Robert BurnsLimited World Federation

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1957 The digital conversion of this Burns Chronicle was sponsored by Mr Len Murray, Dean of the Robert Burns Guild of Speakers

The digital conversion service was provided by DDSR Document Scanning by permission of the Robert Burns World Federation Limited to whom all Copyright title belongs.

www.DDSR.com ROBERT BURNS CHRONICLE 1957

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INSTITUTED 189 I PUBLISHED ANNUALLY

THIRD SERIES: VOLUME VI

THE BURNS FEDERATION KILMARNOCK

1957 PRINTED BY WILLIAM HODGE AND COMPANY LTD GLASGOW AND EDINBURGH LIST OF CONTENTS

PAGE The Parish of Tarbolton and the Biographers of Robert Burns, by the Rev. A. M. Paterson, Tarbolton Erratum 5 As Ithers See Him: Words and Word-Tunes In Burns, by A. M. Buchan 6 Burns and the English-speaking W orId, by Hardin Craig 15 On a Mountain Tap, Poem by J. K. Annand 28 Tam 0' Shanter Museum, by John Gray - 30 Burns's Tour of the Devon Valley and Perth shire, by Andrew McCallum 32 The Work and Humour of the School Competitions, by Fred J. Belford - 43 Hugh MacDiarmid, by Alex. Macmillan, President of the Burns Federation 46 A Promising Young Poetess, "On Burns's Birthday," Poem by Janet Smith - 52 The Auld Scots Tongue is saved for Posterity, by George Alison - 54 Michael Bruce - 58 Barbour's Bruce and Blind Harry's Wallace, by Alexander M. Kinghorn 61 Book Reviews - 6g The Burns Federation- (a) List of Hon. Presidents, Hon. Vice-Presidents, Executive Committee, Office-bearers and (District Representatives), Sub-Committees, and Auditors 76 (b) Constitution and Rules (c) List of Districts - (t!) List of Past Presidents LIST OF CONTENTS (Continuetl) PAGB (e) List of Places at which the Annual Conference has been· held 91 (j) Minutes of the Annual Conference, 1956: incor- porating the Hon. Secretary's Annual Report - 92 (g) Annual Reports: (1) Burns Chronicle 108 (2) Financial Statement - log (3) School Competitions - II3 (h) Burns Club Notes II6 (t) Numerical List of Clubs on the Roll - 158 (k) Alphabetical List of Clubs on the Roll 184 ILLUSTRATIONS PAGE Alex. MacMillan, M.A., President, Burns Federation frontispiece

Hugh MacDiarmid - - facing page I H.M. the Queen at Alloway - facing page 48 Burns Federation Song Book - insert EDITORIAL NOTE The Burns Federation does not accept responsibility for state­ ments made or opinions expressed in the Burns Chronicle. Writers are responsible for articles signed by them; the Editor undertakes responsibility for all unsigned matter. Manuscripts for publication should be addressed to the Editor and each must be accompanied by a stamped addressed envelope. The Editor cannot accept responsibility for loss. or damage.

JAMES VEITCH. 8 GEORGE STREET, PEEBLES. ALEX. MACM[LLAN, M.A., Ed.B. President, Burns Federation HUGH MACDIAR 1ID (See page 46) THE PARISH OF TARBOLTON AND THE BIOGRAPHERS OF ROBERT BURNS

By the Rev. A. M. PATERSON, Tarbolton

The Parish of Tarbolton and its inhabitants rarely receive a very complimentary word from the Biographers of our National Poet. Hans Hecht, one of the best and one of the most cautious in his conclusions, even goes so far as to speak unkindly about the beauties of the Parish. "The traveller ignorant of Burns would scarcely feel tempted to linger there but would rather try to reach the more imposing North or the more friendly South." Well, Well. Such comment is somewhat shocking. One thing alone is a perpetual delight and I notice Ivor Brown in his "Summer in Scodand" calls attention to it. It is the breath-taking beauty of the distant horizons. The glory of the Arran Peaks, the changing charm of the sea, the glimpse of Ben Lomond, the gende slopes of Cairnsmore, of Carsphairn, the rugged beauty of the Merrick and the Awful Hand. It is a very strange thing how litde of this distant beauty is reflected in our Poet's work. His hert was certainly not in the Hielans. But how true are his descriptions of the local scenes. Ye banks and braes and streams around The Castle 0' Montgomery Green be your woods and fair your flowers Your waters never drumlie OJ again Ayr gurgling kissed her pebbled shore O'erhung with wild woods thickening green. or again Still o'er these scenes my mem'ry wakes. It is not however the failure to appreciate the natural beauties of the parish that I find disturbing. What shocks me is the failure to do justice to the personalities of the Parish in Burns's day. There may be many reasons for this failure. One obvious one is the inability to grasp the spirit of a country parish and its unchanging atmosphere. Another is that very common fault of the biographer, the reading backward from the end to see everywhere in the past the symptoms of the developing genius. This is the occupational disease of the biographer and one very serious weak­ ness of it is that the playing up of the hero is done by playing A 2 TARBOLTON AND THE BIOGRAPHERS OF ROBERT BURNS down his associates. The central figure must expand and the environment must contract. I propose therefore to call to your notice two people who invariably receive an unhappy description. The others are mis-­ handled, too, but less severely. The first is John Wilson, the Parish Schoolmaster, satirised in "Death and Dr. Hornbook" and Alexander (Saunders) Tait, merchant and tailor. John Wilson was Parish Schoolmaster in Tarbolton. His schoolhouse is still there and is presently occupied by the District Nurse. His school is gone and the site is now part of the Church­ yard. He was Clerk to the Heritors and Session Clerk. I have often looked at and admired his handwriting. It is clear, regular, handsome without being ornate. But I hesitate to base a character sketch on his handwriting. The first time I come across reference to him is in the Records of the Presbytery of Ayr when the question of his salary as Schoolmaster in the neighbouring Parish of Craigie is being considered. This is interesting and important. His family was big. He had eleven children by his first wife. His needs must have been many. But his salary was very poor indeed. In fact one of the perpetually recurring themes of the First Statistical Account of the Parishes in Scotland is the poverty of the Schoolmasters. It is almost a signature tune. And it was undoubtedly true. The fees from the Heritors and from the Kirk Session were meagre. I remember reading a letter of his addressed to a heritor who had asked for certain information. Wilson in replying said the fee would be a mutchkin when next they met in the village. His poverty was undoubted. His desire for more money very natural. And so he offered simple drugs for sale and medical advice as to their use was to be given gratis. This is the point upon which the biographers fasten. Hecht says: "Apparently one evening at the Lodge, Wilson had boasted of his medical skill, and had aroused the mockery of Butns. " Catherine Carswell whose biography delights me, says: "Now there was one Wilson by name who was a cheap-jack doctor." "At a lodge meeting Burns had been aroused by the prosiness of the Tarbolton Schoolmaster, a harmless but sel£­ important creature who supplemented his wretched stipend by selling groceries and quack medicines, adding to the latter advice in common disorders given gratis." "Wilson, the Tarbolton quack and schoolmaster." Well, there you have it. De Lancey Ferguson, whose "Pride and Passion" gives me much pleasure, has a certain flair for professional generalisation. He speaks of Dr. Hornbook, the village quack. Hilton Brown most pleasantly trails his coat and continues in the same strain. "Burns could score off such as snooping Willie Fisher, the type Hypocrite, or pretentious John TARBOLTON AND THE BIOGRAPHERS OF ROBERT BURNS 3 Wilson of Tarbolton with his medical nostrums, the type charlatan. 'Death and Dr. Hornbook' is perhaps the best exposition ever written on the text ne sutor." Snyder keeps on the side of caution. "John Wilson, Schoolmaster, Grocer, Apothecary, Clerk to the Kirk Session and late hero of 'Death and Dr. Hornbook' amused the village by his solemn ways, and he quarrelled with his superior Dr. Woodrow." "John Wilson was an inoffensive but somewhat pompous schoolmaster . . . who was building up a small practice as an amateur medical practitioner." The Chorus is all quite harmonious and all perfectly foolish. John Wilson was fulfilling a very useful function in a parish that had no doctor in selling simple drugs and giving the necessary advice on how to use them. The age of Wilson was quite pre­ scientific in medicine and there is much truth in the epigram of Voltaire in those days that medicine is the art of amusing a patient till nature asserts a cure. To-day's tremendous diagnostic and remedial advances give no clue to the vast areas of medical innocence of the late eighteenth century. Wilson was doing a very good piece of work in terms of his day and generation. When in order to dismiss him from his post application was made to the Court of Session, reference was made to his neglect of his educational duties by his medical work. The laughter of the parish at the poem would be great but he has very little sense of the spirit of a country parish who thinks it would injure Wilson or turn patients away from him. Other grounds of denunciation are raked up. His quarrels with Dr. Woodrow, minister of the parish, do him no discredit. Every evidence I have collected of Dr. Woodrow points very markedly to the dictator who loved his own way. In the Deed recorded in the Register House, Edinburgh, of parishioners buying a piece of ground in order to build a Secession Church, it records "many parishioners in the Parish of Tarbolton are displeased with the present incumbent in said parish." That was Dr. Woodrow. The c.all to John McMath as assistant and successor is recorded jn the Presbytery Minutes and though the presentation to the parish was made by Hugh Montgomerie (Sodger Hugh) of Coilsfield, the moving hand is Dr. Woodrow's. The moving spirit in getting John McMath to resign some years later was equally Dr. Woodrow. My conclusion is that no fault attaches to John WHson in getting to loggerheads with him. The portrait of Wilson has been very clear in my mind for many years. A good, capable, active and ambitious man, thwarted by poverty, getting to cross purposes with certain powers in the parish. But essentially a good upright citizen, fulfilling useful 4 T ARBOLTON AND THE BIOGRAPHERS OF ROBERT BURNS functions in the village and parish and undeserving of the critical comments of the biographers. What of Alexander Tait, merchant and tailor? He is not so prominently noticed by the biographers. But he is to my mind a very necessary link in the attitude of the parish to the family at Lochly. Hecht speaks of "the local poet and tailor Alexander Tait, an original of adventurous habits who used to place his very limited gifts at the service of Tarbolton where he acted as chronicler of local events to his own great satisfaction." "The whole family at Lochly with their pride of spirit and th,ejr unconcealed poverty seem to have been repugnant to Tait's spiteful nature." Hilton Brown speaks of "the Egregious Saunders Tait­ easy meat for slaughter." Neither Mrs. Carswell nor Henley speaks well of him. All the biographers dismiss his poetry as very poor stuff. In that they do right. Every village and parish has its rhymers and Tarbolton has its David Sillar and its Saunders Tait, and very poor lights they are. It is not as a poet that Tait appeals to me but as a guide to the reaction of the parish to the family at Lochly. It woud be well known as soon as they arrived that there had been money troubles with the factor at Mount Oliphant and the parish would proceed to do what every country parish does, size up the incomers. The country parish has always a large measure of caution in its reception of the stranger. The process of ticketing, docketing, weighing up the stranger is an unending pursuit. Woe awaits the stranger who does not await such weighing and proceeds to take part in local affairs. My pre­ decessor, Higgins, notes in his biography of Burns the local tradition concerning the argumentative young Robert Burns. There would readily become known the financial difficulties of the family, and yet here is a youth talking at large, forming a Young Farmer Society, instead of keeping quiet. A country parish will inevitably take a severe view of such a situation and there lies the key to many of Tait's scurrilous verses. In striking out and expressing opinions before they were asked, young Robert Burns was committing one of the unforgivable sins of country life. Tait attempts according to his lights to debag, to deflate, to take the starch out of this youthful upstart who has not the sense to keep his mouth shut. I am not setting out to praise his poetry or to defend the attacks made by him on the family at Lochly. I see in him the expression of certain parochial mental processes. The fact of the attacks should not blind anyone to the main facts of Tait's life in Tarbolton. He says of himself: TARBOL TON AND THE BIOGRAPHERS OF ROBERT BURNS 5 I'm Patron to the Burgher folks I'm cornal to the Farmers' Box And Bailie to guid hearty cocks That are a' grand. The three office(> to which he refers were all elected ones. Whatever follies a country parish commits, it rarely selects wrongly from among its own. In the first, when in 1777 there was a secession from the Parish Church and an Associate Congregation formed, the legally appointed representative of them was Alexander Tait. In the second, he was Treasurer to the Farmers' Friendly Society. In the third he was Bailie in the Tarbolton Burgh of Barony. A country parish does not appoint to such three offices a weakling, a mean, low-spirited, envious man. But I go further in the defence of the man. He died in 1798, a bachelor. He left an accurate account of debits and credits. Out of the monies remain­ ing after the payment of funeral expenses, he gave a gift to his minister, the Rev. James Moir, first minister of the Associate Congregation. The balance of his money was to be given to the poor of the parish. My conclusion agrees with James Paterson's contemporaries of Burns, 1840: "He is still remembered in Tarbolton, smart, active with a degree of vivacity in his counten­ ance ... Life and soul of a party ... Everybody esteemed him." Such was Saunders Tait.

