charity. He continued the lease to the Dumfries and Maxwelltown Education Society and bequeathed the property to them in his will - with the provision that they pay an annunity to his dependents and that should they ever cease to carry out their good works within the burgh of Dumfries then the house would become the property of the Dumfries and Galloway Royal Infirmary.

The American author, Nathaniel Hawthorn, was serving as American Consul in Liverpool between 1853 and 1857 when he visited Burns House. At this time it belonged to Colonel William Nicol Burns and was leased to the Dumfries and Maxwelltown Education Society. It was still in use as the house for their superintendent. He recalls this in “Our Old Home”, published in 1863.

“We asked for Burns’s dwelling: and a woman pointed across the street to a two storey house, built of stone, and whitewashed like its neighbours, but perhaps of a little more respectable aspect than most of them, though I hesitate in saying so. It was not a separate structure, but under the same continuous roof with the next. There was an inscription on the door, bearing no reference to Burns, indicating that the house was now occupied by a ragged or industrial school. On knocking, we were instantly admitted by a servant-girl, who smiled intelligently when we told our errand, and shewed us into a low and very plain parlour, not more than twelve of fifteen feet square. A young woman who seemed to be a teacher in the school soon appeared, and told us that this had been Burns’s usual sitting room, and that he had written many of his songs here. She then led us up a narrow staircase into a little bedchamber over the parlour. Connected with it, there is a very small room or windowed closet which Burns used as a study; and the bedchamber itself was the one where he slept in his later lifetime, and in which he died at last. Altogether, it is an exceedingly unsuitable place for a pastoral and rural poet to live or die in, even more unsatisfactory than Shakespeare’s house, which has a certain homely picturesqueness that contrasts favourably with the suburban sordidness of the abode before us. The narrow lane, the paving stones, and the contiguity of wretched hovels are depressing to remember;”

The house continued in the ownership of the Education Society and the property to the right of Burns House was rebuilt as their Industrial School, a residential home for young offenders where they were taught a trade. In the 1860s a bust of Robert Burns was erected on the frontage of this building. Over the years this arrangement became less and less satisfactory, both for visitors to Burns House, who had to take their chance on being shown round a very ordinary house and to the family of the supervisor who had to endure this lack of privacy. Also the terms of Colonel Burns’ will became less favourable as the costs of the annuity and of maintenance to the building mounted. The house was now in a poor state of repair and ramshackle alterations had been made to the interior to accommodate the needs of various tenants.

The development of railways brought in an age of mass travel or ‘excursionism”. Dumfries was now a tourist destination and its association with Robert Burns was its main attraction. Throughout the 1880s and 1890s moves were made to bring Burns House into use as a place of public interest, even as a museum, but with little success. Should it be handed over to the Secretary of State for Scotland and managed as a national monument? Or perhaps Dumfries Burns Club could take it over and run it? During the events to mark the centenary of Robert Burns’ death, held in 1896, the house was more or less overlooked by the organisers.

It was not until 1903 that the Town Council of Dumfries took over the lease at the cost of £20 per year. Working with Dumfries Burns Club, they made positive changes to the arrangements for viewing

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the house and the core of a museum collection on Robert Burns was begun. Dumfries Burns Club already had a significant collection of Burns relicas, which had formerly only been displayed at meetings of the club, this was now placed in the house. The range of exhibits was increased with their acquisition of the Lennox collection, purchased with financial assistance from the author, Sir J M Barrie, who had spent part of this childhood in Dumfries.

A public appeal was made for items to display in the House, “It has been often a matter of surprise to visitors to the Burns House to find it so bare of these mementoes and they frequently ask Mrs. Brown why.” An early gift to the collection of Burns House was three aquatints of Scottish landscapes by R. A. Riddell which had belonged to the poet and were now returned to their original home after over a century in other ownership. In 1906 the Burns House Committee of the Town Council requested that an inventory be made of the Burns collections kept at Burns House - the first catalogue of the museum.

But even this was not to be the end of the story. These new arrangements established only one room as a museum, the resident caretaker lived in the rest of the house and money to make repairs was always tight. In 1932 the Industrial School, now run as a boy’s home moved to Lochvale, beyond the boundaries of Dumfries, and the Education Society’s ownership of the building ceased.

Its new owners, Dumfries and Galloway Royal Infirmary, made many improvements. The house was again renovated, the render was removed from the exterior, revealing the original stonework, the caretaker was moved into a house opposite and the whole of Burns House became accessible to the public with some rooms set out with furniture as they might have been during the poet’s lifetime. The house re-opened in January 1935, and admission now cost sixpence (just over 2 pence). In the late 1930s over 4,000 visitors came to see the house each year.

However, Burns House was always a financial burden for the Infirmary, repairs were costly and the income from admissions fell away during the Second World War. They were forced to reduce the opening times to the summer three months only. In 1944 the property was again taken over by the Town Council and it has remained under local authority management since then.

Robert Burns House is now managed as a part of Dumfries and Galloway Museums Service. It has been accessible to the general public for 100 years. Re-displays and restoration of the fabric of the house were again undertaken in 1977 and in 1995. Opening hours have been extended to an all year round pattern of five days a week in the winter six months and seven days a week throughout the summer. In 1996 to mark the bi-centenary of Robert Burns’ death admission charges were dropped and free admission has been maintained ever since. The small house where Robert Burns Spent the last three years of his brilliant life is now a Registered Museum, a three star Visitor Attraction and a place of pilgrimage for his admirers from all over the world. It is visited by over 15,000 people each year.

ILLUSTRATION ON FRONT COVERAt the door of Burns House, sometime between 1903 and 1907. Dumfries Town Council appointed Thomas Brown and his wife Jane as resident caretakers. Jane Emma Burns Brown was the daughter of Robert Burns’ eldest son. This shows them with their daughter, Jean Armour Burns Brown, the poet’s great grand daughter, who became a celebrity due to her resemblance to him. The fact that direct descendents of Robert Burns were living in the house as its resident caretakers must have added greatly to its interest as a visitor attraction.

ILLUSTRATION ON BACK PAGE OF COVERThe museum room which was set up in 1903. Visitors could see the punch bowl and serving set of Dumfries Burns Club (now in the Robert Burns Centre) and many items associated with the poet collected by the club over the years since his death. (The sign at the fireplace says “Smoking and Spitting Strictly Prohibited” - not a common sight in museums today!)

Photographs © of Dumfries Museum.

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GILBERT BURNS YOUNGESTSON OF THE POET’S BROTHER

GILBERT BURNS, Knockmaroon Lodge, Chapelizod, Dublin, nephew of the Poet, and youngest son of Gilbert Burns, the Poet’s brother, died on the 9th October 1881 in his 79th year. The Irish Times, in a short

notice of his death, writes of him “as a most charitable gentleman, widely and justly respected.” There is no mention of his relationship to our National Poet, and this may account for the oversight of the Scottish and English press in passing it over as merely of local interest. He has never been in contact with persons in any way connected with Burns the Poet, except his immediate relatives, and for many years he had scarcely been known out of his own domestic circle. He also inherited from his father great reserve, and a shrinking from anything like publicity, and at no period of his life did he fill any space in the many-sided strife of Dublin city. Let us gather up the threads of his unobtrusive career, as not the least worthy representative of a family name famous in Scottish annals. The father of Gilbert Burns strongly resembled his brother the Poet in temperament and in demeanour, sensitive and reserved. Both bore themselves with a grave self-possession that commanded the respect from high as well as low, from the intellectually great as well as the titled, and equally scrupulous in being indebted to others. His father was factor for Lord Blantyre’s property in 1804, when he removed to Grants Braes, East Lothian, where he died. He had previously been on the farm of Dinning in Dumfriesshire, after leaving Mossgiel. The salary was £100 a year, with a free house, which was subsequently raised to £140, and on this scanty income he managed to bring up six sons and five daughters, only one of whom died in infancy, and gave them all an excellent education. Fortunately for him and his family, his mother, Jean Breckenridge – daughter of Jame Breckenridge of Kilmarnock, a son of James Breckenridge, schoolmaster, Irvine – was worthy of him in every way. She was connected by marriage with Sir James Shaw (the first Scottish Lord Mayor of London), hence his kindness to the Burns family, who have good reason to revere his memory. By his exertions the Poet’s three sons each got a start in life; through his influence, Robert, the eldest, got an appointment in the Stamp Office; James, a nomination to Christ’s Hospital, where he was educated; and both William and James, Indian cadetships. Gilbert Burns, was born on the farm of Morham Muir, and about three miles from Haddington, on the 24th December, 1803. This farm was the property of Mrs. Dunlop of Dunlop, and was sold to a Mr. Patullo; but was under the temporary management of Gilbert Burns, the father, who was then living at Dinning. On the following year the family removed to Grant’s Braes, and there the son passed his boyhood. He was sent to the High School, Edinburgh, when nine years of age, and continued for six years, from 1812 to 1818. James Gray, formerly of the Grammar School, Dumfries, and an old friend of the Poet’s, was then one of the masters, and the old affection was transferred to the nephew during four years of the six he was under his authority. In recalling this period of his life, he writes of Gray as “a kind-hearted man, but so intensely poetical as to be ill-fitted to attend to mundane affairs. He became bankrupt, left Edinburgh to be master of Belfast Academy, where his old pupil visited him on first going to Ireland in 1824. He subsequently took orders in the Church of England, went to India, where he died.” On the completion of his education at the High School, Gilbert Burns was offered by Sir James Shaw, still the unwearied friend of the family, that his influence would

The Poet’s brother Gilbert (1760-1827)

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be used to obtain for him an Indian cadetship; but the affectionate mother would not part with her little boy – a wise resolution on her part – for brighter worldly prospects were in store for him when he found his way to Dublin, where his elder brother, William, settled in 1822. The firm with which he became connected of Todd, Burns, & Co., Dublin, (see illustration of Letterhead), in 1834, was a remarkable success. The Irish Times, in referring to the principles on which it was conducted, writes, “they were always sound, and therefore successful, and the generation of commercial men, of whom he was a leading representative, have done more to benefit the trade and commerce of the city, and direct it into new channels, and on the safest models of uprightness and perseverance.” It was a bold venture, and many were the predictions of its failure, as the premises selected were in an out-of-the-way place, away from any public thoroughfare. The building was an empty, disused bank, at the corner of Mary and Henry Street. No change was made in its outward appearance, and the modern plate-glass windows were not then considered a desideratum in a drapery establishment. The principle on which they started was to establish a large ready-money retail business on a moderate scale of profit – the introduction of strictly adhering to one fixed price, and no abatement. This may seem a very simple procedure; but it was then a great innovation upon the old system, and required a firm resolution to carry it out. It is the rule now in every well-regulated business; it was the exception in those days. So thoroughly was it accomplished, that a coinage of farthings, with the name of the firm impressed upon the token, was introduced to their customers: so that if a purchase was made under half-a crown, and a single farthing formed an item in the bill, they rigidly enforced its payment; but above that amount it was dropt. Confidence in their mode of selling increased, and building after building was added to their premises till it assumed gigantic proportions, realizing large fortunes to the original partners, and raising to independence many juniors who have since been assumed as sharers in the profits. It was no unusual cry in those early days for the gods in the gallery of The Theatre Royal to give three cheers for Todd’s farthings. So firmly did they made their mark that they were the pioneers of a better and more truthful system of retail business; and, as their assistants migrated from Dublin to start on their own account in some other town, they carried with them and introduced the example which worked so successfully in Dublin. The young firm had good friends to back them. William Todd was a shrewd, hard-headed Scotsman, and had the sole business management of the concern. He had formerly been in a subordinate position with the firm of Wingate, Son & Co., Glasgow. The financial or counting house arrangements were in the hands of Gilbert Burns.

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Gilbert was extremely sensitive of anything like publicity, which became, quite a morbid feeling as he advanced in years. The only acknowledgement he showed of his interest in the Burns Centenary was in presenting the guests who attended the Dublin Dinner with a fac simile of the Family Register in the Big Ha’ Bible in his possession, written by the Poet’s father. It is very much to be regretted that his extreme timidity kept him from correcting many mis-statements which had gained currency about disputed events in the life of Burns. No one was more competent to do it. He was a well-educated, cultured gentleman, wrote with clear insight and discrimination, and his letters are perfect models of neatness and concise statement. His whole nature seemed changed when he sat down to write. Prompt, frank, and communicative, you had only to suggest the subject and it came out clear and decisive. Everything relating to the Poet had for him a deep interest. He was a keen collector of Burns’ relics, and grudged no artificial value to secure what he wanted. He was fortunate, too, in being an early collector, as he only gave five pounds for a “Kilmarnock Edition” which had been the property of Charles Kirkpatrick Sharpe, and was a presentation copy from the Poet to Lady Glencairn. He gave fifty guineas for the original MSS. of “The Jolly Beggars;” and the “Herald” was the medium of his buying from an Edinburgh bookseller, a second copy of the “Kilmarnock Edition” for twenty pounds.

In an article in the Dublin University Magazine for June, 1876, he wrote:-“The greater part of the article consists of what has been published a hundred times, and had better

not have been written, especially as there are many little things said without any other foundation than the writer’s imagination, things hardly worth noticing, but which tend to give a confused and erroneous notion of the subject. The rest of the article is composed of the writer’s impressions derived from second-had and untrustworthy sources. The Rev. Mr. Drummond came to Bolton (East Lothian) years after all our family left the neighbourhood. His information is of no value. What he says about “rhyming” is absurd, and unfounded. I feel quite sure that a rhyme was never perpetrated in my father’s house. He, his mother and sister, knew they were without poetic inspiration, and had more sense than to attempt anything of the kind merely because they had a gifted relative. As for the picture of my aunt Annabella: It is altogether incorrect, and ludicrously unlike the original. To say that my father was received by many friends is incorrect. He was far too reserved to have many acquaintances. No one of any perception would say he looked “dull,” or “stupid”; but I think it likely the writer misunderstood his information, as in that part of the country dull simply means sad. It was long after my father’s death before the enthusiasm about Burns became general, and therefore it is wrong to suppose that he or his family were taken notice of because of their connection with the Poet. The contrary is the fact. Any respect shown to him in East Lothian, and it was very limited, was due to his own personal qualities, and not because he was the Poet’s brother. His intelligence and sagacity were recognised by a few of the neighbouring gentry. The article in the Magazine is to be classed with a good deal of rubbish that has been printed about Burns which ought to have been consigned to oblivion.”

Writing of the new Library Edition of Burns, advertised by W. Paterson, Edinburgh, in 1877, he says–

“I hope this edition will not be stuffed with apocryphal anecdotes, such as that one descriptive of a scene in the smithy at Tarbolton. To represent the Poet letting himself down by buffooneries in a smithy, and the smith addressing him as “Robbie,” and inviting him to adjourn to the public, is preposterous. I shall be asked how I come to speak so confidently of a man I never saw. My answer is this: I know well what my father was; I know also that his brother and he resembled each other strongly. I think it is to be regretted that the ideal of the Poet implied in this absurd story, so far from the truth, as I think, should be prevalent.”

He has among his relics the original copy of Wordsworth’s poem to the sons of Burns, in the Poet’s handwriting. Referring to it he writes:

“The verses have not much merit, and their pharasical tone is offensive. One cannot help thinking

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of the self-satisfaction of him who said, ‘God, I thank thee that I am not as this publican.’ The man Burns has been strangely misunderstood by a great many, though not so much by those capable of appreciating him, and I have often wished to make a few remarks thereupon to some one like you.”

Writing of the Burns portraits, he says:“My father and Aunt Annabella said Nasmyth’s was an unsatisfactory likeness. There was a

feebleness about the month which any one may see. Taylor’s has, I think, a tender, pensive expression not to be found in Nasmyth’s. It is generally considered a bad likeness, but to me it vividly recalls my father’s face, and therefore I think must have some merit. The Poet’s sons also observed the likeness to my father. When I was a small boy (about 1809 or 10) I remember Cromek and Stothard the painter, coming to Grant’s Braes, where my father lived, and taking portraits in pencil of my father and his mother. I have a distinct recollection of those portraits being shown to me, and of having recognised the likeness of such.”

The pretended portrait of his father in the Kilmarnock Burns’ Museum gave him great annoyance. When he visited the Monument, he wrote that it bore not the least resemblance to his father, and hoped it would be removed. Writing of the Kerry Portrait in possession of the Rev. P. Hately Waddell, L.L.D., he says:

“I shall regret extremely if this portrait should go down to posterity as an authentic one of Burns – the Kerry has a palable curve in the middle of the nose. Burns’ eyes were very deeply set, the Kerry, how prominent it is, and quite different from any of the Burns’. The pose of the head is quite different, but above all the expression is what, in my opinionm, and of course that must be taken for what it is worth, utterly different from what Burns could ever have been.”

Our impression is that this refers merely to the engraving, which certainly, bears out all that Gilbert Burns writes. That was our own idea of the portrait until we had the satisfaction of studying the original painting, which gives a very different conception of its being true to the broken-down condition of the Poet’s health the year before his death. The engraving is not at all a satisfactory impression of the portrait. As for the Irvine portrait, also in possession of Dr Waddell, he writes:

“Could there be anything less probable than that a portrait of Burns should have been painted at the period of his life when he was a flax dresser, and that it should have come to light so recently. There is no doubt that Nasmyth’s portrait was considered by those who knew him personally as a fair likeness, and that being so how is it possible the other can be a likeness.”

“Of the blank portrait on stucco, of Burns, of which I believe there are many copies, my father said it was correct, but the shape of the head is evidently not so.

Writing about what the Rev. Charles Rogers, LL.D. says in “Leaves from my Autobigraphy,” in reference to his acquaintance with the sons of Burns, he says –

“It is a pity that people will print what they do not know to be correct or exact. It is not of much consequence what I have to find fault with in Dr Rogers, but he ought to have felt sure he was right in what he was going to say. He says of the Poet’s son, James Glencairn, that he was like his father. On the contrary, he had no resemblance to him either in face or character. The other two sons had their father’s type of face (Celtic), but all three were far inferior to him in physique, to say nothing of the passionate fervour for which the Poet was remarkable. James was quite without the atrabilious temperament of his father being of a joyous disposition, with a great turn for jocularity. He had very good abilities, and was an excellent Oriental scholar. He was remarkable as a performer of comedy in private theatricals (while living in Cheltenham). The Poet’s temperament was utterly different from this. In the Burns or Burns family there were two very distinct types of face and character – the one being Celtic, with black hair, dark eyes, and complexion. The Poet’s brothers and sisters, as well as himself, were all of this type, also his children, except James, and my father’s family, and the Beggs. I was much struck, some years ago, when Adam Burness, visited me here, at the striking resemblance between him and the Poet’s son

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continued on next page

James, not so much in face as in character. The same light-hearted buoyancy; and, though they had scarcely ever met, there was marked resemblance in the character of the facetiae of each. Those of the Montrose family that I have known were all of this type. For six years, when I was a schoolboy in Edinburgh, I with my brothers were in constant and familiar intercourse with James Burnes, first cousin of the Poet, and grandfather of Adam aforesaid. He was a little man, of the same type of face and character as James Glencairn; always cheerful, although he had much to cause depression. He was a man of fine abilities, and had a prosperous business as a writer in Montrose, but ruined himself by rash mercantile speculations. He lived in Edinburgh for many years, but returned to Montrose in extreme old age, and died there at upwards of 90. The Poet’s eldest son, Robert, had great talent, though he may have written poor verses. He was a good linguist and mathematician, but his talents were of little avail. William Nicol and James Glencairn Burns were irreproachable in character and conduct, kindly and aimiable. It was delightful to see their attachment for each other till death parted them.”

In the publiction of the “Burns Calendar,” in 1874, Gilbert Burns took a friendly interest, gave much valuable help in minute details of family history, and to his trusting confidence are we indebted for a copy, in his own handwriting, of the “Manual of Religious Belief,” written out by the Poet’s father for the instruction of his children. Such an interesting document was not known to exist, until he chanced to enquire if we had ever heard of it, and it might have remained unnoticed but for the accidental discovery of the similarity of the original to letters written by John Murdoch. An urgent request on our part to publish it in a limited circulation, with a dedication to himself, was asked for in fear and trembling, knowing, as we did, his peculiar reluctance to publicity in any form; but, to our gratification, it was ultimately granted, and on its completion he was prompt to acknowledge that all his doubts were dispelled. He was also pleased with the notices of the Scottish press on the work, especially that in the Glasgow Herald, and the biographical preface was all that he could have wished.

Gilbert Burns was the last male branch of his family. His eldest brother, William, who was born 15th May, 1792, died in 1880 at Portarlington, Ireland. The line does not become extinct, as Gilbert married, in 1842, Jemima Georgiana, daughter of Alexander Ferrier, of Dublin, by whom he had two sons, Robert and Theodore Gilbert Alexander, and two daughters, Mary and Isabella. His eldest son, Robert, married Sibylla, daughter of the Rev. Phillipps Donnithorne Dayman, vicar of Poundstock, Cornwall, by whom he has a son, Kenneth Glencairn, and a daughter, Edith Donnithorne. Writing in 1874, he says:-

“It is remarkable that there is only one lineal male descendant of Burns living, and his name is not Burns but Hutchinson. It is still more remarkable that there is now not one left in Scotland of the race and name – Adam Burnes, of Montrose, was the last of the name. He left one son, who went to New Zealand.”

(From the Ardrossan and Saltcoats Herald, 1882)

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“AT HOME” WITH ROBERT BURNSSUMMER SCHOOL AT CRICHTON CAMPUS

THE first Summer School organised by the Robert Burns World Federation and sponsored by the Scottish Arts Council with support from local authorities was held at the Dumfries Crichton Campus (Rutherford McCowan building) on 14/18th July, 2003. The entire programme was arranged by Shirley Bell, the unanimous decision by those attending agreeing that the event was most interesting, instructive

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NIAGARA FALLS CANADA BURNS CLUB LASSES LUNCHEON

The ‘Lasses Luncheon’ was held at Quality Hotel in St Catherines, Ontario on May 18, 2003. “The sun shone on the 32 members and guests who attended our luncheon – the first such event to be held in Canada. The guests included Mrs. Joan Turner and Mrs. Jean Cunningham, President and Secretary respectively, of the Robert Burns Association of North America. We also welcomed guests from New York State. Greetings were read from Mrs Shirley Bell, Chief Executive of the World Burns Federation, the Lasses gathered in Stranraer for the Federation Luncheon, (see page 48) and from Mr. Jim Cunningham, President of R.B.N.A. After a delicious meal we were royally entertained by Mr. John Gallagher from Rochester, New York who is an honorary member of our club. John was born in New Jersey but returned to Scotland as an infant. He returned to the U.S.A. as an adult and worked for many years as a Counsellor with Kodak in Rochester. He is an excellent raconteur who kept us spellbound and laughing uproariously with most amusing anecdotes about his life in Scotland and visits to Ireland. The afternoon concluded with an expression of thanks to all who attended, to members who assisted with the programme, and a special thank you to our guest speaker.”

May Crawley

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and well organised (which had been done in a short space of time). The beautiful weather throughout the week added much to the occasion showing off the beautiful surroundings of the University Campus and scenery of Dumfriesshire and Ayrshire on the visit to Ellisland Farm, Mauchline and the poet’s birthplace in Alloway. A full report (including some of the Academic papers), and pictures will appear in the next issue of the Chronicle. Those taking part in the Summer School included:- Professor Ted Cowan, Elly Taylor, Jackie Lee, Dr Valentina Bold, Jonny Murray, Liz Niven, Hamish Macdonald, Gill Bowman, Wilson Ogilvie, Murdo Morrison (Chairman) and Peter Westwood. At the close of the events President of the Federation Jim Robertson presented a copy from the limited edition of The Works of Robert Burns in Gaelic to Councillor George McBurnie the copy was then accepted by Alastair Johnston of Dumfries and Galloway Museums and Libraries where it will be added to the collection of books in the Poet’s House in Dumfries.

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“BOKHARA BURNES”

(RECENT TROUBLES IN AFGHANISTAN PROMPTED THIS ARTICLE)

A book by Major General James D. Lunt published by Faber & Faber in 1969 was one of the first three books in a series on

great travellers of by-gone days.It tells the story of a Montrose Provost’s son,

a famous explorer who made one of the most fantastic journeys of all time. When he returned to Britain, the King summoned him down to Brighton and listened for an hour and a half to his adventures. He had several long talks with the Prime Minister too. He was knighted and society lionised him. The day of the Freedom ceremony in Montrose ended with a great civic banquet in his honour. All these things happened when he was still in his twenties. He died at the age of 36, butchered in Kabul at the start of the Afghan rebellion.

A portrait of his father, twice Provost before he became town clerk, and a close relative of Robert Burns, hangs in the Council Chambers in Montrose. This was Provost James Burnes. Sir Alexander was the Provost’s fourth son and the house where he was born still stands in the Bow Butts. At the age of sixteen he sailed for India. Two years later he was already a lieutenant in the 21st Regiment and from then on his life was packed with adventure.

He had a passion for exploring and his flair for it soon gained recognition. In 1831, at the age of 25, he was sent on his first mission, one that was as delicate as it was dangerous. High among the head streams of the Indus, on the foothills of the Himalayas, there lived in Lahore the formidable ruler of the Punjab, the Majaraja Runjeet Singh. To displease him was one thing which British diplomats wanted to avoid at all costs.

The Majaraja had sent some shawls as a gift to the King of England, and it was not easy to think of a suitable gift to send in return.

“Runjeet Singh,” says the author, “was fond of reciting the couplet, ‘Four things greater than all things are Women and Horses, and Power and War.’ War the Company was anxious to avoid, and they were equally reluctant to add to Runjeet Singh’s power. Women were out of the question, and in any case the Majaraja had a well-stocked harem… There remained only horses, and the Court in its wisdom decided that five heavy dray-horses should be sent all the way from England to Lahore as a present from the King.”

DESPISED FISHThe horses arrived in Bombay, and Burnes

was given charge of them for the last thousand miles of their journey to Lahore. He decided to take them up the Indus by boat and, as far as is known, no European had ever previously explored that river. It was well known, however, that for many miles along its banks the natives would be very unfriendly, not without cause. They did no harm, however. They even let him study some of their likes and dislikes. He found, for example, that fish among the Sindis was definitely not upper-class food:

“The majority of the Siadis lived entirely on fish and rice, but the upper classes believed that a fish diet affected the understanding. They would excuse a man’s ignorance by explaining that he was a ‘fish-eater’”.

Eventually Lieut. Burnes reached Lahore, after a five-month journey, and the five dray horses were all still allive and well. They were perhaps more ornamental than useful in the land of Sikhs, but at least as gift they were a complete success. No one had ever before seen horses so big and powerful. Everyone agreed that their feet were colossal – that they were really little elephants, not horses. The Maharaja proudly decked them in cloth of gold and saddled them with an elephant’s howdah.

THE GREAT ADVENTUREBurnes travelled on to Delhi and before the

year was out he had already begun his greatest

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and most famous journey, over the mountains to Bokhara and across the desert to the Caspian Sea and Persia. It was not the mountains or the desert that created the biggest dangers but the people who lived there.