ERRATUM In the 1954 issue of the Burns Chronicle there appeared an illustration of a bust of Robert Burns. This was stated to have been erected by the Winnipeg Burns Club, but Mr. John G. Saunders, Secretary of the Border Cities Burns Club, has asked us to point out that this memorial was, in fact, erected by the Border Cities Burns Club of Windsor, Ontario, Canada. We regret the error and tender our apologies. AS ITHERS SEE HIM

In the 1956 issue of the Burns Chronicle we briefly reviewed the latest publication (1945-1955) of the Burns Club of St. Louis. In this volume, as we pointed out, outstanding addresses are pre­ served, and they do much to show the interest and study that are given to the works of Robert Burns in America. The two addresses which follow, with full acknowledgment to the Bums Club of St. Louis, were delivered in January, 1951, and January, 1954, respectively.

WORDS AND WORD-TUNES IN BURNS

By A. M. BUCHAN

The sound of Burns' poetry is a novel experience to people who are strangers to its dialect. They are not listening to the familiar tunes of English verse. Whenever a phrase or two from the dialect intrudes, an alien, unreasoning note is sounded, a note that an eighteenth-century critic would have called "common" or "low." It was not possible for Burns, when writing in the dialect, to open magic casements, because the Scottish words are too familiar, too "couthy" even in Scottish ears, to carry the burden of a remote romance. To find anything in English poetry at all resembling Bums in tone and meaning, one must go back to old sources, to the ballads, to Dunbar, or to Chaucer, whose verse tunes and many of whose words Burns inherited direcdy. The barrier to appreciation is not really one of vocabulary. In the poem To a Mouse there are only sixteen words in all that might conceivably puzzle a non-Scottish reader. Nine of these are nouns the meaning of which can be guessed at: "pattle," for instance, clearly a variant of "paddle," the name for a piece of wood used to scrape mud from the ploughshare or the other farm word "coulter," the dialect term for the ploughshare itself, a word still common in Scottish farms. The noun "brattle" is onomato­ poeic, with the meaning of "clatter. "1 In the phrase "but house

t Jamieson in his Scottish Dictionary suggests a Norse origin. WOltDS AND WORD-TUNES IN BURNS 7 or hald," the connection between "hald" and "hold" ;,s fairly obvious, so that one could guess at its meaning of "shelter." Four of the nouns are quite strange: "icker," a Scottish version of an Anglo-Saxon term for an ear of corn; "thrave," a Middle English variant of a Scandinavian corn-measure; "cranreuch," a dialect term for hoarfrost; and the Scottish word for moss, "fog" or "foggage" as Burns has it. Only three of the verbs are glossary terms: "to thole," meaning to endure, a direct descendant from Anglo-Saxon; the old Norse "to big" for "to build," a word known in the ballads2 and still commonly used; and another Scandinavian borrowing, the word "maun" for "must." With "snell," an Anglo-Saxon adjective meaning "biting" (as in the phrase, "the snell win' 0 winter"), "daimen," a local Ayrshire adjective for "occasional," and "agley," an adverb that implies "squintingly," these few words cover all that an English-speaking person ought to know in order to understand Burns's meaning. But the surface meaning, as always in poetry, is only a part of­ the effect of the lines. The tune of the poem depends much more upon the Scottish pronunciation of familiar English words than upon an unfamiliar vocabulary. Few of the words are spoken as an Englishman would speak them. In this poem, the brief word "sleek" becomes the longer "sleekit," with a meaning some­ where between "sleek" and "slick." As the adjective is spoken, the mouse appears to be smooth to touch and artful at one and the same time. The English "breast" is now "breastie," rhyming with "beastie," and the affectionate diminutive -;e alters both the pronunciation and the meaning. Consonants are dropped from "and," "with," "not," and vowels are altered in "run," ··so," "cowering," "loath," and "away." Taken altogether, these changes in pronunciation alter the total sound of the lines, and with the sound, the meaning too, especially that surcharge of meaning upon which most of the effect of good verse depends. This alteration, a subtle interweaving of new groupings of vowels and consonants, imparts a peculiar and characteristic tone to Scottish dialect verse. It so happens that these changes in vowels and consonants, prdixes and suffixes, which the philologist explains by the opera­ tion of phonetic laws, follow certain lines that converge in this characteristic tone-quality. Three of these tendencies are of great importance in any attempt to analyse the special flavour of Burns. They are: (a) the frequent omission of harsh consonants and a heavy stress on the vowels; (b) the use of a considerable number

2 Cf. "Bessie Bell and Mary Gray," English and Scottish Popular Ballads (Cambridge Ed.), p. 485. 8 WORns AND WORD-TUNES IN BURNS of Anglo-Saxon and Norse derivatives, often monosyllabic; and (c) the widespread employment of diminutives.3 Almost any page of Burns shows the frequency with which an apostrophe points to the dropping of a consonant. Words like "all," "call," "wall," "full," lose their final "1" and become "a," "ca," "wa," "ha," "fu." Other English words ending in a "d" sound-"wind," "ground," "wand"~rop the explosive "d" and end on the fricative nasal. In commonly-occurring short words, prepositions especially, sharp consonants are omitted, so that "or' becomes "0'," "with" becomes "wi'," "since" becomes "sin'," "not" and "and" become "na" and "an'." In the middle of some words, too, the same elision takes place, so that the dis­ syllable "given" is pronounced "gi'en," and "taken" as "ta'en." A number of harsh consonantal past participles lose their participial endings, so that "acquainted" becomes "acquent" and "threshed" is pronounced "threesh." This omission of consonants, most marked in words that occur often, results in a shift of the verse stress from the insignificant particles to the nouns and verbs and in a curious smoothing of the staccato of the line. Within limits it achieves what English poets have long tried to do in their efforts to adapt "our northern whistling grunting gutteral" to measures designed for Italian, "that soft bastard Latin."4 Slough­ ing off a number of the hard consonants in favour of long vowels helps, too, to subordinate accent to length of syllable and intro­ duces in Scottish verse something of the unaccentuated rhythms of the lyrics of Horace and Catullus. With these phonetic peculiarities to help him, it is remarkable what fullness of line Burns can impart to the short octosyllabics of his favourite stanza. As the consonants are dropped out, the vowels lengthen and tend to be drawled instead of being crisp and clipped. Remaining consonants are vocalized and a mono­ syllabic word sounds like a dissyllable. A few sample lines show the effect:- "Its silly wa's the win's are strewing'''; "I doubt na, whyles, but thou maun thieve"; "While Auld wi' hinging' lip gaed sneakin' "; "Sae far I sprachl'd up the brae"; "Twa span-lang, wee, unchristen'd bairns"; "But left behind her ain grey tail." In speaking these lines, a Scot attains slow movement by lengthening the vowels and slurring the consonants: the tendency

3 A good, if overly patriotic, discussion of these features of Scottish speech can be found in a "Dissertation on the Scots-Saxon Dialect,'· Rev. Alexander Geddes, Archaeologia Scotica (1792), I 402 If. " Byron's familiar contrast in Beppo. WORDS AND WORD-TUNES IN BURNS 9 of English speakers to clip words short is overcome by the slow northern drawl. By this reading in slow motion, the eight­ syllable line of the dialect seems to be as long as the English pentameter, and the predominantly heavy stress, still characteristic of Scottish and Yorkshire speech, gives spondaic rather than dactylic emphasis to the movement of the verses. The elegaic mood, a favourite of writers in the dialect, thus finds apt encour­ agement in a phonetic difference. Absence of roughness in the verse line is not, however, its most audible quality; rather the opposite. There is a grit, a hard­ ness, a rough substance in the Scottish words on which the mouth can bite and which redeems much dialect verse from an excess of sentimentality. Part of the effect is gained by the use of an Anglo-Saxon and Norse vocabulary that persisted in Scotland after the words dropped out of standard speech. The intimate association of these local words with the everyday affairs of farm folk can be relied on for the quality of humour and directness that is the "pawkiness" of dialect material. When Burns in the Epistle to Dr. Lapraik, says of a song that "It thirl'd the heart­ strings thro' the breast, A' to the life," he is not merely using the Anglo-Saxon derivative "thirl," a detail chiefly interesting to the philologist, but he is waking associations of the familiar terms "thirl" and "tirl" in Scottish minds, the "thirlin'-pin," for instance, on the door of the crofter's cottage, and recollections of "bairnies tirlin' at the lock."5 Such words are hard to define in :\ glossary. The Jenny whom Burns, in Adam Armour's Prayer, calls a "hav'rel," is not, as a glossary explains, "one who talks in a foolish manner." She is that, and more, for a haverel is a wench who makes a man free of more than her tongue, and so Burns intends Jenny to be remembered. In The Cottar's Saturday Night the "lyart haffets" of the father, the angry "sough" of the November wind, the "stacher" of the wee things and their "flichterin' " noise, the "penny fee" of Jenny, and the "laithfu' " demeanour of her young man, the "hall an" separating house from byre and the "weel-hained kebbuck" eaten for supper, these, the homely details that give the poem vividness and sincerity, depend on words from the old languages, Anglo-Saxon, Norse and Gaelic. They were lost words to polite English people, but they were part of daily experience in the Burns household. Their value in hardening the sound of Burns's poems and in clarifying his images is impossible to over-estimate. Luath, the cottar's collie, speaks about his master as