The first stage of the great adventure was back to Lahore, where the Maharaja greeted him like an old friend and took him to the royal camp for a hunting expedition. He was lodged in a tent of scarlet and yellow, carpeted with magnificent Kashmir rugs. His bed and coverlet were of yellow silk and next day he rode to the hunt beside the Maharaja in golden howdah on an elephant. They arrived back in Lahore in time for the Spring festival and a round of lavish parties. Those days in Lahore, said Burnes, were among the happiest in his life.

MOSLEM STYLEThere was no such luxury on the rest of the

journey. He gave away the tent, bed and furniture that he had brought from Delhi. He shaved his head in Moslem style and changed into Afghan robes. At meals times from then on, he sat cross-legged and ate his food with his fingers.

Soon he was in Afghanistan and in Peshawar he met the Sultan, Monhammed Khan, tall, dark and handsome, aged about 35 and already the father of some sixty children. Before going farther, Burnes changed into still meaner native clothes. Avoiding the dangers of the Khyber Pass, he followed another route until he reached Kabul.

It was only on the march, however, that his identity was concealed. He was still a Scottish officer to the Nawab. In Kabul he turned down a tempting offer to settle there and take command of an army of 12,000 horse. He was warned it was madness to continue his journey. “At best they would end up as slaves in the household of some Tartar chief and at worst would have their throats cut and be left to the vultures by the roadside.” But Burnes and his companions still carried on.

INTO TARTARYIt was then that the real dangers began. In

deep snow he crossed the Hindu Kush mountains

at a height of 12,400 feet. At one stage he was temporarily blinded by the snow and in the descent on the other side he had to lead his pony for more than a mile along the edge of a precipice. He reached Bameean, where the people lived in caves. There he saw two enormous Buddhist idols, one of them 120 feet high, carved out of the mountainside. Beyond was Tartary, a land where petty chiefs ruled in a state of anarchy: “Man-stealing was the local pastime.”

By the time he reached Kunduz he was masquerading as an Armenian servant. He would probably have been put to death if there had been any hint that he was European. He recalled that the people there drank tea from morning to night, never with milk or sugar but sometimes with salt or fat. And after consuming several cups they finished up chewing the tea leaves like tobacco.

His next stop was Balkh, the Mother of Cities. The ancient Greeks knew this town. Alexander the Great conquered it and later it was sacked by Genghiz Khan and partly rebuilt by Tamerlane. Its famous gardens had already vanished when Burnes arrived there and its three colleges were occupied only by snakes and bats.

At this stage he exchanged his horse for a camel with a pannier on each side. While he sat uncomfortably in one pannier, his servant rode in the other. From then onwards, the route was to Bokhara and after that the broad Turkoman Desert stretched all the way to the Caspian Sea.

DEATH IN BOKHARAIt was not by accident that James Lunt called

his book “Bokhara Burnes”. Two other British officers eached the Tartar city a few years later and each was put to death, while an eccentric churchman was lucky to escape with his life. You had to know the local customs if you wanted to survive in Bokhara. Burnes discovered several of these. A husband or father, for example, was entitled to shoot at sight anyone who looked too cosely at his womenfolk. The penalty for adultery was to be buried alive. The penalty for being a haughty Englishman was not much better. On all his journeys Burnes had a happy knack of

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keeping on friendly terms with rich and poor alike.

He saw the powerful emir coming out of church one day – surprisingly plain in his dress, for his suite wore robes of Russian brocade. He was under 30, pale-faced and already obsessed by a dread of sudden death. Elaborate tests were made of all he ate and drank, and surviving all attempts at assassination he died in his bed. Not all the people around him were so lucky. One day later on, the emir was annoyed about something his chief artillerymen had done, so he personally cut him in half with an axe. Much later too, on his deathbed, he had his wife stabbed to death before his eyes. But Burnes thought he looked a rather pleasant fellow.

Disease was rife in Bokhara, not surprisingly, for the main canal which provided the city with its water supply was also its main sewer. There was a rather revolting worm that you were liable to get by drinking the water. But what struck him most in Bokhara was the number of colleges. It was said to have 366 of them, all concerned solely with the teaching of theology. Burnes was not greatly impressed by the students or their teachers. “A more perfect set of drones.” He wrote in his diary, “were never assembled together.”

THE SLAVE RAIDERSBeyond Bokhara, in the Turkoman desert,

raiding Persia for slaves was one of the main occupations. An endless supply of them was needed by any successful farmer – not only as farm workers but also to help build up the livestock. They were used instead of money. One farmer’s favourite horse cost him three men and a boy, and he parted with two strapping Persian girls for another of his horses.

Burnes crossed the vast Turkoman desert in a caravan of 150 people, ten of whom were Persians who had saved up for years to purchase their freedom. But that was no guarantee that they would safely get back home. Some of the ten had already been three times captured and three times redeemed. One of them had been a slave for 21 years and had not seen his wife and

children in all that time. Another had been put up for sale along with his wife, his son and daughter, and they were all sold to different masters. Now the ten ex-slaves were posing as traders, hoping that in this way they would get safely home. The Tartars usually left traders alone.

Burnes by this time was just as likely to be enslaved as any of them. Earlier in his journey he had been in turn English, Afghan, Uzbek, American and Jewish. Now, when awkward questions were being asked, his fellow-travellers came to his aid by explaining that he was a Hindu from Kabul, on a pilgrimage to Baku on the Caspian.

ANXIOUS MOMENTSThere were several anxious moments for

everyone in the party. Even when they got permission from the unpredictable Khan of Kniva to cross the desert, they were still not safe from a marauding party of 350 horsemen, who had been sent to bring the Prince Royal of Persia to the feet of the Khan. The raiders didn’t return with the Prince Royal but they did bring back 115 slaves from Persia, with 200 camels and many cattle. After days that felt like eternity, Burnes and his companions got through safely.

Almost twelve months after the start of his journey from Delhi, the explorer was in Teheran, describing his adventures to the Shah of Persia. The interview took place in the hall of mirros, beneath crowded chandeliers of every shape and size. There was so much glass and crystal around, that he was warned beforehand to keep a tight grip of his sword, and not to slip on the polished floor. The Shah wouldn’t like it if he shattered some priceless mirror.

BACK IN ENGLANDFrom Persia he travelled on to England and all

the excitement of the welcome that awaited him there. He had kept a diary throughout his journey and the following year, in 1834, his first book, “Travels into Bokhara”, was published in three volumes. It was a best seller. His second, “Cabool.,” was not published until after his

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death. In 1835 he returned full of hope to India, only to find that nothing awaited him there but utter frustration and disillusionment. On every point of importance his superiors refused to accept his advice.

In August 1839 he returned to Kabul, to find the whole countryside seething with unrest. Perhaps this very tension gave him nostalgic memories of his childhood home, for in January 1840 he wrote to Montrose Town Council, explaining that he had asked his father to give them a hundred guineas, to be used for medals and book prizes at the Academy and the Trades School. The Council recorded their grateful thanks in April that year.

By the end of the following year Sir Alexander was dead, killed in his own garden by the Kabul mob. The Afghan rebellion had begun and a humiliating one it was for British prestige. “Not until the fall of Singapore a century later,” says the author, “were the British to suffer such a disastrous defeat in Asia.”

[CHART SHOWING THE BURNS FAMILY CONNECTION]

James BURNESb. at Upper Kinmonth, Glenbervie,

1717. d. at Montrose, 17 July, 1761.

James BURNESb. at Montrose, 26 Dec. 1750.

Writer and Notary Public, Montrose.d. at Montrose, 12 June 1837.

James BURNESb. at Montrose, 1 Apr. 1780. Provostof Montrose, 1820 and 1824. d. at

Edinburgh, 15 Feb. 1852.

Sir Alexander BURNESb. at Montrose, 16 May, 1805.

Assassinated at Kabul, Afghanistan,2 Nov, 1841.

William BURNESb, at Upper Kinmonth, Glenbervie,11 Nov, 1721. d. at Lochlea, P. of

Tarbolton, 13 Feb. 1784.

Robert BURNSb. at Alloway, Ayr, 25 Jan. 1759.d. at Dumfries, 21 July, 1796.

Lieut, Charles BURNESb. at Montrose, 12 Jan. 1812.

Assassinated at Kabul, Afghanistan,2 Nov. 1841.

Robert BURNES

Sir Alexander Burnes

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The Friends of Ellisland were founded in 1998 and we feel that many Burnsians will be interested to learn of the hard won cash, tears, toil and sweat and many muttered oaths that we have invested since then in this national monument.

The Friends were formed to take over the day to day management of Ellisland Farm on behalf of the Ellisland Trustees. The Trustees had carried out a substantial programme to refurbish the house and the outbuildings and had created an updated display in the house and the granary. The audio visual display in the granary was, and is, a wonderful experience and the display of material and the information boards in the house and the granary are of a very high standard.

At this time the retirement of the Curator, Jim Irvine, was announced and at this stage the Trustees took the bold step of examining whether a new group could take over the running of the property. One of their models was the Friends of Hornel House in Kirkcudbright and after a thorough negotiation and, at times, frank exchange a Constitution for the Friends of Ellisland and a Minute of Agreement was signed and the Friends were established. The Trustees continue to be responsible for the property and let out the fields for agriculture.

The Executive Committee, with the Trustees’ Factor, appointed Les Byers as Curator and then took stock of what their Business Plan should be and what work was needed.

While the exterior of the outbuildings looked smart the interiors were the very opposite. The first task was to clear out the accumulated flotsam and jetsam of the past and decide what the first target would be. Unanimously the threshing barn, with its potential as a space for social events or working space, was agreed and work started in earnest.

With the help of a very willing team of volunteers the threshing barn was transformed into a clean,

THE DEVELOPMENTS ATELLISLAND FARM

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well decorated and friendly space and naturally it was used first used by members attending a barbecue evening. Amazingly the acoustics were very good and at that stage the workers knew that all their hard and dirty labour had been really worth the effort. It also proved to the broad membership that the Friends were worthy of support and to the Trustees that this was the way forward.

It was determined that we should ensure that Ellisland would be clearly recognised as a farm. The only sign in the carefully cobbled steading yards and painted outbuildings was one sad cartwheel leaning against a dyke. Had anyone, including Robert Burns, ever worked the land, tended stock, tried to make a living and raise a family in this sterile place?

The Friends decided to use the outbuildings, the cattle court and the orchard to demonstrate the farming aspect. The Sunday Post drew attention to our needs in their columns and the people of Scotland responded! A box cart with no cart wheels; whisky jars; ploughs; rollers; milk cans; butterchurns; turnip choppers; slaughter spades; cheese shelves, were brought in by transport loaned by local businesses. Items are handed in nearly every week and they never cease to amaze as to what were they used for?

However, they all need restoration and painting. Old harness needs repair and cleaning with Neets Foot Oil and someone has to do it. There is a saying never volunteer and thankfully it is not always heeded. There is another that if you know a better way to do something then get on with it yourself!

We were developing in other ways. The interiors of all the outbuildings were brought up to a working standard, chairs were obtained and tables were purchased as we realised we were here on a long term basis. Our first Burns Supper was a sell out despite the problems of heating the barn and is still a sell out. We now have St. Andrews Nights and in May it is already sold out for this year. W. Barr and Co. helped us with some urgent repairs and we started to apply for grants to spray and chip the access lane and make a path across the fields to the Hermitage and on to Friars Carse. We set up a Website, www.ellislandfarm.co.uk. Burns Clubs who took out corporate membership gifted seats and helped financially. The Prison painted sign boards of the songs and poems Burns wrote at Ellisland. The Gatehouse of Fleet Gala Committee donated a full size grey mare Meg, {paper mache!} which leaps over the trusses in the barn surrounded by candelabras gifted by a Dutch Friend.

We get requests to film here but few come to anything. The Watercolour Challenge was a successful visit and in October watch for the Antiques Roadshow. We held a horse drawn ploughing contest in 2000 which was a great success.

We knew that to expand and increase visitor numbers we would have to provide additional toilet facilities. We seriously wish to see Ellisland as a destination for school pupil trips where they can spend an enjoyable day and with a wide range of different facilities. A visit by a bus trip or a school excursion must have these facilities. Planning Permission, Listed Building Consent and Building Warrant were eventually obtained together with a Licence for a septic tank discharge which had been discharging for a very long time. How could this be paid for? We would raise funds and seek grants. Then disaster stuck, foot and mouth disease closed the countryside down and Ellisland closed as well to minimise risk to our neighbours.

When it was beaten the Council and the Enterprise Company set up a Community Fund to get the countryside back in business. We applied and in the first round got £3,000 and we applied for more from the second round and suddenly we had a total of £9,000. We could now tackle a wider project to improve facilities. Every source we could think of was applied to and because we had a viable project we were successful. The Trustees, who provide the income to cover day to day costs and cover our annual deficit of currently £4,000, assured us of support provided we applied to the Lottery for funding. That is not as simple as it sounds and we could only apply for an Awards for All grant, maximum £5,000. At the last minute they demanded extra information which we provided in time and were awarded £5,000. With money from our own funds we had £19,000 available and we were prepared to tackle a lot of work on a voluntary basis. We had the comforting knowledge that if we ended up short

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the Trustees were prepared to deficit fund our efforts.Needless to say the works done in 1995- 96 regularly require maintenance and a programme of

repainting and repairs was continuously carried on, mainly by a faithful team of volunteers led by Tommy Johnstone, to keep the property up to a high standard.

We did note the demand for parking and we have now set off a paddock between the car park and the steading yard which can be used as an overspill car park for events.