5 "Thirl" and "tirl" and "dirl" seem to be cognates from the Anglo­ Saxon thyrlian. 10 WORDS AND WORD-TUNES IN BURNS A cottar howkin' in a sheugh Wi' dirty ~tanes biggin' a dike, Barin' a quarry, an' sic like; Himsel', a wife, he thus sustains, A smytrie 0' wee duddie weans, An' nought but his han' darg, to keep Them right an' tight in thack an' rape;6

and every word, except the i.ntrusive Latinism "sustains," belong5 to an environment in which no artifice intervenes between the crofter and the ditch he digs, the stones he lifts, and the thatch he twists into a rope to roof his cottage. In sensitive ears the words sound like an authentic speech of man's ceaseless effort on a farm. In their own locality they are firmly attached to the common objects of living and have not been generalised like the words of standard speech. The animals, for example, that an Ayrshire farmer hitched to his plough were not simply horses or mares or geldings. A small one was, by its own name, a "girran," a young one a "staigie," and an old one a "gleyde" or an "aiver." They had additional names according to their place at the shafts of the plough. In tandem, one was the "lan-ahin," the other, the "lan-afore"; the near one when they were harnessed abreast was the "fittie-Ian." In the same way, the other animals in the range of a farmer's experience bore names that were not merely labels. Somehow the names, by the intonation given them as they were spoken, reflected the farmer's attitude. The words for badger and pole­ cat, for instance, are still to Scottish farmers "brock" and "thummart," and they sound harsher than the words for the blackbird and the thrush, "merle" and "mavis." Though these onomatopoeic distinctions are often hard to analyse, they have probably a greater significance in dialect than in standard speech, and certainly the craggy quality of words themselves has a great deal to do with the tone of Burns, as it obviously has for the poetic quality of Beowulf. One group of these words is of particular interest because it is associated with the custom of "flytin' "7 and so provided Burns out of native stock with a vocabulary for his satirical thrusts at individuals. Since fly tin' was never a polite custom and relied to a great extent on direct name-calling, the dialect possesses a variety of epithets covering most of the sins of a simple people,

• The Twa DOKs. 7 For a discussion of "fiytin' " one good source is The Poems of WIlliam Dunbar, ed. David Laing, 1834, vol. 2, pp. 417-420. WORDS AND WORD-TUNES IN BURNS II from stupidity and "bletherin," to hypocrisy and easy morals. A stupid person may be a "coof," a "gawkie," a "gowk," or a "sumph." A loose talkative wench may be a "callet," a "hizzie," a "limmer," a "kimmer," or a "tappk." An irresponsible young . fellow a "feckless" and a "skellum." The Devil, prying into folks' affairs, is a "sneck-drawin'" dog! The practk:e of "kittlin',"8 which Burns makes part of the ceremonies of Hallowe'en, as it is of country ceremonial anywhere, is just as pleasant and as reprehensible in the eyes of sedate elders as the "daffin' " and "houghmagandie" of the Holy Fair. Being "mim­ mou'd," like the unco guid, is as great a sin as being "glib-gabbit," fond of "clishmaclaver"; and certainly the "ill-willie" attitudes of the righteous annoyed Burns more than the "splore" of "gangrel bodies" who met in Poosie Nancie's alehouse. Relying on such a vocabulary of abuse, the satire is anything but subtle, .and the human failings about which Burns writes are obvious and universal, but much of the pleasure derived from his writings comes from this very frankness. Invective, couched in those terms, is the least civil form of abuse imaginable, as close to physical assault as words can come. The spirit of dialect satire is nearer to a slap in the face than to the polite innuendo of Pope or Gay. At the other extreme, and working against this harshness, is the peculiarly Scottish language of affection. In connotative value, an -ie tacked to the end of almost any noun places the object in the category of small things over which the speaker stands guard. By the frequent use of this -ie, or by prefixing "wee" or "sma" or "bonnie" or a number of other familiar epithets to the name, an atmosphere of loving care is immediately created. The mouse is pathetic because its "housie" is destroyed. The daisy's fate is pitiful because it is a "wee flow'r." The "burnie" across which the shepherd lass drives her ewes is a better-loved stream than if it were just a "burn." Though the changes in the tune are rung on a comparatively few words in addition to the proper names, the occurrence of the -ie ending does something to bring Anglo-Saxon verse back to an earlier time when inflection softened the consonantal stems of words. It is not only meaning that is changed, but lilt, the lyrical flavour that Burns caught from the tunes to which he made his songs. It is tradition far more than chance that selects the names in these songs: Annie, Nannie, Peggy, Nelly, Menie, Maggie, Tibbie, Eppie, Jeannie, Polly, Jessie, Nancy, Willie,

8 Moderns refer to it as "sex play." Harry Lauder, in his song Stop your kittlin', Tack, knew what the word meant. 12 WORDS AND WORD-TUNES IN BURNS Charlie, Davie, Johnnie, Jamie. Without such names and the familiar phrases, "bonnie lassie," "bonnie laddie," "bonnie wee thing," "my ain dear Davie," "my bonnie dearie," it is hard to conceive of Scottish songs at all. These phrases are the songs, and both their tune and their mood are characteristic. It is on this account that the charge of sentimentality is brought against Burns and the other Scottish writers who worked this same lyrical vein. If Burns is guilty, so too are Henryson, Ramsay, Fergusson and the anonymous ballad authors; and Edom. 0' GOI·don and Johnnie Armstrong, which rely on this device, may be called sentimental lyrics. At all events, whatever it may be that makes this tune pleasing in Scottish ears, the mere men­ tion of a "wee bit housie" or a "puir wee lassie" places a Scot over the threshold of the kind of poetic emotion he associates with Burns. From these qualities of the Scottish words, then, the drawl with which they are spoken, their earthiness and roughness 0n the tongue, and idiomatic practice by which anyone of them may be changed into a term of affection, the poetic essence of Burns's poetry is derived. His great merit in his century was to lead poetry back from man· as a social abstraction-the Essay 0'/1 Man-to actual men and women, to Jeannie, Mary and Tam; and from abstract reflection about life to things, to a haggis, to collies, to a mouse or a daisy. While he kept true to this pur­ pose, writing about "water-brose or muslin-kail," about a kebbuck, a whaup, or his own illegitimate daughter, he could rely on the strong, unwatered words of the dialect, but when he offered to moralize, as he sometimes tried to do, he used the vague, unre­ sponsive jargon of the professional letter writer or the diction of the poetaster. A comparison between two sets of opening lines points the contrast. A moralising fragment begins:-

Of all the numerous ills that hurt our peace That press the soul, or wring the mind with anguish.

This is tedious homily, prosaic and dull. On the other hand. a familiar song opens:-

0' a' the airts the win' can blaw I dearly lo'e the west.

Here is poetry, simple, racy, and with a swift, direct appeal. His defects, too, come from the same source and lie in the basic poetic inadequacy of dialect. Words closely linked to things, WORns AND WORD-TUNES IN BURNS as are many of these Scottish words, do not lend themselves to a wide range of poetic effect. Their connotations are too narrow and definite and their use in literature too infrequent. Vague and generalised as English words become in common speech, only a very few of them lack the cumulative magic that is gained by their skilled use by generation after generation of great writers. The dialect word continues to rely on its core of intense, intimate meaning, unchanging through the centuries, but the word of standard English keeps adding to itself a new and wider power of suggestion. In the ears of a Scottish farmer the term "aiver" .is much more specific than the word "horse," and its meaning links it closely to daily tasks and interests; but the word "horse," though only a speech counter in every-day use, may call up to sensitive ears echoes of Troy and chivalry and Chaucer's Miller and Lady Godiva. Not only are local words restricted in their range. They may also have ridiculous associations, as Wordsworth learned to his cost about the "language actually used by men." The verses in which Burns employs the dialect most heavily are his humorous and satirical pieces. When, for instance, he compares the onslaught of the witches from Kirk Alloway with bees "bizzin' from their byke," the ridiculousness of Tam's predicament is borne out by the absurd flavour of "bizz" and "byke," two of the kitchen words of the dialect. In The Ordination, one of his most ribald satires against the Kirk, Burns rises to the peak of scurrility by converting the beautiful verses from Psalm 137, "By the waters of Babylon, there we sat down, yes, we wept, when we remem­ bered Zion. We hanged our harps upon the willows in the midst thereof," into

Nae mair by Babel's streams we'll weep, To think upon our Zion; And hing our fiddles up to sleep, Like baby-clouts a-dryin'.

The term "baby-clouts," with its picture of diapers hung in the kitchen to dry, is the pivot of the burlesque. In the same vein he pokes fun at the antiquarian collections of Captain Gross by a Chaucerian list of "auld nick-nackets," mostly to be found near the farm midden. If the purpose is satire or plain fun, as in The Jolly Beggars and its picture of the discharged soldier kissing his doxy, the taproom or kitchen phrase has its value, and many of the undignified local terms are more pungent than what Burns might have called the gelded language of polite society. For WORDS AND WORD-TUNES IN BURNS poetry of any high seriousness, however, the limitations of the dialect are only too apparent.' Lacking a wide currency, the local word is vigorous and direct, as close to the thing it represents as a symbol can come, but, because it is parochial, it is innocent of the complexities of mean­ ing in a wider world. Like the haggis, kail, brose, and cheese of the crofter's diet, it is wholesome and satisfying "hamely fare," but the great poet seeks to live not on bread alone but on manna and wild honey. The tunes, too, can be as sweet and as limited in their range as the shepherd's whistle "blawin' sweetly in its native air." The habits of thought out of which the dialect pro­ ceeds are energetic and shrewd, full of the good sense of "what wives and wabsters think and feel." Few men peasant-born have had a fuller share of this "smeddum" than Robert Burns. Using the words he knew best, he came as near as any poet to a few intimate human secrets, and it was not his fault that the narrow scope of the dialect made a fuller song impossible.

9 For an interesting discussion of this problem, see Edwin Muir, Scott _d Scotland (New York, 1938). BURNS AND THE ENGLISH-SPEAKING WORLD

By HARDIN CRAIG

Almost everything that can be said about Robert Burns has already been said, and it is my own experience as a teacher of literature and as a firm believer in the principle of inclusiveness and the value of range and scope of reading that causes me to talk to you about Burns. I should like American students and readers of literature to understand, admire and habitually read Burns, and my purpose may therefore be described as operative or, if you like, pedogogical. I come before you, not as a Scot, but as an American teacher of literature. I know that my voca­ tion will not commend itself to the ordinary Scotsman, although I feel sure that the greatest men of that race have been, as Burns was, deeply interested in the spiritual as well as the material prosperity of the human race. Indeed, I think that no race has had a greater gift of moral earnestness than the Scotch. I am by no means sure that you will like what I have to say, but I desire to stand on my own feet. I shall not therefore attempt to amuse you, for I am reasonably certain that you will not care too much for any jokes except your own. I shall be much safer if I stick to my own interest, experience and point of view. I have found in literature a tool of the greatest efficacy and the broadest range of operation for the accomplishment of what I wanted to accomplish in my life's work. Literature is as varied as life itself. It is as broad in its intellectual, emotional and moral content as life and as varied as human nature. In my efforts to awaken the minds and hearts of my pupils I have, so to speak, needed Robert Burns, for I believe that he is not only a very great poet but of all poets is perhaps the greatest poet of ordinary life. His beauty, his insight, and his wisdom are of the sort that come home to the business and bosoms of ordinary men and women. I learned this lesson very early. The songs of my infancy were many of them songs by Burns. I recall Flow Gently, Sweet Afton, o Mary at Thy Window Be, Duncan Gray, My Nannie's Awa', lohn Anderson My 10, Mary Morison, The Highland Laddie, The Weary Pund 0' Tow, and a good many others less vividly. As I recall it, my mother and my father both sang these songs very well. Burns's songs are not only beautiful poetry, but they 16 BURNS AND THE ENGLISH-SPEAKING WORLD are intelligible and have a powerful appeal to the imagination. A little later in my life when I was a well-grown schoolboy a certain one of Burns's familiar poems had for some reason a very strong appeal to me. It is an early poem entitled An Epistle to a Young Friend. It seemed to suit my degree of individual develop­ ment and social ambition, and I was delighted with its friendly informality: -

I lang hae thought, my youthfu' friend, A something to have sent you, Though it should serve nae ither end Than just a kind memento; But how the subject theme may gang, Let time and chance determine; Perhaps it may turn out a sang, Perhaps, turn out a sermon.

This first strophe ends with a suggestion of carefree abundance. The poem from such a poet might have been anything, but, in point of fact, it turned out a sermon. It goes on for three more stanzas in quite general terms, the last of which runs:-

Yet they wha fa' in fortunes strife, Their fate we should na censure, For still th' important end of life They equally may answer; A man may hae an honest heart, Tho' poortith hourly stare him; A man may tak a neebor's part, Yet hae nae cash to spare him.

The generous and tolerant attitude of these verses calls forth and marches in step with the idealism of youth. The remaining seven stanzas of the poem present special aspects of life. The advice struck me in youth as soundly and sufficiently ethical, and it is therefore disconcerting to me to find great contemporary critics of Burns saying that Burns had his tongue in his cheek when he wrote the poem and that he was merely satirising the moralistic religiosity of his age and country. I do not think that this is true, but believe that Burns was giving sincere expression to his view of human life while he was still a young man. I am willing to accept the code and believe that the poem still has power to move the admiration and awaken the better instincts of the young. Let me read you two of these stanzas, and perhaps you will help me to decide the question:- BURNS AND THE ENGLISH-SPEAKING WORLD 17 Aye free, aff han' your story tell, When wi' a bosom crony; But still keep something to yoursel Ye scarely tell to ony. Conceal yoursel as weel's ye can Frae critical dissection; But keek thro' ev'ry other man, Wi' sharpen'd, sly inspection.

When ranting round in pleasure's ring, Religion may be blinded; Or if she gie a random sting, It may be little minded; But when on life we're tempest-driv'n, A conscience but a canker- A correspondence fix'd wi' Heav'n Is sure a noble anchor!

This brings me to the chief consideration I would put before you on this occasion. In the United States we have no national poet unless, by virtue of our language and our cultural inheritance, Shakespeare and Burns belong to us. There have been many good and great poets who have expressed our interests and our characteristics well, but none of them is familiarly known-known as Goethe is known in Germany and Burns in Scotland. Fashions change. Longfellow, Lowell, Emerson, Whittier, Whitman, Lanier, Riley, Bret Harte and others have had their day and still have their greatness. They are not lost or neglected, for they are still read in schools and colleges. But most Americans endeavour to pre­ vent their children from "wasting their time" on poets and poetry, and are, by and large, successful. There is little reading of poetry by the general public, and many of our poets no longer try to be intelligible to ordinary men and women. The words of popular songs are often markedly worse than the music, and the music is often none too good. Nearly all of our best popular stuff is imported. I merely accept the fact and think the American people are getting about what they are entitled to get. But I have great faith in literary culture, and my responsibilities do not end with the acceptance of a current condition. Burns with other great poets lives on and makes his beauty, insight and wisdom felt to a surprising extent, but not so greatly as he easily might. His spirit and finer meanings are often lost, and his language is an unnecessary barrier. In my teaching I have endeavoured to do something about the linguistic barrier, and I B 18 BURNS AND THE ENGLlSH-SPEAKING WORLD think you might be interested to hear what i.t is, although not necessarily enlightened or pleased. Burns spoke and wrote and mingled harmoniously together two languages-English and Lowland Scotch. The English, which is excellent, can be handled, and the Lowland Scotch need give us very little trouble. Lowland Scotch is the lineal descendant of ancient Northumbrian, the northernmost dialect of the Anglo­ Saxon conquerors. Lowland Scotch is by far the most important of English dialects, and in it, or in a mixture of it with English, have appeared some of the most significant and most representa­ tive things that the Anglo-Saxon race has recorded in its litera­ ture. The literature of Lowland Scotch is an ancient literature, and perhaps its heyday was more than four hundred years ago. The north country is the land of virility, industry, and good sense, and neither Great Britain nor any of its outspreadings, including the United States of America, would have the virtues and powers they possess without Scotland and the north country. I pass over the roll of great names in the history of Scottish literature and merely ask you to remember that the educated Scot has always known English as well as Scotch, especially since the adoption in Scotland after the Reformation of the King James version of the Bible, and that much of the greatest Scottish litera­ ture appears in normal and often forceful English. Scottish intellect, temperament, character and sentiment appear in English in Hume, Scott, Carlyle, Stevenson, Barrie, Lord Tweedsmuir, and many others. This part of Scottish literature is a firmly held possession, but works and parts of works written in Lowland Scotch are less firmly held and are necessary for complete com­ prehension and enjoyment of literary Scotland. Even within the last generation there has occurred, although few people outside Scotland know it, a most interesting renascence of Scottish literature. Lowland Scotch itself is a vast dialect of English, and within the area of Lowland Scotch there are a large number of local and regional manners of speech. I am disposed, for the immediate purpose of this lecture, to place them at a discount, although I recognise that for the truer and finer effects, they are necessary. My point is that, for the reading and enjoyment of Burns and other Lowland Scotch writers, local dialects may, within limits, be disregarded. Burns himself did not write his Ayrshire dialect with any great consistency or purity, and with him there began or continued a sort of current Lowland Scotch freely mingled with English that has become more and more a sort of linguistic coin of the realm. Change in this matter has been very rapid during the last fifty years, and it is not unusual to hear older BURNS AND THE ENGLISH-SPEAKING WORLD 19