The package of works we have carried out are- forming disabled standard toilets in the lower floor of the granary so that we have both Ladies and Gents; laying out Cullies Farmhouse to house three dioramas; forming display space in Cullies byre; a new materials store and a machinery store in the long byre; improved electrical facilities and a servery and heating for the threshing barn. Extensive earthworks were required at the river gable of the granary and the chance has been taken to start regrading the slope to the riverside walk. The realisation came that while providing disabled toilets, disabled access to the granary was a must and it was back to the drawing board. This work is now complete and with it the realisation that cobbled surfaces have problems for wheelchairs even on level areas which we will have to solve!

Dioramas are areas with a full three dimensional exhibit viewed from an enclosed and glazed area. Those under preparation will depict the Cottars Saturday Night; Burns the Exciseman and Burns the Farmer. There is an extraordinary amount of work in obtaining display material of that period together with the figures to people them but they are slowly taking shape.

In Cullies byre it is vital that the old wooden stalls are preserved and reproduction animals shown in the stalls. Many children today have no idea what a byre with animals living there looked like and it is not easy for them to visualise without such reproductions. If you can supply a full size model cow it will be gratefully received! After all Robert Burns introduced Ayrshire cows and dairying procedures to Ellisland and into Nithsdale.

And so to the saga of replacement road signs on the A76, letters to MSPs, accreditation with Visit Scotland, too long a tale to tell. We have again written to Amey, the Trunk Road agents and as we complete the works in hand we will push on to get better signs if we can pay for them.

As you will gather this is a story of ‘our toils obscure and a’ that-’. Many people, volunteers; tradesmen; businesses; and members of the public have been and are involved. To list their names is tempting but they have helped not to get their names in a roll of glory, they have helped because they wanted to preserve an important chapter of Scotland’s heritage.

The Friends policy is to move on from Ellisland, the place of pilgrimage, to Ellisland, the Burns’ Heritage Centre. Here visitors will enjoy ‘the Poet’s choice’. Where Robert Burns built a house for Jean and his family, farmed the land and where they can sense what a farm was like in days long past, see the implements used and learn something of the story of farming. A place where they can walk across the fields Burns walked, along the path by the River Nith where he composed Tam o’ Shanter and enjoy their own surroundings.

On Sunday 25th of May the morn in ease and rest to spend we had our Annual Open Day. To mark the improvements we have carried out Russell Brown, MP for Dumfriesshire unveiled a plaque and was very impressed with what he saw. Alex Fergusson, MSP for Galloway and Upper Nithsdale was present as were many Friends of Ellisland and members of the public.

We are encouraged by the increasing number of Burns Clubs who visit us and we would welcome more visits from members of the Federation. Make Les Byers’ day and visit Ellisland, 01387 740426 is the telephone number but you don’t have to phone a friend- just go there.

The Friends of Ellisland are pleased with their efforts and will continue the good work. We believe that the work we are carrying out will do much to give enjoyment and education to anyone interested in the life of Robert Burns.

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THE STORY OF CLOCHNAHILL

Robert Burnes may have been, in part, drawn towards Clochnahill by the circum-stances of his marriage. Before leaving

Kinmonth he had married Isabella, daughter of James Keith of Criggie, the farm adjoining Clochnahill. The assertion that there was a con-nection between Keith and Criggie and the Keiths, the Earls Marischal, probably rests upon good grounds. The name of James Keith appears in deeds drawn up and signed at Fetteresso Castle, in which he is designated a “familiar servi-tor” of the Keiths, and he held the position of a yeoman bound to

Appear with his followers

when summoned by the Earls Marischal. The terms on which he evidently stood with the Keiths have been deemed inexplicable on any other supposition than that he was a kinsman belonging to a collateral branch of the family. The exact nature of the relationship is not made out. It is almost certain that it was remote, probably too remote for precise definition, and something of the nature of that existing between the chief of a Highland clan and a far-removed clansman. In the pedigree of Dr. Burnes, the serious blunder is made of confounding Keith of Criggie with the Keiths of Craig, a Forfarshire family. Through Keith of Criggie is the only clear connection between Robert Burnes and the Jocobite cause. Even to that extent the reliable evidence is not very strong – namely, that in 1715, at the time when the Earl of Mar was assembling his support-ers at Braemar, James Keith was at Aberdeen, and a bill is in existence rendered against him at that date for the equipment of a horse. That fact has been taken, in connection with his feudal obliga-tion, as presumptive evidence that he was on his way to

The Gathering of the Clans

under the standard of Mar. In any event, Robert Burnes did not take upon himself the feudal

responsibilities of his future father-in-law by pay-ing court to Isabella. He had no concern with what was done by a vassal of the Keiths six years before he took a farm upon their forfeited lands. Robert and George were not tenants of the Earl Marischal, the admission cannot be avoided that the poet’s statement to Dr. Moore stands in need of modification. That Burns believed his ances-tors to have suffered in the Stuart cause, and that he associated that suffering with his grandfather and granduncle, is plain from the language he employs to Dr. Moore. He returned to the subject in a letter to Lady Winifred Maxwell Constable (16th December, 1789), where he strengthens the statement to Dr. Moore. To the latter he said that his forefathers “had the honour to share the fate” of the Keiths. To Lady Constable he says:– “With your Ladyship I have the honour to be connected by one of the strongest and one of the most endearing ties in the whole world. Common sufferers in a cause where even to be unfortunate is glorious, the cause of heroic loyalty! Though my fathers had not illustrious honours and vast properties to hazard in the contest, though they left their humble cottages only to add so many units more to the unnoted crowd that followed their leaders, yet what they could they did, and what they had they lost; with unshaken firmness and unconcealed political attachments,

They Shook Hands with Ruin

for what they esteemed the cause of their king and their country.” With that letter he sent a copy of His Address to Mr. William Tytler, in which he says of the Stuarts:-

My fathers that name have rever’d on a throne.My fathers have died to right it;Those fathers would spurn their degenerate sonThat name should he scoffingly slight it.

Again, in his “Address to Edinburgh,” he sings:-

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Ev’n I who sing in rustic loré,Haply my sires have left their shed,And fae’d grim danger’s loudest roar,Bold following where your fathers led.

Burns rarely leaves a doubt of his meaning, and it is clear from the passages quoted that his under-standing was that his fore-fathers had actually borne arms in the Jacobite cause. It is difficult even to surmise upon what information his belief was based. He may have heard something of the Colonel, John Burnes, his great-grand-uncle, mentioned in the genealogical chart, who appears to have been implicated on the Royalist side in the troubles of the seventeenth century. That incident in the family history, however, leaves out of the narrative the Keiths, who, in Burns’ story are the most prominent figures. The same objec-tion applies to the introduction of anything belonging to the records of Inchbreck. Else we are told that the Stuarts for several generations were soldiers. Of one of these Jervise says that “Captain James, after serving some time in Holland, returned to Scotland in the memorable ’45, and he enlisted in the cause of the Prince under Lord Ogilvy. He was present at Culloden, and before escaping to France, where he died in 1776, he shared all the Privitations of his Associates. Captain James’ adventures could not have had any influence upon the fortunes of the Burnesses, as both Bogjorgan and Bralinmuir were held far into the long reign of George III. We are thus driven back to Clochnahill. The few ascertained facts bearing upon the dispersal of the household there have been almost buried under a mass of baseless speculations and inexact assertions. Let it, in the first place, be understood that if the poet’s father and uncles are cleared of complicity in the ’45, the questions whether his grandfather and grand uncles were or were not “out” in both ’15 and ’45 is left wholly unaffected. In the next place, if it cannot be proved that the latter were not “out”, it can be shown – has already been partly shown – and they were under no obligation to go “out”, and that Clochnahill’s poverty may be accounted for without any reference to politi-cal sympathies whatever. The fact is that

Clochnahill proved as hard a bargain to old Robert Burnes as Mount Oliphant subsequently did to William, and Ellisland to the poet. Prior to leaving the farm at May, 1745, Robert Burnes had fallen into arrears with his rent, and had got into difficul-ties of various kinds. Dr. Rogers ruins him twice – once by loyalty and again by frost. After stating that William and Robert (the poet’s father and uncle) assisted their father at Clochnahill, he says:- “But

The Family were Ruined

by the terrible winter and spring of 1740, when a general scarcity supervened. The frost, which set in early, continued to the end of April, no seed being sown till May.The ridges were then formed high in the centre as a protection against moisture, and the frost having penetrated far into the soil, and the season being advanced, the sunny side of the ridge was ploughed first, and the other side only when the thaw was complee. Consequent on this proce-dure, and the continuance of rough, and unsea-sonable weather, the crop was stunted, and almost useless. In Kincardineshire many tenant-farmers were reduced to absolute poverty. Several farms in the cold district of Clochnahill were some years subsequent to 1740 left without cultivation.” “Robert Burnes and his sons William and Robert abandoned Clochnahill… solely in consequences of the storm of 1740.” After quoting his authori-ties – a local tradition fortified by Mrs Begg – Dr. Rogers goes on to guess that Clochnahill was left at the close of 1740, Robert, the father, retiring to Denside, and the sons going “elsewhere in quest of employment. They journeyed southward.” In 1885 he changed the date of William’s departure to 1749, and 1748 is that accepted by Professor Nichol. In the course of researches instituted in connection with the present inquiry, a corrobora-tion of Dr Roger’s story about the year 1740 was discovered in the report of one of the mearns centenary gatherings. The speaker said that “after a hard struggle upon the muirland farm of Clochnahill against bad crops and low prices” the great frost of 1740 reduced the family to beggary.

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That year was described as

The Most Disastrous

which farmers had been seen during the century. The frost continued – exactly as Dr. Rogers was informed – until the end of April, and seed-time only began in the second and third week of May. The price of corn reached a high sum. Dearth and cold together caused many deaths, and sad tales of privation and suffering were current among old people up to the beginning of the present cen-tury. The Burnes family were driven from Clochnahill penniless. “The natural spirit of inde-pendence and enterprise which has entered lagely into the minds and infuenced the actions of their descendants would not permit the sons, James and William, to occupy the common labourer’s cottage and partake of his fare. The die was cast” – and the family was dispersed. The noteworthy points in the narrative are the men-tion of a hard struggle prior to 1740 and the coupling of the names of James and William. The speaker probably intended to say Robert and William, as James had already gone off to Montrose. It now, in any case, appears indisput-able that, far from being a man of sustance, the poet’s grandfather was engaged throughout the prime of his life in a

Prolonged Struggle with Poverty

some little confusion has arisen from assuming that Clochnahill was abandoned in 1740. It has already been stated that Robert Burnes left the farm at May, 1745. He went into the parish of Kinneff, and no attempt is known to have been made by his sons to renew the lease. He renounced the lease, and was succeeded by John Duncan in 1745, but in that year the Jacobite forces levied supplies upon Clochnahill as upon many other farms in the county, with the conse-quence that Duncan was unable to pay Robert Burnes the sums for crop, etc., due to him as outgoing tenant. Then came a law-suit, Burnes versus Duncan, from the papers in which the facts here stated have been obtained. Thus, after all, it turns out that the 45 contributed to the

ruin of Burns’ grandfather, although not in the manner the poet imagined. He sought the asser-tion of personal rights in a Court of Law; he is not known to have asserted the “divine right” of the Stuarts in a field of battle.With these facts before us it is comparatively easy to dissipate the mists of the commentators, who seem disposed to involve the entire family at Clochnahill in the struggle of the Stuarts. In the first place, in so far as William Burnes is con-cerned, Gilbert mentions a parish certificate to the effect that he had no concern in the

“Late Wicked Rebellion”

Another and more general certificate in William’s favour by three Kincardineshire landowners is dated 9th May, 1748. In 1885 however, Dr. Rogers said:- “I have not a shadow of a doubt that William Burnes, the poet’s father, fought in the cause of Prince Charles Edward on the field of Culloden. And this, I am satisfied, was the direct cause of his, in 1749, quitting the Mearns.” The value of these speculations may be estimated from the circumstance that eight years previously, Dr. Rogers ascribed the family impoverishment to the bad season of 1740, and assigned William’s departure to the same year. He then also thought it “nearly certain” that the brothers Burnes accompanied the Earl of Mar to Aberdeen and Sheriffmuir. Of the rising of ’45, and of those who joined the Prince’s standard, he says:- “Among these, very probably, was the poet’s father. His grandfather and grand-uncle in Kincardineshire may also have joined the enterprise; and this may account for the extreme poverty to which Robert Burnes was ultimately reduced.” Dr. Burnes, Chambers, Hogg and others incline to a similar belief, the main objection to which is that it is

Wholly Unsupported by Proof

William Burnes must at least be held perfectly shielded behind the certificate mentioned by Gilbert. The most important factor in the case – the character of William Burnes – is commonly left out of view. According to everything known of the poet’s father, he was a man of such

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THE SELKIRK GRACE, 1650

In the manuscript of a Dr. Plume of Malden, Essex in the handwriting of circa 1650 appears the following verse:-

“Some have meat and cannot eatSome would eat but have no meatWe have meat and can all eatBlest, therefore be God for our meat.”

Submitted my member Harry Hutchinson, Dover.

P.S. The editor is anxious to find out if anyone has seen a copy of the Selkirk Grace inscribed in the hand of Robert Burns.

unbending principle and staunch integrity that to assume him to have carried about with him writ-ten testimony to a lie must be denounced as unpardonable libel. On the other hand, it is impossible wholly to concur in Gilbert‘s arbitrary manner of calling his brother’s statement as to their ancestors – not their father – in question. Some of the ancestral stock may have been “out” in both Risings, but we do not know with cer-tainty that they were, and the only possible infer-ence from the facts here stated regarding Clochnahill is that the poet exaggerated the finan-cial results of his forefathers’

Loyalty to the Exiled House

The ancestral farms upon Inchbreck, as we have already seen, were held by the family through all the troubles of the Revolution and of both Stuart Risings. The question still remains – When did the sons of Robert of Clochnahill leave home? We may now rest assured that there was no domestic catastrophe, no single event, either meteorological or political, to which the household dispersal can be ascribed. The words quoted from Dr. Rogers leave an impression – similar to that left by other authors, including Chambers (1838), who states that William left in 1740 – although not contain-ing a direct assertion, that Robert and William left home together. If they did so, there is no meaning in Gilbert’s language to Mrs. Dunlop concerning his father’s anguish on parting with his elder brother “on the top of a hill on the confines of their native place.” The truth is that for several years prior to the distasters of either 1740 or 1745 it must have become evident to the younger members of the family that Clochnahill could not under any circumstances be a permanent abiding-place. They accordingly

Went Off One By One

James, the eldest son, probably settled in Montrose, in 1732. The year 1739 is also men-tioned as that in which he settled there, but there is a strong presumption in favour of 1732. It was much more likely that a lad of fifteen should betake himself to the acquisition of a new busi-

ness than a man of twenty-two. By adopting the earlier date, seven years are allowed James in which to serve an apprenticeship to the business of wright. Dr. Rogers is mistaken in stating that he was trained to merchandise. Having served his time, he applied, in 1739, to the Kirk-Session for permission to erect a shop for the practice of his trade within the burgh. There is no doubt about the latter date, as the written application is still in existence. Robert May also have left after the bad season of 1740, and William, having escorted him for some distance on his journey, may have parted from him as recorded by Gilbert, Robert journeying to England, and William returning home to help their father for a few years longer. The date of the parish certificate, 1748, above mentioned, appears to settle the time of William’s departure. Nothing, however, is absolutely known of William’s movements prior to 1749 when he was engaged in Edinburgh upon the work of lay-ing out the Meadows. With the father’s retirment to Kinneff and the departure of the three sons the story of Clochnahill comes to an end.

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JOHN FULTON’S GRAND ORRERYBy Colin Hunter McQueen

Four years after the death of the Ayrshire genius Robert Burns another famous Ayrshire lad was born. John Fulton, the son

of a soutar first saw the light of day at Spoutmouth, in the Parish of Fenwick, in the year 1800. When he reached his thirteenth year young Fulton began practicing the shoemaker’s trade under his father; like Burns, he was greatly influenced by his father, who passed on his knowledge of nautical instruments and navigation. Supposedly there was a sundial in Fulton’s garden which led him to read. ‘Astronomy explained upon Sir Issac Newton’s Principles’, written by the self taught astronomer and instrument maker James Ferguson, who, during the 1740s-50s constructed a few Orrery – type machines in Edinburgh. This, coupled with the knowledge gleaned from his father presented Fulton with a life-time of study and building of his Grand Orrery. He was a member of the United Presbyterian Church and an ardent ‘Covenanter’, death came to John Fulton in Ayshire at the age of 53 in the year 1853. An orrery is an astronomical model of the sun moon and planets, including earth, it received its name after a famous machine of this type was built for the fourth Earl of Orrery – Charles Boyle. Fulton constructed his during the years 1823-1833, and it is one of the most detailed of its type to exist, therefore it is exclusively categorised as ‘Grand Orrery’. The Society of fine Arts for Scotland examined it in 1834 on its completion.

After describing the instrument, their report went on to say… “On the whole, the instrument exhibits a wonderful degree of perseverance and evinces what can be accomplished even under the most untoward circumstances – as an instrument for commuicating a general idea of the Planetary system to those who have never had their attention directed to Geometry, the Orrery is unrivalled; and on that account it appears to your committee that its framer merits a high mark of the society’s favour.” Fulton exhibited and demonstrated his machine

throughout the country, it was immediately shown in Scotland, especially Ayrshire and Glasgow, it was then shown in Northern England. Round about 1837 he took it to London where he worked as an instrument-maker, it was exhibited in public galleries with an admittance charge of three pence to one shilling. His family continued this practice after his death, until it was acquired by the City of Glasgow in the 1870s. There it was demonstrated in the City’s branch museums and other buildings which included larger schools. It was operated by turning a small handle which cranked the works. Eventually by about 1930 it was in much need of renovation and was permanently exhibited at the Peoples Palace (The Old Glasgow Museum). A falling weight replaced the original driving mechanism and did so until 1970, after some breakdowns a complete overhaul was undertaken by Mr. Gerry Cassidy, the museums restorer and shipmodeller. The drive was changed there to electric power. The Orrery is approximately 9 feet across, its linear scale is not correct, but the relative movements of the planets is remarkably accurate, it has many working parts which included 175 gear wheels and illustrates the path of the Sun, Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars, Jupiter,

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Saturn, Uranus and their satellites, plus four minor planets; Pluto and Neptune are not represented. It should be noted that although Fulton was not highly educated in the sciences, at the age of 23 he began teaching himself engineering, mathematics and astronomy, culminating ten years later with one of the finest and most complex of instruments of its type. For many years during my occupation in Glasgow’s Museums and Art Galleries as conservation officer and shipmodeller, Curator Mr. Gerry Cassidy my friend and colleague and myself were responsible for the periodical dismantling, cleaning and assembly of the Orrery, and even today I am still filled with a great admiration at the pheonominal genius of its creator. Fulton’s Grand Orrery is now consigned to storage in cardboard boxes. Thanks are due to Mr. Frank Little and Mr. Alistair Smith, Glasgow’s Museum and Art Galleries for their help.

SUPPORT THE AIMS OFTHE ROBERT BURNSWORLD FEDERATION

BY PURCHASINGA SHARE/S IN

THE 200 CLUBA single share in the Club

costs £12 per annum.Cash prizes to the lucky winners are paid

out three to four times a year.For further details contact:Moira Rennie Dunsmore,

59 Beechwood Court,Dunstable, Beds. LU6 1YA.Telephone: 01582 705671

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TAM O’ SHANTER AND THE CALEDONIAN ANTIZYZYGY

By Dr. Archibald M. Fleming

The literary critic G. Gregory Smith created the term ‘Caledonian Antizyzygy’ to describe what he considered to be the fundamentally Scottish characteristic of holding opposing or paradoxical view

points in order to achieve balance. Its literary ‘locus classicus’ is to be found in Robert Louis Stevenson’s ‘Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde’, which, according to Stevenson, depicts a version of his own feelings about himself as a ‘shameless Bohemian haunted by duty’. So that they can be comfortable at the meeting of extremes, Scots find it necessary to express the polar opposites, and so achieve essential balance. This explains the contrasting attitudes which Scots tend to reveal in political life, in religious matters, in business practice and in their restless quest for achievement, considering at all times the practicality of balancing two contrasting view points. Like Hugh MacDiarmid, the Scot frequently comes to rest ‘whaur extremes meet’, and on that knife-edge find equilibrium, his contradictions integrated in a harmonious unity.

Throughout his writing, and indeed throughout his life, Burns displays on many occasions, his awareness and understanding of the ‘Caledonian Antizyzygy’. The need to balance conflict and contradiction is a feature of much of his poetry including ‘Tam O’ Shanter’, which I wish to discuss. The poem regularly recited at Burns Suppers, the recitation often taking the form of a dramatic presentation, with lights lowered, as the tale of the revelry at the inn, the drunken ride past the haunted kirk and the frenzied chase by witches unfolds. Another famous example of the Caledonian Antizyzygy in Burns’ poetry can be seen in the hypoctrical behaviour of Holy Willie, who, in Holy Willie’s Prayer, uses the Church not only to praise himself, but also to condemn others.

I intend to focus what I have to say on Tam O’ Shanter, and I do this without apology. There are some who argue that this poem is hackneyed and overworked by repeated renderings of Burns Suppers. Surely, however, the dramatic presentation of a literary masterpiece (which is frequently pure theatre) is entirely different from reading, interpreting and analysing the work itself.

Burns’ writing is generally divided into three main areas of creative output – the Kilmarnock Poems, his songs and his narrative poems, the most famous of which is ‘Tam o’ Shanter’ published in 1790 six years before his death. The Kilmarnock poems had a dramatic effect, converting him from Henry Mackenzie’s ‘Heaven taught’ ploughman into a national celebrity overnight and made him the object of admiration and adulation amongst the Edinburgh literati. Many scholars argue that the period from 1786-1790 with few exceptions was not a particularly creative period for him, until one November afternoon in 1790, when walking by the banks of the river Nith, he composed Tam o’ Shanter, a glorious tale of drinking and witchcraft in which fun and the supernatural are exquisitely blended. Many scholars believe it is worthy of standing beside the best narrative poems in the world, and indeed Burns himself described Tam o’ Shanter as his greatest poetic achievement and his favourite poem. He is said to have composed it in a single afternoon whilst walking by the banks of the Nith at Ellisland.

The poem is probably the best known account in world literature of man’s encounter with the supernatural. The idea of the poem is said to stem from a chance meeting between Burns and a Captain Grose and English antiquarian whom he met at Friar’s Carse. Grose was collecting material for an

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illustrated book “Antiquities of Scotland” in which at Burns suggestion, the ruined Kirk at Alloway would feature. We understand from Burns brother Gilbert that Grose agreed to this on condition that Robert provided a legend of witches to accompany the drawing. In June 1790, Burns provided Grose with a witch tale in prose and followed it up with the masterly version in verse. Grose had it published in his “Antiquities of Scotland” in April 1791 although it has already appeared in the “Edinburgh Magazine” a month earlier.

The poem can be analysed in a variety of ways: the epic tale, the supernatural, the Calvinist doctrine, the place of drink in the Scottish psyche, male/female relationships, the poem’s narrator as a foil, the drama of the midnight ride reminiscent of Scott’s young Lochinvar. I propose to discuss two of these themes today: firstly the importance of alcoholic drink in the 18th Century Scottish Society and how this permeates the poem, and secondly, the significance of the supernatural in Tam’s escapade. Both these themes feature prominently throughout Burns’ work, and are pre-eminent in particular in Tam O’ Shanter.

How should we regard the way in which Burns weaves the role of drink into the poem? Perhaps in the same vein as we do in Scotland today, where it still remains a popular soothing analgesic to enable Scots to cope with the harsh realities of life.

As you all know the poem opens with scenes of market day revelry with the narrator describing the convivial atmosphere in the inn at the end of the day. The reader is involved in this revelry as Burns makes it clear that it is “we” who are included in the company.

While we sit boozing at the nappyAnd getting fou and unco happyWe think na on the lang Scots milesThe mosses waters slaps and stilesThat lie between us and our hameWhaur sits our sulky sullen dameGathering her brows like gatherings stormNursing her wrath to keep it warm.

The assumption that drink is a vehicle for escaping from wordly cares premeates the whole of this poem. In the 18th century the ability to drink to capacity was deemed to be a national characteristic even a virtue in Scotland. While Kirk ministers regularly focussed their wrath on fornicators, adulterers and persons misbehaving on the Sabbath, the abuse of drink was not deemed to be a cause for concern. Commenting on Scottish drinking habits, Edwin Muir observed:

“… Scottish people drink spasmodically and intensely for the sake of a momentary but complete release whereas the English like to bathe and paddle about bucolically in a mild puddle of beer. One might put down the difference to a diffence of national temperament or religion or to a hundred other things; there is no doubt in any case that the drinking habits of the Scots, like their dances are far wilder than those of the English.”

Like many northern peoples, the Scots have a reputation for being free to the point of recklessness in their drinking habits. In 18th Century Scotland when very large quantities of whisky were consumed it was quite normal for the cause of poverty to be attributed to the misuse of alcohol rather than to low wages. This accusation was probably unfair but relieved the middle and upper class of responsibility. It was also a recurrent theme that in different areas of the country, people imbibed in different ways Sir Archibald Geikie’s journeys on the First Geological survey of Scotland carried him throughout Scotland. Reflecting on Scottish drinking habits he concluded that Highlanders drank steadily but held their drink while Lowlanders aimed to get drunk in order to obliterate the miseries of life.

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Once Tam is settled in the Inn with his cronies Burns illustrates that amongst the ‘chapman billies’ drunkenness is a state of pleasure to be gained and maintained as long as possible.

And at his elbow Souter JohnieHis ancient trusty drouthy cronieTam loed him like a verra britherThey had ben fou for weeks thegither

It is clear that Tam and his friends live a double life – one part in the gloom and hardship of work and the other in the never-never land in which

Kings may be blest but Tam was gloriousO’er a‘ the ills o’ life victorious

Here Burns echoes the view expressed by Bruce Lockhart who said that “Whisky made us what we are… it is our release from materialism, and I often think that without it we should have become so irritatingly efficient that a worse persecution than the Hebrews ever suffered would have been our fate.” The Presbyterian mindset of the Scot seems to be too exhausting a characteristic to be constantly maintained – the material world is more than we can cope with. As a result we have an irresistible urge to escape through a haze of alcohol which renders life for the time being tolerable.

The scene of merriment in the inn depicts a clear understanding by Burns of how Scots need drink to cope with what Smout has called ‘the serious-minded strain in the Scottish character’. Burns was doubtless aware that condemnatory preaching with all its doom-laden delivery coupled with a harsh working life combined to make the quest for solace through drink irresistible.

But there is another, perhaps slightly more sinister aspect to drink in Burns’ poetry, and that is the use that is made of it for the justification of activities which would otherwise be considered reprehensible. In Holy Willie’s Prayer, he illustrates the import of alcohol as a ready and supposedly unanswerable excuse for shameful behaviour carried out under its influence. For those of you who are not familiar with Holy Willie’s Prayer, the poem, in the form of an evening prayer, is recited by an Elder of the Church.