Scottish people lament the displacem~nt of their native Doric with a sort of generally current Lowland Scotch speech, inferior to the older forms no doubt, but nevertheless most convenient. What is happening is perhaps analogous to the formation of a literary language in the midst of a welter of dialects such as that that came about through the domination of the Midland dialect of London in the late Middle Ages and in early modern times. It would be better if there were one controlling influence in Low­ land Scotch. As it is, the dialects of Burns and other later writers of Lowland Scotch have been slowly unifying influences. When I begin to speak of the Lowland Scottish language, you will therefore be prepared for a certain vagueness in the subject and a certain wide latitude in the choice both of words and forms. You will remember that educated Scottish people, and most of the Scotch are educated people, have spoken and written standard English time out of mind. To be sure, they have spoken it in their own way and have pronounced their English with a consonantal clarity that equals or surpasses the English in the utterance of consonants and the Americans in the utterance of vowels. Their English is perhaps rather lower pitched than that of the English themselves and certainly than that of the Americans. Scottish English is possibly a trifle slower than American English and certainly much slower than the English of the English. Scotch seems to be level like American English and does not range through the great gamut of inflection that characterises English as spoken in England. More than half the battle is won when one learns to read Burns and other writers of Lowland Scotch in the Scottish manner of speaking English, without any reference to dialect at all. Far more than half of Burns's words are English words and were used as such by him, but they need to be uttered in the clear Scottish way in which he uttered them. To learn to do this is largely a matter of imitation and comes from association with Scottish people. The same thing may be said of learning the characteristic Scot­ tish inflections, which tend, one might say, to the vein of under­ statement. These things may, however, be left to time and opportunity. I am not urging great effort or presenting a perfectionist point of view. I am merely seeking to re-assure and encourage my pupils and those who may read this lecture by saying that to learn to read Burns acceptably is no difficult matter. The Scotch themselves,· particularly the older Scotch, are firmly convinced that no speaker of standard English, whether English, American or Colonial, can possibly read and understand the Scottish poems of Robert Burns, and from the point of view of complete adequacy 20 BURNS AND THE ENGLISH-SPEAKING WORLD and impeccable skill they are no doubt right. But I am not willing to surrender one of the world's great poets to their not too zealous ministrations. The Scotch seem to take a sort of pleasure in being misunderstood, and they are very patient about it. The consciousness that for centuries they have been man for man the best educated people in the world, their frank recognition of their undoubted competency, and their clear knowledge, not only of what they have amounted to in the modern world, but what they still amount to have given them a pride in being and in doing that has made mere reputation a trivial matter. Consider the infinite patience of a race that can bear with such indifference the thousands of banal music-hall jokes about the parsimony of the Scotch. But I repeat that I am not willing for the Scotch to enjoy a monopoly of Robert Burns and other great writers of Lowland Scotch. I have some slight claims in this matter, easily brushed aside. I am the son of a Scotsman, and I heard from infancy both Lowland Scotch and excellent English as spoken by the Scotch. I am not, however, proud or self-conceited, and, if there is any Scottish person present, I apologise for my performance and con­ sent to have myself classified at best as a near-Scotsman. I have explained my motives. Burns's spelling of Lowland Scotch is the conventional spelling he inherited from earlier Scottish poets, such as Ramsay and Fergusson, and his spelling is by no means a safe guide. One needs to learn a little Scotch, and in a surprising way acceptable forms, though with some neglect of the text, will establish them­ selves. I have already spoken of the Scottish manner of utterance, even when the speaker is speaking the purest of pure English, and have said that this was of prime importance in the reading of Burns; also that to learn it is a matter of observation and imita­ tion. Everybody knows, for example, that the Scotsman rolls or trills his r's, and this is true. It is also true that it is hard for us who have been brought up in the South to remember this and execute it. I do not mind confessing that the failure to roll my ,·'S is the chief weakness in my own speaking of Scotch. I con­ fess, in a cowardly fashion, that I resort to suggestion rather than to precise and unflinching performance. The point of this matter is that Burns's English poems, not often praised, are greatly vitalised by being read as a Scot would read them. For another example, one should also remember the careful use in Lowland Scotch of what is called the broad a. This is essential, for the Scottish a of this type is extremely and unvaryingly broad. Hardly less so is the fact that, whereas in English, particularly American English, short 0 has taken on an ah-sound, Lowland Scotch has BURNS AND THE ENGLISH-SPEAKING WORLD 21 retained a genuine short o. Contrast the current pronunciation of "God" with the Scottish pronunciation which is like g-a-w-d, only much shorter. There are also cases in which the transition of long open 0 to long close 0 has not been carried through in English and has been in Scotch; the word "broad" in Scotch rhymes with "road." The long close 0 of early English developed into an oo-sound, but this in English has often been relaxed. I am sure you have noticed the difference in sound between f-o-o-t and b-o-o-t. In the word "foot" this ~und has been, as they say, relaxed in English. The Scotsman has not consented to the relaxation, so that "foot" and other words of the kind rhyme with "boot." Also in the transition of long u to ow in such words as "house" the Scotsman has hung on rather stubbornly to the older sound. Even when he conforms to the English usage, there is a suggestion of a rounded higher sound in his utterance of words like "house" and "louse" and "mouse." All of these matters pertain to what we may call the Scottish manner of speaking English. The Lowland Scotch that Burns wrote was not always the dialect that he must have spoken, although his language is pre­ vailingly the Ayrshire dialect. I think we may do, with, of course, certain inaccuracies and inconsistencies, somewhat the same thing the Scotch themselves do. They do not, when they read or recite Burns, reproduce the Ayrshire dialect. They simply translate Burns into their own dialects, whether that of Strathearn, Clydesdale, or Fife, and proceed to read, sing and enjoy their great national poet without let or hindrance. We may, I think, do somewhat the same thing, for we have a right to Burns just as the Scotch have a right to Shakespeare and Milton. The handling of Scottish consonants offers little difficulty, although it is well to know which ones of them are unstable and which ones of them have differing English equivalents. The Scottish language is rather more heavily aspirated than is standard English, and has two aspirates of its own: ch or gh after a, 0, and u, as in the familiar word "loch," and ch or gh after e, i, and y, as in the simple sentence, "It's a braw, bright, moonlight night, the night." Although for practical purposes the spelling usually takes care of the matter, it is well to know also some­ thing about those consonants in Scotch that have been lost, or, if they appear in a text, are unstable. For example, d tends to dis­ appear after n. "Mind" becomes "min'," and "handle" "hane!." T goes out after k, so that "act" becomes "ak"; 1 disappears after the aw sound and the oo-sound, so that "all" becomes "a" (pro­ nounced aw), and "wool" becomes "woo'" or by another rule "00"; tJ is an unstable letter, and one has "hae" for "have" and 22 BURNS AND THE ENGLISH-SPEAKING WORLD "e'en" for "even"; t disappears after I, as in "himsel'''; initial w is uncertain; and the y-sound needs to be watched like a hawk. In this matter we shall go no further than to say that "nature" becomes "natur'''; but this does not get us far, for "potatoes" are "tatties" when they are not called "spuds." One thing more is imperative: there is no final g in Lowland Scotch for the present participle and the verbal noun. Not "singing and dancing," but "singin' and dancin' " is Scotch. In addition to what has already been said about Lowland Scotch vowels, one might add that a both short and long is always of the Italian kind, so that there is a trap for English speakers in such words as "man" and "that," and the treatment of these simple and familiar words is important for the total effect. Short e is a little longer in Lowland Scotch than in Eng­ lish, and the diphthong ai is very pronounced, so that when the Scotsman says "ay," meaning "yes," his assent seems very cordial. Short vowels in Lowland Scotch, particularly in unaccented syllables, are a law unto themselves and vary in pronunciation from dialect to dialect. In Burns they seem to rhyme as the poet pleases. There are differences in accent, too, that sometimes disturb the meter, mischief, c6mmittee, and c6mfortable. One who tries to speak Scotch should also avoid being ungrammatical. For example, "no" means "not," as in "I'm no goin' there." "Nae means "no," as in "There's nae luck about the house." It is shocking to hear these common words misused. But these are relatively smaller matters that a little correct memorising will quickly set right, while, at the same time, it teaches modulation, rhythm, and spirit. I should like now to read a few passages from Burns to com­ ment on them briefly from the point of view of utterance and meaning. The first is from An Epistle to /ohn Lapraik, an old Scottish Bard:-

I am nae poet, in a sense, But just a Rhymer, like, by chance, And hae to learning nae pretence Yet, what the matter? When'er my Muse does on me glance, I jingle at her.

Your critic-folk may cock their nose, And say, "How can you e'er propose, You wha ken hardly verse frae prose, To mak a sang?" BURNS AND THE ENGUSH-SPEAKING WORLD 23 But by your leave, my learned foes Ye're maybe wrang.

What's a' your jargon 0' your schools, Your Latin names for horns and stools; If honest nature made you fools, What sairs your grammars? Ye'd better ta'en up spades and shools, Or knappin-hammers.

A set 0' dull, conceited hashes, Confuse their brains in college classes! They gang in stirks, and come out asses, Plain truth to speak; An' syne they think to climb Parnassus By dint 0' Greek!

Gie me ae spark 0' Nature's fire, That's a' the learning I desire; Then, tho' I drudge thro' dub an' mire, At pleugh or cart, My Muse, though hamely in attire, May touch the heart.

You will note that this epistle is a youthful utterance of Burns, very manly a trifle pertinacious, and somewhat self-<:onscious. The spelling is mainly English, and yet the tone and some of the language is very Scottish. The question is how far are we to read this as if it were pure Scotch. One may safely follow the spelling and pronounce the words as they come, and yet perhaps one ought to notice that the varying pronunciation of short vowels enables Burns to rhyme "sense," "chance," "pretence," and "glance" without much, if any, difference in sound. Note also that "hashes" (pronounced "hasses") rhymes with "asses" and "classes" and that, as Burns would have uttered it, "Parnassus" rhymes perfect enough with the other words. It must be that the final us of "Parnassus" was not felt as ~uch, but fitted in with the ordinary plurals in es. It is also impossible that Burns should have pronounced "cart" as we do in English, even granting him a trilled r. Lowland Scotch has a genuine double t, and therefore probably Burns did not say "matter" as we do, but "mat-ter." Note also the use of nae for "no," hae for "have," wha for "who," shools for "shovels," ae for "one," and pleugh for "plough." The poem turns out to be very Scotch, although the spelling is English enough. One can, however, get without much 24 BURNS AND THE ENGUSH-SPEAKING WORLD linguistic effort a lively impression of this proud young rustic poet. Let me now read you a poem so broadly Scotch that it is an impertinence for any Southron to attempt it. It is called To a Haggis. Burns probably said Tae a Haggis.

Fair fa' your honest, sonsie face, Great chieftain 0' the puddin-race! Aboon them a' ye tak your place, Painch, tripe, or thairm: Weel are ye wordy 0' a grace As lang's my arm.

The groaning trencher there ye fin, Your hurdies like a distant hill, Your pin wad help to mend a mill In time 0' need, While thro' your pores the dews distil Like amber bead.

His knife see rustic labour dight, An' cut you up wi' ready slight, Trenching your gushing entrails bright Like onie ditch; And then, 0 what a glorious sight, Warm-reekin, rich!

Ye Pow'rs, wha mak mankind your care And dish them out their bill 0' fare, Auld Scotland wants nae skinking ware That jaups in luggies; But if ye wish her gratefu' prayer, Gie her a Haggis!

Although there is a good deal of English spelling in this poem, one who knows Lowland Scotch may go the limit. He may say "chittn," "groanin," "men'," "dicht" and "slicht," "sneerin," "pair deevil," "resoons," and mankin'." To a Haggis is one of of the simplest of poems, and the chief difficulty, if there is a difficulty, is with the meanings of old Scotch words. You will note that Burns calmly rhymes "sconner" and "dinner," and "luggies" and "Haggis." To pronounce the exclamation "0" in an English way spoils the poem; it must be uttered "Och!" Let us look finally at two little poems. Both are very simple and very beautiful. BURNS AND THE ENGUSH-SPEAKING WORLD 25 John Anderson my jo, John, When we were first acquent, Your locks were like the raven And your bonie brow was brent; But now your brow is beld, John, Your locks are like the snaw; But blessings on your frosty pow, John Anderson my jo. John Anderson my jo, John, We clamb the hill thegither; And many a canty day, John, We've had wi' ane anither: Now we maun totter down, John, But hand in hand we'll go, And sleep thegither at the foot, John Anderson my jo. There is a great lot of choices in this poem from dialect to dialect, and it makes no great difference within limits what choices we make. We can follow Burns's spelling, or we can say "broo," and "noo." We can say "bonie" or "bonny," "ane" or "yin," or "maun" or "mun." We can even say "han" instead of "hand," and we can say "foot" or "fit." The same freedom is in others of Burns's great songs, including Auld Lang Sync. For example, consider this lyric that Burns wrote on his death-bed in honour of the neighbour girl who had soothed his sufferings:- 0, wert thou in the cauld blast, On yonder lea, or yonder lea, My plaidie to the angry airt, I'd shelter thee, I'd shelter thee. Or did Misfortune's bitter storms Around thee blaw, around thee blaw, Thy bield should be my bosom, To share it a', to share it a'. Or were I in the wildest waste, Sae bleak and bare, sae bleak and bare, The desert were a paradise, If thou wert there, if thou wert there. Or were I monarch of the globe, Wi' thee to reign, wi' thee to reign, The only jewel in my crown Wad be my queen, wad be my queen. 26 BURNS AND THE ENGLISH-SPEAKING WORLD Unless one wishes in speaking of Burns to become historical, linguistic, or antiquarian, one has the impossible task of deter­ mining the universal. Burns was a universal genius like Shakespeare, and even to present their quality schematically is at once an unconvincing and an overwhelming task. To a remark­ able degree Burns epitomises humanity, and, if one is willing to forego censoriousness, it must be acknowledged that he embodied and expressed humanity at its best. He had that just and honest estimate of himself that we dignify with the name of self-respect. He acknowledges his possession of his full share of faults, weak­ nesses and even vices of humanity. He did not, however, glory in these things, but kept his mind level. It is probable that, for the sake of reproving hypocrisy, he may on occasion have flaunted his transgressions, for, like all men, he had in him a modicum of recklessness; but nobody can say he lacked a sense of humble repentance and did not aspire to and diligently practise righteous­ ness and the service of God. So much so that it may be said of him, as of almost no other poet, that he was truly and devotedly on the right side of things. He had also a sense of his own class and its value, and he shattered the idle pretence that greatness and ability are matters of class. In no man has ever been realised more vividly the truth of the paradox that all men are equal in the sight of God. Along with his strong, but not distorted, sense of his own individuality Burns effected a union with humanity like that of Shakespeare, Cervantes, and Dickens. No man knew better than Burns that men are far more alike than they are different, and no man ever filled out and completed an individuality more richly with the traits of humankind. This appeared in him in a sympathy almost divine in its all~mbracing quality. Carlyle made some such statement as this about Burns, which I read many years ago, and I remember still two of his illustrations. One was from A Winter Night, which expresses Burns's feeling for the creatures that suffer from the storm:-

List' ning the doors and winnocks rattle, I thought me on the ourie cattle, Or silly sheep, wha bide this brattle 0' winter war, And through the drift, deep-Iairing, sprattle, Beneath a scar.