Besides, I farther maun avowWi’ Leezie’s lass, three times - I Trow –But Lord, that Friday I was fouWhen I cam near herOr else thou kens, thy servant trueWad never steer her.

But, to return to Tam, although whilst drinking with his cronies he has put his cares behind him he has been warned by his wife Kate about aspects of his behaviour which she considers disgraceful:

That at the Lord’s house, even on SundayThou drank wi’ Kirkton Jean till Monday.

Also, whilst the alcohol was taking effect, and the evening’s merriment continued, Tam’s marriage vows came under threat as;

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The landlady and Tam grew graciousWi’ favours, secret, sweet and precious

This is as nothing, of course, compared to the shameful behaviour he exhibited when fuelled by whisky, as he paused by Alloway’s Auld Haunted Kirk on his way home, and became a peeping Tom (or Tam!), peering over the wall, and leering at a young witch in a short skirt. These antics Tam justifies because he has lost his inhibitions as a result of drinking:

Inspiring bold John BarleycornWhat dangers thou canst make us scornWi’ tippeny, we fear nae evilWi usquabae, well face the Devil!

Burns again is reminding us of the Caledonian Antizyzgy in demonstrating that the goodness of law-abiding, God-fearing, hard-working individuals can co-exist with uncharacteristic outbursts of scandalous drunken behaviour (under the influence of alcohol of course), a balancing factor which is a necessary for the achievement of coalescence in life.

I would like to turn now to look at the place of the supernatural in Tam’s escapade, particularly in the light of the importance of superstition among the rural population of late 18th century Scotland. One of the all-pervading influences on the lives of the people during Burns’ lifetime was superstition and the power of the Devil. Reference to the Devil throughout his poetry are rich and varied – the Deil, Auld Hornie, Auld Nick, Auld Hangie – sometimes fearfully, at other times affectionately. What is of special interest in Tam O’ Shanter is the way that Burns in a single poem swings between the extremes of terror on the one hand, and friendship on the other in his relationship with the supernatural. Is he not holding two contradictory ideas in perfect (or perhaps imperfect) juxtaposition? Early in the poem, he is warned by his wife Kate that his behaviour is likely to lead to his being:

…catch’d wi warlocks in the mirkBy Alloway’s auld haunted Kirk.

On leaving the inn at midnight, a hint of what he might encounter is suggested by an ominous build-up, leading to a threat of the Devil:

That night a child might understandThe Deil had business on his hand.

Yet more menace is threatened when Tam riding home in the storm sings to himself for comfort and old song:

Whilst glowering round wi’ prudent caresLest Bogles catch him unawares.

When Tam reaches the Kirk, however, hears the music, and looks in on what is happening inside, his fear gradually abates – indeed he absorbs the atmosphere of the party, so much so that he almost feels that he is a member of the assembled company.

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As Tammie glower’d amaz’d, and curious,The mirth and fun grew fast and furious;The piper loud and louder blew,The dancers quick and quicker flew

This is not a drink-induced mirage (in spite of Tam’s level of intoxication), but a scene of merriment and jollification to match the one he left at the inn, but on this occasion with the Devil and a group of witches. The way they are described reminds us of Tam’s earlier parting with the suggestion that they too need to relax and enjoy themselves after a busy day. The Devil is a ‘towsie tyke’, making him a friendly figure who plays the pipes and shares with Tam admiration for the dancing of the young witch, Nannie in the Cutty Sark.

Even Satan glowr’d and fidg‘d fu’ fainAnd notch’d and blew wi’ micht an’ main.

Until he shouts and interrupts the party, there is no suggestion that Tam is afraid of the witches’ mirth and dancing.

Instead he…glowr’d amaz’d and curious

and later…stood like ane bewitch’dAnd thought his very een enrich’d.

Soon, however, the pendulum swings and at Tam’s shout of ‘Weel done Cutty Sark!’ affability gives way to terror as the witches storm out in fury and pursue Tam who is now in

…fear of being roasted in Hell.

As is well known, Tam’s mare Maggie manages to deliver her master safely over the river, but at the cost of her tail – a crucial detail providing proof of the encounter with the supernatural. With the hero saved from the threat of the witches, the narrator is left to point (surely tongue in cheek) to the moral, which is a warning against alcohol and womanising.

In Tam O’ Shanter we see in vivid and dramatic form the balance of the contrasts and contradictions which comprise the Caledonian Antizyzygy. In the poem, the Devil swings from ominous threat to convivial party-goer. In another of his poems, ‘Address to the Deil’ he shifts from matey familiarity to an account of the Devil’s activities at the end with the mischevious suggestion that certain actions attributed to the Devil do in fact have natural causes. As a chameleon figure with multiple voices and a myriad of stances, he is the perfect figure to give voice to the Caledonian Antizyzygy, particularly in Tam O’ Shanter, where both alcohol and the supernatural feature so strongly. Drink allows Tam and his cronies to sit on the cusp of life, with the grim hardship of work on one side and the ‘reaming swats’ as an antidote on the other. Similarly Tam is excused some of his anti-social behaviour on the basis of his drunkenness.

A similar ambivalence is revealed in the poem about the supernatual as he swings from friendly familiarity with the supernatural to fear and trepidation. Tam O’ Shanter is an outstanding example of the linguistic and cultural duality which is exemplified by the Caledonian Antizyzygy. Notwithstanding

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FROM THE EDITOR’S ARCHIVES (1)

DEATH OF Mrs. McLEHOSE’S SONAND HER STATE OF HEALTH

Dear Miss Lyle, Edinburgh 21st April, 1840

I thought I would just write you a few particulars concerning Mrs. McLehose as I know you would be anxious to hear, she is in good health at present looking well but drooping very fast, she does not know the Sabbath day from any other day of the week. She has never been in Picardy place since Mrs. McLehose’s burial day, the reason was always speaking to her son to take a situation and he was inclined and before they died they were in the depths of poverty, they sold everything, that could produce money. And then they were obliged to get some of old Mrs. McLehose silver plate to sell, to support them for five years Miss Berry and Miss Campbell and other kind friends supported the old Mistress greatly.

Mr. McLehose was up in his mother’s eight days before he died and wrote a letter to his son. And his cough was a great deal better but his legs and feet were greatly swollen, he went out two days after that to take a walk and he fell and cut his brow which hastened on his death, two nights before he died he was up in his mother’s but was obliged to be helped and when he went away he kissed his mother and bade the Lord bless her and by his looks I knew he would never be up again. And he was found dead just the way he had lain down on his right side with his head turned and his eyes looking upward, and when word came to her she fell back in her chair and when she got around she wished to be put to bed she could not go down to see his corps for she could not stand it. Miss Berry’s death hurted her as much as his death.

The house that he was in was hers he had lifted £150 upon it the few duty had not been paid for some years and it was found among his papers that she was come good to pay it, the thoughts of that entirely took away her memory for she never could bear debt.

Her grandson wrote her after his father’s death that he would like to come home but his purse would not afford it and she wrote back to him that she could not supply him and he was greatly offended at it for he never wrote to her again. She sees very few people by the reason that she does not know them when they call. Mrs. Bogle from Glasgow was here last summer and looked over all her journals and papers and put them all to rights she said

the joyful happiness of drinking in the inn, followed by the delights of watching the witches’ party, the poem ends on a moral note:

Think ye may buy the joys o’er dearRemember Tam O’ Shanter’s mare.

- these words ring out in sonorous warning in the concluding lines of the poem.

‘Damnanda est voluptas’ wrote Calvin, who would appear to have the last word!

RefencesSmith, G. Gregory: Scottish Literature, Macmillan (1919).Finlayson, Iain: The Scots, Oxford University Press (1988) p. 214.

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that I was not to let her want for nothing they were very kind to her they have all her affairs in their own hands they give me so much at a time and I lay it out and give them in the account.

I am very much confined with her she thinks I should never let out of her sight my greatest cross is not getting out in the Sabbath day but I trust in the Lord will make up my want.

Barbara wishes to be kindly remembered to you she is doing wonderful well. This is just a few particulars. Mrs. McLehose desires to be kindly remembered to you and your sister and Miss Hardy she is always speaking about you she thought she saw you one day passing by the window she thought you have surely forgotten her as you did not come in I had to tell her where you was and had never been in Edinburgh since you left it. I say no more at present,

But remain your well wisher,Margaret Gray.

* Mrs. McLehose (The Poet’s Clarinda) was 81 when this letter was written, she died the following year.

General’s Entry, Potterrow, Edinburgh home of Mrs. Agnes McLehose (Clarinda) visited by Robert Burns on many occasions. Sketch by Colin Hunter McQueen.

DUMFRIES“THE QUEEN OF THE SOUTH”

VENUE FOR THEBURNS’ FEDERATIONS

2004 CONFERENCE

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THE LOGISTICS OF ARRANGINGA BURNS SUPPER

IN MOSCOW, USSR., 1975

By Gordon Hepburn

When I sold my travel agency interests in the early 70s to Nairn of Kirkcaldy, I accepted an appointment as marketing director of their travel group. From that moment on, I was always on the look-out for projects to get us maximum media exposure, especially if it was free.

I tried many promotions including highly successful golf groups to Spain with The Scotsman and the Newcastle Journal. I even tried to bring to Scotland inbound golfing groups from Japan.

However, the P.R. generated by these events was miniscule compared to the jewel in the crown, my first Burns Supper to Moscow in the then Soviet Union in 1975.

I was motoring to work in Kirkcaldy one morning listening to the radio when there was a programme on Burns and his popularity in the Soviet Union where his name was frequently coupled with that of Pushkin’s.

This sparked a flame of interest as it coincided with the time that Thomson Holidays introduced their winter city breaks for 3 & 4 nights including Moscow.

Within a week, I had provisionally reserved 150 places from Manchester, the nearest departure point, for a four-night package covering the 25th January, 1975. By then, I had made contact with Jock Thomson, general secretary of the Burns Federation, and George McAllister of the Scottish-Soviet Friendship Society; both expressed great enthusiasm and proved to be towers of strength in their advice, counsel and cooperation.

By the end of the week I realised I had taken on a mammoth undertaking as I had no idea about the availability of haggis, neeps, tatties or the unsquebagh in the Soviet Union.

Two weeks later I did an early morning interview with BBC Scotland radio and by the time I got to the office there was a phone call from Roy Bignall of Matthew Gloag & Sons Ltd., in Perth offering to sponsor copious amounts of the Famous Grouse. I almost hugged him over the phone. And within days, Bill Keith, master butcher and haggis-maker extraordinary of Dysart, Kirkcaldy came forward with an offer of 1½ cwt of haggis and a farmer friend, the infamous Bob Bell of Colinsburgh offered a similar quantity of “neeps”. We had already established that the Soviet Union grew their own “tatties”. At this time, I had not even considered the logistics of transporting these goods and getting them through Soviet Customs but I took the precaution of passing the good news along to George McAllister and Thomson Holidays.

Bookings started rolling in like wildfire. Within three weeks we had over 350 applications for 154 places so many had to be put off for the first year and demand continued unabated for the next six years.

During the ensuing months the media did us proud in terms of P.R., we had the interesting task of sorting out volunteers for the various toasts and entertainment functions, miraculously finding a wonderul piper in Pipe Sergeant Jimmy McCallum (of Prestwick Airport fame), Matthew Gloag of Perth laid on a fabulous send-off party and my overriding concern, which I kept pushing to the back of my mind, was how I was going to get all the Scotch, haggis and “neeps” past the Soviet customs.

At long last the big day arrived and we set off south from Glasgow to Manchester on three packed coaches with all our baggage plus the haggis plus the “neeps”. The Famous Grouse was delivered

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directly to the aircraft at Manchester Airport out of bond.The coach and air journeys went very smoothy and uneventfully except for one thing during the

flight to Moscow. With all the additional spirits we were carrying plus the haggis and “neeps”, there was little room for duty-free spirits on board and we were limited to one drink each on the flight. Imagine our reaction on returning home to newspaper headlines in Scotland “Burnsians drink plane dry”.

Before departing from Manchester, I was advised by the Thomson ground staff that the Scotch, etc. was all consigned in my name as my personal luggage. You can understand, therefore, that one Scotch on the plane did little to alleviate my concerns. I need not have worried.

On arrival at Moscow Airport, I am singled out as “THE MAN” and introduced to my Intourist guide, a beautiful but unsmiling girl. We enlist five porters, pick up my baggage, the cases of Scotch etc., and we whiz through a special immigration and customs area, with only a cursory glance at my passport and NO QUESTIONS at all about my extraordinary load of personal baggage. I was “dumfoonered”; where else in the world could something like this be facilitated at a major world capital?

In due course, we arrived at our hotel by which time I had prompted my guide that a secure place was required to house my “extra luggage” until it was needed two days later. The question was asked at reception and even I know what a repetitive “niet” means. And so I had to take everything up to my small but functional single room where there was little room to swing a cat before we got everything in. My next problem was how to tip the five hotel porters as I had more or less used up my small US bills at the airport but, having learned that a bottle of Scotch had a black market value of just under US $100, I opened up a case and handed a bottle to the lead man.

The bottle totally disappeared into his voluminous trouser pocket and then he proceeded to point to his other four colleagues, clearly indicating that I should produce another four bottles, In the end, I had to shoo them out of the room with little grace.

My sense of relief at getting everything safely stored away, particularly the Scotch, was quickly dispelled when I went up to bed after dinner and a drink – the smell of turnips was so overpowering that, after two nights, I smelt like a “neep”.