Ilk happing bird, wee helpless thing! That, in the merry months of spring, Delighted me to hear thee sing, BURNS AND THE ENGUSH-SPEAKING WORW 27

What comes 0' thee? Whare wilt thou cow'r thy chittering wing And close thy e'e? But Burns's sympathy does not stop with these good creatures; it goes on to bad creatures:- E'en you on murd'ring errands toil'd, Lone from your savage homes exil'd, The blood-stain'd roost, and sheep-cote spoil'd My heart forgets, While pityless the tempest wild Sore on you beats. Burns, said Carlyle, could not hate the devil with strict orthodoxy, so that he closes his famous tirade, Address to the Deil, with this stanza:- But, fare you wed, auld Nickie-ben? o wad ye tak a thought an' men'! Ye aiblins might-I dinna ken- Still hae a stake- I'm wae to think upo' yon den, E'en for your sake! One can see how this sympathy came about in the life and career of Robert Burns, but alas! one cannot see why. I like to follow the simple story of Burns's life, because it seems to me to be a miracle, not of the showy kind that make their way into martyrologies, but a miracle of the commonplace. It may not impress you and, if you lived such a life, it might not make a poet of you. Burns was born in a thatched cottage that stands a stone's throw from the Brig 0' Doon in the village of Alloway two miles south of Ayr. When he was seven his father leased Mt. Oliphant, a poor little farm of seventy acres four miles from Ayr. There was insufficient capital to stock the farm, and the enterprise was hard sledding from the first. When Robert was eighteen the family moved to Lochlea, a rather better farm. These places somehow made Robert Burns a poet. I have walked over both places and have wondered how they did it. In those barren fields, it seems, there was a daisy, a field mouse, a laverock, and a ewe named Mailie. They were important agents, and one wonders if they were special. Or, to put it another way, one wonders if God has ceased to speak to boys on farms. Just how Robert Burns got the substantial education he possessed one does not know. He went to school very little and must have taken his education into his own hands, and that, too, is not a bad idea. ON A MOUNTAIN TAP

Burd alane on a barren mountain tap A man can think upon the wey 0 things Wi mind as clear's the cleanness a the wind, The blueness 0 the lift, the greenness o the waters in the corrie's rockbund lochan. Here things tak on perspective, ilk ane seen The size it hood to be; no seen in rouk When pules become great lochs, slabs muckle cliffs, And boulders michty mountains. The reek 0 touns Is like ontil the rouk on mountains, garrin Aathing seem mair muckle nor it is. Here our petty dule becomes as nocht. Time has tint its meanin; hours and days Years and decades, hae little sense up here; The scene has barely chyngeit sin the day The ice-seas M:artit soil and plants awa To leave thir polished slabs upon the ebb.

Was it yestreen that I was here afore? Yestreen, or lang, lang syne in ither form? Is't some ancestral memorie that steers My blude and gars me feel that only this Is real? My ither sel, that bides and dargs Doun in the howe noo dernin 'neath a sea o clouds, is nocht but a winter sleep. Like the moss campion, that's in a dwaam The fecl~ 0 the year aneath a hap 0 snaw, To burst in a bleeze 0 flourish for a wee Short simmer season, I come alive in thir Wheen short, owre short stravaigins on the hills.

What is't that gars my blude gang stoundin, gars My hert rejoice at sic a time?

Is it the pleisure that the ee can gie When, sittin by the cairn, we look around? Watchin the eident wind in deep corrie Gerber the sheep-like fuffs 0 waunert rouk IntiI an answereable flock that danders to The corrie's lip to rush in single file ON A MOUNTAIN TAP Throu a nick in the rig, and gang its gait aince mair; Or on a day when steady soakin mist Haps aa the hichts and howes frae human sicht, The ee maun look upon the nearer scene, Ferlie at the detail 0 the rocks, Observe their structure, texture, shape and tint, And note the monie forms and kittle hues o moss and lichen, relict 0 auld lang syne, And yet by-ordinar in complexitie; Or days when wind and rouk combine to shaw Moss-Ieerie glents 0 corrie,loch, and lift That come and gang or ye can tak them in; Or days 0 sunlicht, when the swan-cloud flocks Are driftin doucely owre the lift's blue loch, In ilka airt the ee can wander til Hill upon hill and farther hills are seen Wi juist the skinklin loch in the nearest glen And hyne-awa wastlins glent 0 sea and isle To mind us that the warld is no aa hills. Then there's the pleisures 0 the flesh forby On days when mountain tap is shared wi friens Beekin contentit bodies in the sun Eftir a warstle wi the rocks and ice, And mindin aa the details 0 the climb. J. K. ANNAND. TAM 0' SHANTER MUSEUM

By JOHN GRAY, Hon. Secretary of Ayr Burns Club

"A consummation devoutly to be wished." That phrase by William Hazlett must surely reflect the feelings of Burnsians the world over, in knowing that the Tam 0' Shanter Inn in High Street, Ayr, will be preserved as a memorial to our National Bard. This historic building, immortalised by Burns, was purchased some years ago by Ayr Town Council for £4000. Due to the foresight and enthusiasm of officials of Ayr Burns Club, who felt that this building should be preserved as a memorial, an appeal for funds was launched with this purpose in view. As a result, £ 1250 was raised towards the purchase price and handed over to the Corporation, when an assurance was given to Ayr Burns Club that the premises would be retained as a memorial to Robert Burns. Widespread interest was aroused by the appeal for funds, and Ayr Burns Club were the recipients of many gifts in the form of pictures and relics connected with the poet, or with the immortal poem, "Tam 0' Shanter." The donors expressed the wish that these gifts would be housed in the premises, if a museum was arranged. Some years elapsed before the licensee, Messrs. Turner's, Ltd., found alternative accommodation to suit their business, so all relics were stowed for safe custody in a bank. The premises were vacated some time ago, and the Corpora­ tion set about very extensive renovations. The roof has been re-thatched, and the interior redecorated without in any way disturbing the essential features. The room where, "The night drave on wi' sangs an' clatter, An' aye the ale was growing better, is the same to-day, as when,

"The Souter tauld his queerest stories, The landlord's laugh was ready chorus." The large painting on the exterior of the building, depicting Tam mounting his grey mare Meg, was found on examination TAM 0' SHANTER: MUSEUM 31 to have deteriorated so badly with age and exposure that it had to be taken down. A local artist was engaged to paint a new picture of the same theme to the same dimensions. This has now been completed and will be in position in the near future. Close co-operation between town officials and A yr Burns Club have existed during the removations. Appreciation must be expressed of the great amount of work carried through by his staff, and the personal interest that Mr. T. Q'Beirne, Burgh Surveyor, has taken in the transitional stages of the museum. A caretaker has been appointed by the Corporation, and the museum was opened informally to the public on 4th August. Already over 1500 people have paid the admission charge of sixpence. This historic building is now another interesting attraction to the people of all lands who come to visit the Burns Country. Ayr Burns Club will gratefully receive and acknowledge any exhibits, whether gifts or on loan, which would add further to the general interest of the museum. BURNS'S TOUR OF THE DEVON VALLEY AND PERTHSHIRE

By ANDREW MCCALLUM

(In his closing years, the late Andrew McCallum, an Hon. President of the Burns Federation, devoted much of his time to a study of Burns's life and work. After his death, a typescript, consisting of ten chapters, was found amongst his papers. The probability is that Mr. McCallum hoped to publish this under the title, "The Travels of Robert Burns." While it does not appear that Mr McCallum unearthed any fresh material, the following (Chapter VIII) is an interesting example of the work as a whole, and its publication may well serve as a memorial to a good and faithful friend of the Burns Chronicle.)

Burn:; was twice in the valley of the river Devon and also twice in Perthshire. On his Highland tour Burns spent two nights in Stirling. He left Nicol on Monday, August 27, 1787, and made his first acquaintance with the Devon and the fine-at places awesome-scenery on its banks. This is the entry in the diary on the date mentioned: "Go to Harviestoun-Mrs. Hamilton and family-Mrs. Chalmers, Mrs. Shields-go to see Caudron Linn, Rumbling Brig and DeWs Mill-return in the evening." This meagre entry has to be supplemented from other sources. The proprietor of Harvieston, a mansion about a mile and a quarter north-east of Tillicoultry, was John Tait, whose wife had died leaving a son and a daughter, and he invited his sister-in-law, Mrs. Barbara Hamilton, a widow, and the step-mother of Gavin Hamilton, Mauchline, to take charge of his household affairs until his daughter grew up. She lived at Harvieston with her son and two daughters, Grace and Charlotte, the latter of whom entered very closely into the life of Burns. An occasional visitor to Harvieston was Mrs. Euphemia Chalmers, Edinburgh, a sister of Mrs. Barbara Hamilton, and also a widow. The two sisters had lived near each other in the neigh­ bourhood of Mauchline before the loss of their husbands. Mrs. Chalmers had two daughters, Cochrane, who had married her cousin, Sir Henry Mackenzie, of Gairloch. and Margaret, twenty BURNS'S TOUR OF THE DEVON VALLEY & PERTHSHIRE 33 years younger, whom Burns had met in Edinburgh where she was when Burns visited Harvieston. Before leaving Stirling, Burns on August 28, wrote to Gavin Hamilton giving some account of his movements. "Yesterday morning" he said, "I rode from this town up the meandering Devon's banks to pay my respects to some Ayrshire folks at Harvieston. After breakfast we made a party to go and see the famous Caudron-Linn, a remarkable cascade in the Devon, about five miles above Harviestone; and after spending one of the most pleasant days I have ever had in my life I returned to Stirling in the evening." Touching on the family Burns said: "Grace has a good figure, and the look of health and chearfulness, but nothing else remarkable in her person." Charlotte got a fuller notice "Of Charlotte I cannot speak in common terms of admiration: she is not only beautiful, but lovely. Her form is elegant; her features not regular but they have the smile of sweetness and the settled complacency of good-nature in the highest degree; and her com­ plexion, now that she has happily recovered her wonted health, is equal to Miss Burnet's-After the excercise [sic] of our ride to the Falls, Charlotte was exactly Dr. Donne's Mistress: Her pure and elegant blood Flow'd in her cheeks, and so distinctly wrought, That one would almost say her body thought. Her [looks and (deleted)] eyes are fascinating; at once expressive of good sense, tenderness, and a noble mind... Miss Chalmers I had left in Edinr., but I had the pleasure of meeting with Mrs. Chalmers, only Lady Mckenzie being rather a little alarm­ ingly ill of a sore throat somewhat marr'd our enjoyment." Before the autumn was out Burns was back at Harvieston on a tour which included places in Perth shire and Fifeshire. His travelling companion was Dr. James McKittrick Adair, son of an Ayr doctor and a relative of Mrs Dunlop. They travelled on horseback. An account of the tour was furnished twelve years later by Dr. Adair to Dr. Currie, who was preparing his biography of Burns. Though Dr. Adair's recollections of the tour may be generally accepted as fairly accurate, he was clearly wrong regard­ ing the date of the departure from Edinburgh which he put down as August, 1787. "The early and middle part of. October i~," said Dr. William Wallace, "the first clear space of tune to wh1ch such a tour can be assigned." "We rode," said Dr. Adair, "by Linlithgow and Carron to Stirling." Burns was made a freeman of Linlithgow, and as dates are dubious it may be appropriate to introduce here some notes on the conferring of the freedom of which Burns has left no written record. Burns was careless of his burgess tickets to which c 34 BURNS'S TOUR OF THE DEVON VALLEY & PERTHSHIRE at the time of their presentation he attached little or no value. The Linlithgow ticket disappeared and it was not heard of till 1859. At a meeting of the Town Council of Linlithgow on January 4 of that year, "one Alexander Thomas, a native of the town, was introduced to the Council. Mr. Thomas produced the burgess ticket, which was closely perused; and after the members of the Council had satisfied themselves with the impression on the seal they unanimously decided that the ticket was genuine. It was poi~ted out to them that the ticket was the property of one Nelson Mitchell, a merchant in Glasgow, and like Mr. Thomas, a native of the 'good town'. The Council decided to have a copy inserted in the minutes." The ticket was exhibited at the dinner held in the Star and Garter Hotel to celebrate the centenary of the birth of Burns; and a paragraph is devoted to it in the "Chronicle of the Hundredth Birthday of Robert Burns" edited by James Ballantine. The chairman was Provost Dawson, who, to quote from the "Chronicle" stated that "he supposed many here were not aware that Robert Burns was a burgess of our burgh, and, of course, a son of the 'Black Bitch.' Burns's name happens not to be recorded in the Town Council records, as it was not generally the practice at that time, 1787, to record all those who became burgesses ... Burns appears to have been entered as a burgess in passing through Linlithgow on his Highland tour. The burgess ticket was read aloud to the company." . Mr. Nelson Mitchell did not gift the burgess ticket to the town and nothing more was heard of it until 1896, when Dr. William Wallace published his revised edition of Chamber's life and works of Burns. This is what Dr. Wallace wrote: "As evidence that Burns stood well with his countrymen generally at this time (1787) it may be noted that on the roth November, he was presented with the freedom of the burgh of Linlithgow." The burgess ticket, which has been preserved, runs thus: "At Linlithgow, the sixteenth day of November, one thousand seven hundred and eighty-seven years, the which day in presence of James Andrew, Esquire, Provost of the Burgh of Linlithgow; William Napier, James Walton, Stephen Mitchell, John Gibson, bailies; and Robert Speedie, Dean of Guild; compeared Mr. Robert Burns, Mossgiel, Ayrshire, who was made and created Burgess and Guild Brother of the said Burgh, having given his oath of fidelity according to the form used thereanent." While Dr. Wallace said that the ticket had been preserved he did not say by whom or where. The date, roth November, given by Dr. Wallace was obviously a printer's error for 16th November. But both dates are wrong as it does not appear that BURNS'S TOUR OF THE DEVON VALLEY & PERTHSHlRE 35 Burns was out of Edinburgh during the whole of November. It is not known where the ticket is now or whether it is still in existence. To return to the narrative supplied by Dr. Adair to Dr. Currie. "We visited the iron works at Carron, with which the poet was forcibly struck. The resemblance between the place and its inhabi­ tants to the cave of the Cyclops, which must have occurred to every classical reader, presented itself to Burns." WHliam Harvey, in his "Robert Burns in Stirlingshire," wrote that one remark of the poet has been preserved. He said, "The blazing furnaces and mdting iron realised the description of the giants forging th underbolts." John Gibson Lockhart, who says that Burns was impatient of interruption when viewing scenes of beauty or grandeur, wrote in his life of Burns: "I have heard that, riding one dark night near Carron, his companion teased him with noisy exclamations of ddight and wonder whenever an opening in the wood permitted them to see the magnificent glare of the furnaces. 'Look Burns I Good Heavens! look! look! what a glorious sight I' 'Sir,' said Burns, clapping spurs to Jenny Geddes, 'I would not look 1 look I at your bidding if it were the mouth of heIl!'" The story has an apocryphal look, and whether or not Jenny Geddes, as Burns wrote from Edinburgh on August 24, the day before he started on his Highland tour with William Nicol, had been sent home to Ayrshire "wi' her finger in her mouth." She had been sup­ planted by a post chaise. "At Stirling," to quote again from the narrative of Dr. Adair, "we met with a company of travellers from Edinburgh, among whom was a character in many respects congenial with that of Burns. This was Nicol, one of the teachers of the High-Grammar School at Edinburgh-the same wit and power of conversation; the same fondness for convivial society, and thoughtlessness of to-morrow, characterised both... Many songs were sung, which I mention for the sake of observing, that when Burns was caIled on in his turn, he was accustomed, instead of singing, to recite one or other of his own shorter poems, with a tone and emphasis which, though not correct or harmonious, were impressive and pathetic. This he did on the present occasion." Burns and Adair were going to Harvieston, and if the family there had been informed of the visit the date of arrival had not been announced. The ladies of the house-Margaret Chalmers had arrived-instead of preparing for the reception of the guests were getting ready for a day's washing. "The embarrassment of the young ladies was," said Chambers, "rather increased than diminished when Charlotte having gone to see who had arrived 36 BURNS'S TOUR OF THE DEVON VALLEY & PERTHSHIRE came back reporting to her sister, Grize, and Mrs. Chalmers that besides their acquaintance Burns there was an English stranger-­ one, too, of whom she could discover nothing but that he seemed to know an immense number of 'fine people.' Mrs. Hamilton and the young ladies nevertheless contrived to perform the due rites of hospitality to their guests. They, in their turn, were pleased :with the family party in which they mingled, and particu­ larly With the beautiful Charlotte." Chambers also said that "Mrs. Hamilton afterwards acknowledged that the two gentlemen being lodged in a chamber, divided only from hers by a wainscot partition, she was made aware, against her will, that their chat for an hour after retiring referred to nothing but the attractions of her daughter." Dr. Adair, it can reasonably be said, fell in love with Charlotte at first sight, and on November 16, 1789, he returned to Harvieston to make Charlotte his wife. "Thus," he wrote in his letter to Currie, "was I indebted to Burns for a connection from which I have derived, and expect further to derive much happiness." Dr. Adair settled in practice in Harrogate, where he died in 1802 at the age of 37. His wife survived him only five years dying at Edinburgh at the age of 43. For particulars of the Harvieston visit we have to rely mainly on the narrative of Dr Adair. The visit intended to be a short one, was prolonged to about ten days, a violent break in the weather interrupting the arrangements for the continuance of the tour. "We made," says Adair, "excursions to various parts of the surrounding scenery, inferior to none in Scotland in beauty, sub­ liminity and romantic interest; particularly Castle Campbell, the ancient seat of the family of Argyle; the famous cataract of the Devon called the Caldron Linn; and the Rumbling Bridge, a single broad arch, thrown by the Devil, if tradition is to be believed, across the river at about the height of a hundred feet above its bed." This was the first visit of Burns to Castle Campbell, which was situated on the Harvieston estate. "I am surprised," continued Adair, that none of these scenes should have called forth an exertion of Burns's muse. But I doubt if he had much taste for the picturesque. I well remember that the ladies at Harvieston, who accompanied us on this jaunt, expressed their disappointment at his not expressing in more glowing and fervent language his impression of the Cauldrin Linn scene, certainly highly sublime and somewhat horrible." Dr. Adair forgot that Burns was a poet, whose spontaneous writings showed that he was very conscious of the beauty of the earth and not primarly a tourist, who was taking notes, mental or written, for a book, the production of which would be the first business of his return home. "What a picture it must have been" wrote Gabriel Seaton BURNS'S TOUR OF THE DEVON VALLEY & PERTHSHIRE 37