Over the next thirty six hours, while our party enjoyed the sights and thrills of Moscow, George McAllister, my Intourist guide and, with the occasional help from Tom Campbell, a wonderful man from the Kilmarnock Howff Club and a fluent Russian speaker to boot, I dotted the i’s and crossed the t’s for the forthcoming event. The cooperation from the Soviets was outstanding and there was only one incident of record.

With my guide I had gone to see the chef, who was in charge of the supper, to ensure that he had the knowhow to prepare the haggis. There appeared to be a degree of difficulty in translation and I reckoned a softening-up process was called for. And so, I told my guide that if he got it right, the chef would be the happy recipient of a bottle of the “Famous Grouse”. Instantly the atmosphere changed,

“Weel Kent” Burnsians who attended the Moscow Burns Supper, from left to right:-Mollie Rennie, Peggy Thomson and Tom McIlwraith.

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Pictured at the Annual Celebration, members of the Rhode Island Burns Anniversary committee. Back row:- Tom Boyle, Peggy Hunter, Jim Motherwell, Helen Brannan, Bill Lang and Richard Cargill. Front:- Joyce Dell, Linda Matheson, Betty and John MacLean. See report on page 48.

RHODE ISLAND (USA) CELEBRATION

the wee chef turned to me, put his hands together in supplication and said something to me which caused my guide not only to smile but actually laugh for the first time. He had said “Master, I will be your slave. I will sweat for you”. And he did; the haggis on the night was cooked to perfection.

The big night arrived and it was a Burns Supper of great distinction. The supper was a banquet extraordinaire with many “worthies” contributing to its success. Provost Robertson of Dumfries, President of the Burns Federation chaired the evening and John Kidd, President of the Jolly Beggars Club, Kinross, addressed the haggis.

The Immortal Memory was superbly proposed by the Secretary of the Federation and Tom McIlwraith, President of the Edinburgh District Association of Burns Clubs and Mrs. Peggie Thomson of Kilmarnock exchanged insults and compliments in the toast of, and reply to, The Lasses.

In his toast to the guests, Tom Campbell of the Kilmarnock Howff Club, outlined, in both Russian and English, Russia’s interest in Burns from 1830, when the sixteen-year-old Mikhail Lermontov translated the haunting refrain of “Ae Fond Kiss”.

The evening was graced with a number of prominent Russian Burnsians, including Immanuel and Nasha Marshak, Professor Rita Rait Kobelova, Dr. Gabriel Feldman and Alexi Surkov, himself a distinguished poet, who gave a stirring response from the guests.

This unforgettable occasion came to a reluctant end when Anatoli Masko invited us to witness the midnight changing of the guard at the Lenin Mausoleum. Regrettably valedictories and parting toasts caused us to miss the ceremony but we had a fitting ending to the evening with my dear friend, Pipe Sgt. Jimmy McCallum, rendering “Lochaber No More” and “The Flowers of the Forest”, all the more surprising as music was not then permitted in Red Square; a most dignified occasion visibly affecting both Russians and Scots.

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PATRONS of the ROBERT BURNS WORLD FEDERATION

BOOK REVIEW

MAUCHLINE WAREA Collector’s GuideBy David Trachtenberg and

Thomas Keith

‘Scottish white wood products’ and ‘Scottish fancy goods’ are two of the many terms once used to describe what has now come to be known as Mauchline Ware. From 1830 to 1930, the souvenir woodware industry which flourished in the small Scottish town of Mauchline was fueled by the Victorian and Edwardian passion for travel. Mauchline Ware sourvenirs were produced for an endless variety of activities such as sewing, smoking, reading and writing, in every shape imaginable and the finishes included simple black transfer scenes on sycamore, sea shell, floral and fern patterns, sophisticated tartan designs and many others.

The book records the unusual array of shapes, sizes and finishes of Mauchline Warel documents the history of its manufacture and distribution; investigates Mauchline Ware’s relationship to Victorian manners and interests; covers the important connection between Scotland’s

Dr. JIM & Mrs. ELMA CONNORLONDON, ONTARIO, CANADA

DUMFRIES & GALLOWAYBURNS TRUST

national poet Robert Burns and Mauchline Ware and details the wide variety of collecting categories and associated interest. It is lavishly illustrated in full colour with photographs of the striking black transfers, the authentic Scottish clan tartans adorning Tartan Ware, the fossil-like botanical Fern Ware finish together with hundreds of examples of items of Mauchline Ware from private and museum collections in Scotland, England and the United States.

The book contains a greater number of hitherto unpublished close-up photographs of transfer views, different shaped pieces and diverse finishes than have ever been collected together in a single publication. It is also the first book to provide detailed coverage of American, Canadian and other world views from outside the United Kingdom. The book concludes with a number of unique and exhaustive appendices, including a Price Guide, which will provide invaluable reference material for collectors and dealers alike.

Published by the Antique Collectors’ Club Limited, Sandy Lane, Old Martlesham, Woodbridge, Suffolk. IP12450. Price £35.00, 288pp.

——————————CHRONICLES FOR SALE

1939, 43, 50, 52, 53, 55, 59, 60, 61, 62, 63, 65, 71, 73, 75 and 76. Some are Hardback. Phone 0131 336 2477 for more information.

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PETER RICE died on Thursday 12th June, 2003. His funeral service was held at his home village church in North Wales on Thursday 19th June, 2003.

Peter was born in the Glasgow area and was re-located to the Isle of Lewis at an early age. Having spent his formative years in the highlands and islands the influence of the north stayed with him for the rest of his life.

Peter was introduced to Burns at a very early age. I recall him telling me that when very young, sitting on his faither’s knee, his faither to whom Burns was a second language, regaled him with Burns’ prose and poetry, which proved to be a very great influence on Peter during the rest of his life.

He returned to Glasgow to study at the university, becoming a renowned specialist in environmental scientific land contamination. During this time he became a member of the East Kilbride Burns Club.

I met Peter for the first time many years go at a function at which he was reciting Tam O’ Shanter at the Burns Club of London. This tall, bearded Highlander gave a grand performance indeed.

We met up again several years later through our mutual love of the Caledonian Club of London. He was, of course, a dedicated member, spending most of his time at the Club. There was ‘nae’ breaking the rules of the Club when Peter was around, as we all knew to our cost!

Over the years, he became a great exponent of Robert Burns, appearing at many suppers in and around London.

One of his greatest moments was when he became a committee member of the Caledonian Club. He was very proud indeed, and took his charge very seriously.

He was also delighted when he was elected President of the Burns Club of London. A challenge he enjoyed very much and rose to with great gusto.

Having spent many evenings over the years in the ‘Caley Club’ discussing everything from Burns, McGonagle to classic motor cycles, Peter’s knowledge was very wide and varied. When an explanation of Burns’ works was required, he was always there with the answer.

OBITUARIES

PETER RICE

A familiar sight Peter addressing the haggis at the Caledonian Club’s Supper with the club chef and piperNeil Esselmont in attendance.

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JEFFREY SCOTTIt is with

great sadness and a real sense of loss that I intimate the death, at the age of 79, of F e d e r a t i o n member, Dr. Jeffrey Scott. A keen Burnsian, Dr. Scott was a

member and Past President of the Haggis Club of Glasgow and, on retirement to Gartocharn on Loch Lomondside, he eventually became Chairman of the Kilmaronock Burns Club, a post

he held with enthusiasm and dedication for 8 years, chairing the functions with much humour.

Dr. Scott was a well-known and highly respected GP in Alexandria, where he served the community in the Vale of Leven between 1950 and 1989, following in his father’s footsteps. A very sociable person, Dr. Scott was latterly involved in so many local activities – secretary of the Community Council, Vice-Chairman of the Friends of Loch Lomond, elder of the local church – besides being a member of many local clubs, which he supported with distinction.

His place can never be filled. If I may misquote slightly ‘Poor Mailie’ Elegy‘: ‘A friend mair faithfu ne’er came nigh us? We will all miss him a lot but when we think of him it will be with a smile on our lips.

Katharine M. E. Liston

Peter recalled his student days in Glasgow where he was part of the then folk scene and met various interesting people involved, especially one called Billy Connolly whom Peter recalled as ‘no’ bein’ a bad banjo player, but couldnae sing’. Ally McBain, the folk fiddler was a friend of Peter’s for many years, and Peter himself was no mean fiddle player as a young man.

For years, Peter was also on the Committee of the Trade Contractors’ Burns Society and during this time his appearances at the main functions and at the Savoy Hotel Burns Supper was very professional indeed gaining him a lot of good friends for his constant support for the Society’s work for children’s cancer research.

Peter enjoyed a very successful President’s evening at the Caledonian club for over sixty of his fellow Burnsians who turned out to thank him for making his year as President of the Burns Club such a successful one. Federation guests included Shirley Bell and Peter Westwood who paid a tribute to Peter’s Presidency.

Peter’s final address to the haggis was given at the Construction Trade Contractors’ Burns Society’s Smokers Night at the Caledonian Club in March, was as usual excellent, and when congratulated he would say in his usual way, “wheesht, dinnae be daft, it wisnae’ that guid”.

To many of us, Peter was something of a Burns classical scholar, never short of understanding and advice and he was also heavily involved with the CTC Burns Society’s efforts in raising money for the fight against cancer.

We, his friends, owe him a great deal. We have been most fortunate to have shared many enjoyable evenings with him. Unfortunatey, his life was shortened when he still had so much to give. From all your ‘old cronies’ you have left behind, many thanks for sharing a wee bit of your life with us. We are sure that wherever you are now, you will still be reciting Tam O’ Shanter’ and gein ‘The Address’.

Know thou, O stranger, to the fame of this much lov’d, much honour’d name!(For none that knew him need be told)A warmer heart, Death ne’er made cold.

John MacMillanConstruction Trade Contractors’ Burns Society

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DERBY SCOTTISH ASSOCIATION & BURNS CLUB – Membership at 6 March 2003 stood at 227 (11 – Life, 159 – Full, 57 – Associate). During the year we gained 10 new Members (6 – Full, 4 – Associate) but lost 16 (1 – Life, 7 – Full, 8 – Associate). Regrettably 8 of our losses were through death, including Life Member – Nancy Milburn. Spring/Summer was marked by a Barn Dance in the Grange Hall and by a Walking Treasure Hunt/Barbecue in Duffield. In the Autumn, President’s Night was enhanced by a childrens’ dancing display while the senior Demonstration Team performed excellently, including a new dance in honour of the President; to the President’s further delight, the ‘Wallflower Patrol’ hilariously reminded her of her involvement in the Guide movement. The St Andrews Dinner/Dance went well with excellent entertainment interspersed with dance while, for the annual St Andrew’s church service, this year we joined with the morning congregation of Central United Reformed Church for a service conducted by its minister, Rev. G. Maskery. The ‘sell out’ Burns Dinner was the winter highlight with the Immortal Memory being proposed by Mrs. Helen Morrison, twice winner of the ‘Land O’ Burns’ competition. The monthly Talks evenings were well attended with a varied range of speakers/subjects. The January ‘entertain ourselves’ event revealed the great diversity of talent within the Association. Our strength in depth enabled us to win the annual Quiz Match v Derby Welsh Society and we now lead the series 7-6! This strength was further demonstrated by our retention of the Quiz Trophy at the EMASS Summer outing (where, with Bedford, we also came second in the ‘senior’ sports competition). Thanks to Jim Gibson for his organisation, the Fantasy Share Game attracted a good number of entries. The Autumn Country Dance, with Ian Slater providing the music, and the Tartan Dance, with the Green Ginger Band were much enjoyed. Monday Dance Class led by Julia Varney, Phyllis Dickson and Bob Bee continued to be enjoyed. The Demonstration Team, guided by Julia Varney, entertained the populace of the East Midlands at various venues throughout the year. The Bridge Club had a successful year with numbers increasing during the latter part of the session. Dorothy Mitchell undertook the role of Newsletter distribution coordinator during the year and thanks to her and the Editor, her husband Gordon, and the team supporting their efforts, six newsletters were published. On behalf of the President and the Committee, thanks to all members and friends who supported the activities of the Association during the session.

Stewart B. L. WilsonSANDYFORD BURNS CLUB – There have been seven Directors meetings during the year 2002-2003. One new director joined the Board:- Mr. Will D. McAdam. Director, Mrs. Jean McKirgan resigned due to other comittments. Membership at present date stands at 138 persons. A cheque for £100 was received from the estate of Mrs. Agnes B. Wilson, in memory of her late father James Hay and her late husband Thomas Muir Wilson, both of whom were Past Presidents of the Club. The Sandyford Trophy was presented by Mr. Ian J. Scott, Honorary

President at the Ayrshire Music Festival on 16th March, 2002. Won by Garnock Academy for the fourth year. The Directors Presentation Dinner was held on the 1st May 2002 in the Swallow Hotel. Presentation of the Past Presidents badge was made to Mr. Ian J. Scott. A most interesting afternoon on 23rd June 2002 was enjoyed by Directors and friends on a visit to Ellisland Farm, a guided tour of the Burns Howff Club followed by a meal in the Globe Inn, Dumfries. Sixty people were present at the Kilmardinny Evening in Kilmardinny House, Bearsden, held on 10th October. Hon President Mr. Ian J. Scott chaired the evening. Entertainment was by Mr. Colin H. McQueen who spoke on the life of Sir Alexander Boswell of Auchinleck, Rev. Russell McLarty enthralled us with the history of story telling and Mr. John McLellan played the bagpipes. The President, Mr. Ian Macpherson represented the Club at the annual wreath laying ceremony at the statue of Robert Burns in George Square on 25th January 2003. The Anniversary Dinner and Ball was held in the Swallow Hotel, Bellahouston on the 1st February 2003 attended by 110. The Address to the Haggis was given by Mr. Ian Macpherson, Mr. Rob MacCowan proposed the Immortal Memory. The Toast to the Lasses was by Mr. Jim Leggat and the reply by Mrs. Mary Rae. The Toast to the City of Glasgow was made by the President and the reply by Deputy Provost Bailie Jean Macey. A donation of £100 was made to her for the Lord Provost’s Children Fun.THE LYON AND DISTRICT BURNS CLUB – This year, we held our annual Burns Dinner in the city of Lyon on 25th of January. We began with some pre-dinner entertainment from the Scottish Country Dance group “La Chanterelle”. The meal began with the usual opening remarks from the president including some most welcome messages of greetings and good wishes from the Hamilton Burns Club, The Irvine Lasses Burns Club, Mr. Charles Kennedy, The Construction Trade Contractors Society of London, The Burns Club of London and the Robert Burns World Federation itself. Hugh Lynch gave the Selkirk Grace. The Haggis was carried to the table by Mr. James Fairbairn, this year accompanied by head chef M. Peyramaure who both received the traditional tot of whisky. The address was well delivered by Mr. Michael Wigley in his own inimitable way after which the guests enjoyed a truly Scottish feast. As always, word of thanks was offered by club secretary Michèle de Préneuf to the staff of the Institut Vatel who served us a most excellent meal. This year, the Immortal Memory was given by Dr. John Crowder. John was educated at Kilmarnock Academy and Glasgow University where he studied chemistry. After a year in the U.S.A. he returned to work in Watford where he and his family now live. The address to the lasses was given by Mr. Peter Stap, Peter was educated at Eltham College. He came to Lyon in 1956 where he has taught English at several of the Institutes and Universities in the town and where he now enjoys his retirement. The reply to the laddies was given by Diana Sarran. Diana was born in Renfrewshire and educated at Glasgow University where she studied in particular, French, linguistics and phonetics. After graduation Diana moved to

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Switzerland where she lived for a year before moving to France where she has been ever since. As always, after the speeches guests set about providing their own entertainment which included two of our French members reciting “To a Mouse” and “My Love is Like a Red Red Rose”. Mary WigleyRHODE ISLAND BURNS NIGHT – The 40th Annual Robert Burns Supper Dance, sponsored by The Burns Anniversary Committee of Rhode Island, was held on February 1, 2003 at the Rhodes on the Pawtuxet Ballroom, Cranston, Rhode Island. Over 500 guests from various parts of New England and the British Isles gathered to honor Scotland’s National Poet. The guests were welcomed by Chairman John MacLean. A moment of silence was observed in honor of the seven Columbia Astronauts. Loyal toasts to President Bush, Queen Elizabeth, Robert Burns and Grace Before Supper were delivered by Joyce Dell, Richmond Cargill, Ken McGregor and Betty MacLean respectively. The “Address to The Haggis” was delivered by John MacLean and “The Immortal Memory” by Roy McKechnie. A Toast to the Laddies was given by Joyce Dell. A Toast to the Lasses was given by Pipe Major Jim Motherwell who is the Queen’s personal piper, and the Burns Committee’s special guest of honor. Jim played a Royal Set and accompanied The Highland Dancers, for which he received a standing ovation. John MacLean, Jr. “Piped in the Haggis.” Ballroom and country dance music was provided by Fintan Stanley. The Mystic Highland Pipe Band, under the direction of Pipe Major Robert Scent, gave a superb performance. Led by Pipe Major Jim Motherwell, the celebration closed with the guests forming a circle, joining hands and singing Robert Burns most popular and best known song “Auld Lang Syne”. Once again, The Burns Anniversary Committee of Rhode Island salutes and extends it heartfelt thanks to Chairman John MacLean and his wife, Committee Secretary Betty MacLean, for their tireless dedication and commitment over the past forty years to this wonderful celebration of Scottish culture and entertainment.

Thomas J. BoyleABERDEEN BURNS CLUB – With a Membership of 65 and an average monthly attendance of 35, another session has drawn to a close. I was honoured to represent our Cub at the unveiling of the Burns Memorial Rose Garden at Dean Castle Country Park, Kilmarnock on 11th September, 2002. At our November meeting, we welcomed Aberdeenshire Burns Folksinger and Authoress, Maureen Bell. Our Anniversary Dinner, attended by a company of 109, held in the Copthorne Hotel, Aberdeen, on 25th January, 2003. Chairperson was Vice President, Mrs. Edith Stuart. The Selkirk Grace was said by Past President, Mr. John Fraser, while rendering Grace After Meat was his wife, and Past Secretary, Irene. Piper was Mr. Craig McKay, of Ellon. The lively Address to the Haggis was proposed by Secretary, Mr. Charles Beaton, who later announced Fraternal Greetings. A Truly exquisite, Immortal Memory was proposed by Federation Past President, Mr. Murdo Morrison, of Wishaw; while the Toast to the Lasses was by Mr. Duncan Richardson, of Strichen. Making the Reply was Mrs. Lorna Smith M.A., of Aberdeen. Archivist, Mr. Albert Herbert, gave an amusing dissertation on the contents of our Burns Snuff Mull! The Burns Poems:- “Address to the Tootache,” was recited by Committee Member, Madame Marion Martin; while, later, our Federation Representatives, Mrs. Helena Anderson-Wright, recited “Handsome Nell” and “O Wert Thou in the Cauld Blast,”

with a beautiful violin accompaniment by Mrs. Elisabeth Naik, of Banchory. Our Guest Artistes were an accomplished mother and son duo, Mrs. Eileen and Mr. Craig Pike. During the evening, it was with pleasure that we witnessed Honorary Membership conferred on Past President, Mr. John Fraser, in recognition of almost 40 years’ unbroken service to our Club. The Toast to Our Guests was proposed by Past President, Mr. Jim Smith. Making the Reply was Dr. Em Naik. Prior to singing “Auld Lang Syne,” the entire company joined heartily in “The Star o’ Robbie Burns.” At our A.G.M. in March, our Federation Representative, Mrs. Helena Anderson-Wright, succeeded the late M. Marischal Leighton as our Club President. Under the auspices of Helena and her local Schools’ Committee, our second Singing and Instrumental Competition, held in Summerhill Community Education Centre, on Saturday 22nd March attracted 33 entrants. A week later, at our Scots Verse Speaking Competition, 124 enthusiastic youngsters participated. From the North East, approximately 12 of our winners went forward to the National Finals Competition. On a gloriously sunny Saturday 14th June, 43 members and friends enjoyed their annual outing via Forfar, Kirriemuir, Blairgowrie, Dunkeld and the Pass of Killiecrankie, to Blair Castle, affording us some spectacular scenery, and Burns Connections, en route. From Pitlochry, we travelled via Coupar Angus to Balbeggie where High Tea was enjoyed at the Macdonald Arms Hotel, prior to returning home. Charles Beaton

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LASSES LUNCHEON AT STRANRAER

This year’s Lasses Lunch was held on 18th May in the North West Castle Hotel in Stranraer and was organised by Mrs. Elizabeth Pate and a group of Stranraer ladies.

While the weather outside was inclement to say the least, the atmosphere inside was what has become the norm for this event. Ninety ladies attended this year, which shows a growing interest in this Lasses day out, and there was much laughter and chatter in the lounges as old friends were greeted and new ones introduced.

We then proceeded to the dining room where a lovely lunch was served by the friendly and efficient staff of the hotel. Needless to say that even eating didn’t stop the talking. In a few opening remarks Shirley Bell announced that a Lasses lunch was also being held in Niagara (see page 20) so we are hoping this idea will grow and will become a tradition of the Robert Burns World Federation.

Following the meal Elizabeth Pate introduced our guest speaker of the afternoon who was Mr. Jack Hunter, a retired school master. Jack was a very fine speaker and held our attention (no the lasses didn’t speak for about twenty minutes) as he took us on a tour of four luxury McMillan hotels giving us background to people and events, many with links to Robert Burns. He also gave us a smattering of local history in a very enlightening and amusing talk. The applause which followed showed the audience appreciation. The vote of thanks was given by myself.

It is lovely for those of us who just turn up on the day and find everything in place for our pleasure but we do realise it doesn’t just happen with a wave of a magic wand so - to Elizabeth Pate and her friends we give our warmest thanks for all their hard work which resulted in this very well organised and enjoyable function.

The afternoon ended in the traditional manner with the singing of Auld Lang Syne and, as the company dispersed, everyone hoping to meet again in 2004 when the Lasses Lunch will be held on Sunday 16th May in Gailes Hotel, Irvine. Anne Gaw

LASSES LUNCHEON AT STRANRAERBelow: Top table at the Annual Federation Lasses Luncheon.

Centre and below some of the 90 ladies who took part.See report on page 48.

Motto — “A man’s a man for a’ that”

THE ROBERT BURNS WORLD FEDERATIONLIMITED

Company Registration No. 196895. Scottish Charity No. SCO29099

(Formerly THE BURNS FEDERATION) Instituted 1885

HEADQUARTERS: DEAN CASTLE COUNTRY PARK, DOWER HOUSE, KILMARNOCK. KA3 1XB. TEL/FAX: 01563 572469.OFFICE HOURS: MONDAY TO FRIDAY 9 a.m. - 5 p.m. CLOSED FOR LUNCH 1 p.m. - 2 p.m. RobertBurnsFederation@Kilmarnock26.freeserve.co.uk

DIRECTORSJAMES ROBERTSON, E-mail: jas.robertson@talk21.comHUGH WILSON LOGAN (Senior Vice President), Tel: 02828 272963WALTER WATSON (Junior Vice President), E-mail: walter.watson1@btopenworld.comJAMES GIBSON (Immediate Past President), E-mail: gibson.symington@virginANNE GAW, Tel: 01294 217481MURDO MORRISON, E-mail: murdo.morrisonmmpr@btinternet.comDr JAMES CONNOR, E-mail: jandeconnor@odyssey.on.caA. MacARTHUR IRVIN, E-mail: macirvin@mindspring.comJAMES O’LONE, E-mail: olone@iinet.com.auSHIRLEY BELL, E-mail: mail@inveresk.freeserve.co.ukPETER WESTWOOD, E-mail: peter@cairnsmore1.freeserve.co.ukWILSON OGILVIE, Tel: 01387 264267MOIRA DUNSMORE, E-mail: moiradunsmore@burnsferderation.fsnet.co.ukJOHN PATERSON, Tel: 01303 256670ANDREW McKEE, 27 Balfron Road, Ralston, Paisley. PA13 3HA.

HONORARY PRESIDENTSMrs. Stella Brown, Charles Murray, Lew W. Reid, George Irvine, Professor G. Ross Roy, Archie McArthur, William Williamson, Murdo Morrison, Lawrence Burness, Peter J. Westwood, James Hempstead, Provost of East Ayrshire, Joseph Campbell, Professor Henryk Minc, Kenneth McKellar, Alastair Gowans, Robert Cleland.

OFFICIALSChief Executive: SHIRLEY BELL, “Inveresk,” Kelton, Dumfries. DG1 4UA. Tel/Fax: 01387 770283. E-mail: mail@inveresk.freeserve.co.ukPresident: JIM ROBERTSON, 4 Hunter’s Close, Dunnington, York. YO1 5QH. Tel: 01904 489201. E-mail: jas.robertson@talk21.comSenior Vice-President: H. WILSON LOGAN, 64 Ballyhampton Road, Larne, N. Ireland. BT40 2SP.Junior Vice-President: WALTER N. WATSON, “Dreva”, 75 Peartree Close, South Ockenden, Essex. RM15 6PR. Tel: 01708 857509. E-mail: walterwatson1@btopeworld.comClerical Secretary: Mrs. MARGARET CRAIG, Dean Castle Country Park, Dower House, Kilmarnock. KA3 1XB.Editor: PETER J. WESTWOOD, 1 Cairnsmore Road, Castle Douglas. DG7 1BN. Tel/Fax: 01556 504448. E-mail: peter@cairnsmore1.freeserve.co.ukHonorary Legal Advisor: DAVID STEVENSON. Auditors: SMITH & WALLACE & CO.

CONVENERS200 Club: MOIRA RENNIE DUNSMORE, 59 Beechwood Court, Dunstable, Beds. LU6 1QA. Tel: 01582 705671. E-mail: moiradunsmore@burnsfederation.fsnet.co.ukSchools Competitions: ANNE GAW, 7 Highfield Place, Girdle Toll, Irvine. KA11 1BW. Tel: 01294 217481.Scottish Literature: JOHN G. PATERSON, Newlands, 35 Shorncliffe Road, Folkestone, Kent. CT20 2NQ.Memorials Committee:WILSON OGILVIE, “Lingerwood”, 2 Nelson Street, Dumfries. DG2 9AY.Marketing/Advertising: MURDO MORRISON, 110 Campbell Street, Wishaw. ML2 8HU. Tel: 01698 372638.Conference Committee: MOIRA RENNIE DUNSMORE, 59 Beechwood Court, Dunstable, Beds. LU6 1YA. Tel: 01582 705671.

PAST PRESIDENTSJames Gibson, John Skilling, Joe Campbell, Bob Dalziel, Moira Rennie Dunsmore, Andrew McKee, Murdo Morrison, David C. Smith, John Morrison, Charles Kennedy, Donald Urquhart, Hutchison Sneddon, C.B.E., J.P., Anne Gaw, Enez Anderson, J. Connor, M.D.I.R.C.P. (Edin), L.R.F.P.S. (Glas)., D. Wilson Ogilvie, M.A., F.S.A.Scot., John Inglis, T. McIlwraith, George Anderson, Mollie Rennie, S. K. Gaw.

BURNSCHRONICLE

A ROBERT BURNS WORLD FEDERATION PUBLICATION

AUTUMN 2003

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