~n his life of Burns, "to see the party dragging Burns about, point­ Ing out the best views, and breathlessly waiting for a torrent of verse. The verses came afterwards, but they were addressed not to the Ochils or the Devon, but to Peggy Chalmers," who as Chambers wrote, "was a woman eminendy capable of appreciating the society of literary men," and whose "gendeness and vivacity,» as a relative of hers had been informed, "had a favourable influence on the manner of Burns and that he appeared to advant­ age in her presence." Peggy Chalmers was honoured in two songs: "Where braving angry winter's storms" and "My Peggy's face, my Peggy's form." Though Burns, writing to Peggy, said, "I have complemented you chiefly, almost solely, on your mental charms" there is some reason for supposing that his affection for her was deeper than that of friendship, and in her later years, when she was the widow of Lewis Hay, of Sir William Forbes Bank in Edinburgh, she told Thomas Campbell, the poet, that Burns had made her a proposal of marriage. To Charlotte Hamilton, Burns addressed the song "How pleasant the banks of the clear winding Devon." Principal Shairp described these songs as "some of his not very best verses," and Burns did not pretend that they were. The last song which Burns wrote, "Fairest Maid on Devon Banks" had Charlotte Hamilton for its subject, and his imagination seemed to have suggested to him that a slanderous tongue had deprived him of her society. If Burns is to be believed the Harvieston visit did not extend to ten days. Writing from Auchtertyre to William Cruickshank, Edinburgh, he said: "I was storm-steadied two days at the foot of the Ochil Hills, with Mr. Tait of Harvieston and Mr. Johnston of Alva; but was so well pleased that I shall certainly spend a day on the banks of the Devon as I return." Burns has no further reference to Alva, and says William Harvey in his "Robert Burns in Stirling­ shire," we were forced back upon local tradition for details ... It appears that during the time he was in the Hillfoots district he journeyed to Alva and remained overnight. He visited Mr. John.­ ston, the first laird of Alva of that name, who was then the inhabitant of Alva House, and who in earlier years had fought at Plassey. It might be inferred from Burns's letter that he was the guest of Mr. Johnston during his stay in Alva; but, locally, it is believed that this was not the case. The tradition is that he passed the night in Courthill House, which was at that time occupied as an inn by a person of the name of Hume ... It would seem that Burns renewed the acquaintance of a Mauchline friend who was then resident in Alva. This was Betty Black." She had become Mrs. Stewart and kept a public house in the village. Burns visited the place, and the room in which he sat 38 BURNS'S TOUR OF THE DEVON VALLEY & PERTHSHIRE was until the demolition of the property in 1899 pointed out. Several of the inhabitants were introduced to Burns, who was very moderate in his potations and very silent for such a brilliant talker. The Alva Burns Club placed on the new buildmg a tablet commemorating the traditional visit of Burns. From Harvieston Burns went to Ochtertyre, in Strathearn, the home of Sir William Murray, who was one of the company Burns met at Blair Castle. Sir William, who was described as an amiable and intdligent man, was a cousin of Robert Graham, of Fintry, whom Burns had also first met at Blair Castle. "His wife, Lady Augusta Mackenzie, was," said Dr. William Wallace, "interesting to Burns from associations connected with her parentage; for she was the youngest daughter of the Jacobite (third) Earl of Crom­ artie, who so narrowly escaped accompanying Kilmarnock and Balmerino to the scaffold on Tower Hill in 1746." The shortest route from Harvieston to Ochtertyre was by way of Glen Devon, the pass in the Ochils, and Gleneagles to Crieff. Ochtertyre was only some three miles from that town. But Burns made a detour to call at another Ochtertyre, a mansion on the right bank of the Teith, equidistant from Stirling and Doune, and the home of John Ramsay, a gentleman of leisure and learning, who was on terms of intimacy with the most noted scholars of his day. Writing on October 8 to William Nicol from the home of Sir William Murray, Burns said: "I called at Mr. Ramsay's of Ochtertyre as I came up the country, and am so delighted with him that I shall certainly accept of his invitation to spend a day or two with him as I return," and on the same day he wrote to William Cruick­ shank: "I leave this place, I suppose, on Wednesday, and shall devote a day to Mr. Ramsay at Ochtertyre near Stirling; a man to whose worth I cannot do justice." Dr. Blacklock was the means of bringing Burns and Ramsay together. The stay of Burns at the Strathearn Ochtertyre as the guest of Sir William Murray was longer than he had intended. Writing from Edinburgh on September 29 to Josiah Walker, then at Blair Castle, Burns said: "On Thursday I shall be at Auchtertyre where I shall remain five or six days;" but in 'the Glenriddell MSS. he made the following note to his poem "On Scaring Some Water­ fowl in Loch Turit": "This was the production of a solitary forenoon's walk from Ochtertyre-house. I lived there, Sir William's guest, for two or three weeks, and was much flattered by my hospitable reception." That poem contained the idea which had found earlier expression in the lines "To a Mouse on turning up her Nest with the Plough, November 1785" that the lower creation were fellow creatures of Burns. The song "Blythe, blythe and merry was she" was also the production of the stay at Ochtertyre. BURNS'S TOUR OF THE DEVON VALLEY & PERTHSHIRE 39 The subject of the song was Euphemia Murray, the eighteen year old daughter of Mungo Murray of Lintrose, and a cousin of Sir William. Her beauty earned for her the title of "The Flower of Strathmore." She became the wife of Mr. Smythe, of Methven, who, with the title of Lord Methven, was made a Senator of the College of Justice. According to a letter of a relative of Mrs. Smythe, quoted by Dr. Wallace in his revised edition of Chamber's "Burns," "Mrs. Smythe always manifested a disinclination to speak on the subject of her meeting with Burns. But she once told me that she remembered his reciting the poem 'On scaring the wild­ fowl' one evening after supper, and he gave the concluding lines with the greatest possible vigour." Euphemia was an inmate of Ochtertyre House the whole time Burns was there. He was completely at home at Ochtertyre. Writing to William Nicol, he said: "I find myself very comfortable here, neither oppressed by ceremony nor mortified by neglect. Lady Augusta is a most engaging woman, and very happy in her family, which makes one's outgoings and incomings very agreeable." Burns had informed Josiah Walker of his intended visit to Sir William Murray, and Walker writing to Burns from Blair Castle on September 13 said: "When you pay your promised visit to the Braes of Ochtertyre, Mr. & Mrs. Graham of Balgowan beg to have the pleasure of conducting you to the bower of Bessie Bell and Mary Gary, which is now in their possession." From the diary of the Highland tour we learn that Burns visited the bower on Saturday September 15 while on his way from Perth to Kinross. Going from the home of Sir William Murray to the other Ochtertyre, the home of John Ramsay, Burns passed through Greenloaning, and the Rev. George Gilfillan in his life of Burns related an incident of which he was informed by "a very respect­ able farmer-Mr Finlayson, of Dam of Quoight, by Greenloaning. This gentleman had an uncle, named Peter Finlayson, of Nether Meal Mill, near Greenloaning, who was with one of his customers in a small inn at Greenloaning, kept by a person named Towers. About the gloaming there dropt in a decent looking countryman, with a strong south country accent. On his taking a seat he was presented with a glass of whisky, of which he took a moderate sip, and was returning it when Finlayson said, 'Take it out sir,' which Burns, for he it was, did; and then 'dunted' and called in his gill or noggin, and helped Finlayson and his frien~ to ~ retur~ glass, which was only tasted by them, when Burns cned Take It out as ye made me do,' to which they replied that they had some before. Nevertheless the party became very social. Burns' con­ versation was electrifying, and they sat very late. He told them who he was; but not till they were parting... He told them he 40 BUR~S'S TOUR OF THE DEVON VALLEY & PERTHSHIRE had been at Ochtertyre, and they plied him with questions, which he dexterously parried till the very close of the evening." John Ramsay, in a letter to Dr. Currie, gave some particulars of the stay of Burns at Ochtertyre: "I have been in the company of many men of genius," wrote Ramsay, "some of them poets; but I never witnessed such flashes of intellectual brightness as from him, the impulse of the moment, sparks of celestial fire; I never was more delighted, therefore, than with his company, for two days, tete-a-tete. In a mixed company I should have made little of him; for, to use a gamester's phrase, he did not always know when to playoff and when to play on. When I asked him whether the Edinburgh literati had mended his poems by their criticisms-'See,' said he, 'those gentlemen remind me of some of the spinsters in my own country, who spin their thread so fine that it is neither fit for weft nor woof.''' It has often been remarked that Burns was unfortunate in not having a Boswell among the friends with whom he most frequently associated, and the absence of such a friend can never be more regretted than the two days which Burns spent with John Ramsay tete-Hete at Ochtertyre. What an intellectual treat it would have been to read an accurate account of the talk between two such men. Ramsay had studied the classics at Edinburgh University, and on hIS house and estate he had placed various Latin inscriptions in which Burns, who had a little knowledge of that language, showed particular Interest. Burns asked for copies ot these, and later on they were cent to him by Ramsay. In October, 1787, Ramsay wrote a long letter to Burns advising him how to behave as a man and as a poet. Burns, who had no great liking for gratuitous advice did not do as Ramsay advised, and there is no record that he even acknowl­ edged the letter. Burns, writing from Ochtertyre on October 8, had told William Cruickshank: "I shall certainly spend a day on the banks of the Devon as I return," and in fulfilment of that decision he rode from the house of John Ramsay to Harvieston. Burns had been away from his friend Adair for a considerable time and what did he find on coming face to face with him at Harvieston? Adair, in a towering passion at seeming neglect, pacing up and down the front of Harvieston with his horse saddled and ready to depart without him? If any such incident occurred there is no record of it written or traditional, and very likely the truth is that Burns had Euphemia Murray in Strathearn, Adair had Charlotte Hamil­ ton in the valley of the Devon. It may also be the truth that Adair, if not with mortification, at least with regret, joined Burns in the continuance of their tour towards the east. Burns was heading for Clackmannan to see Mrs. Bruce, a Jacobite old lady, BURNS'S TOUR OF THE DEVON VALLEY & PERTHSHIRE 41 who lived in the tower of that name, and about whom Ramsay had talked to Burns. Dr. Adair in his letter to Dr. Currie wrote: "A visit to Mrs. Bruce of Clackmannan, a lady above ninety, the lineal descendant of that race which gave the Scottish throne its brightest ornament, interested his feelings powerfully. This vener­ able dame, with characteristical dignity, informed me, on my observing that I believed she was descended from the family of Robert Bruce, that Robert Bruce was sprung from her family. Though almost deprived of speech by a paralytic affection she preserved her hospitality and urbanity. She was in possession of the hero's helmit and two handed sword, with which she conferred on Burns and myself the honour of Knighthood, remarking that she had a better right to confer that title than some people. " You will of course, conclude that the old lady'S political tenets were as Jacobi­ tical as the poet's, a conformity which contributed not a little to the cordiality of our reception and entertainment. She gave, as her first toast after dinner, Awa' Uncos, or Away with the Strangers-Who these strangers were you will readily understand. Mrs. Adair corrects me by saying that it should be Hooi, or Hoohi Uncos, a sound used by shepherds to direct their dogs to drive away the sheep." Though Lady Clackmannan, as she was called by the courtesy of the times, was not quite correct in her genealogy there was some connection between the royal house and hers. She died in 1791 when the sword and helmet of the victor of Bannockburn passed into the possession of the Earl of Elgin. To continue the narrative of Dr. Adair: "We returned to Edinburgh by Kinross (on the shore of Lochleven) and Queens­ ferry. I am inclined to think Burns knew nothing of poor Michael Bruce, who was then alive at Kinross, or had died there a short time before. A meeting between the bards, or a visit to the deserted cottage and early grave of poor Bruce, would have been highly interesting. "At Dunfermline we visited the ruined abbey and the abbey church, now consecrated to presbyterian worship. Here I mounted the cutty stool, or stool of repentence, assuming the character of a penitent for fornication, while Burns from the pulpit addressed to me a ludicrous reproof and exhortation, parodied from that which had been delivered to himself in Ayrshire, where he had, as he assured me, once been one of seven who mounted the seat of shame together. "In the churchyard two flat stones marked the grave of Robert Bruce, for whose memory Burns had more than common venera­ tion. He knelt and kissed the stone with sacred fervour, and heartily (suus ut mos erat) execrated the worse than Gothic neglect of the first of Scottish Heroes." .p BURNS'S TOUR OF THE DEVON VALLEY & PERTHSHIRE Some comment has to be made on the concluding paragraphs of Dr Adair's letter. Michael Bruce, who was a native of Kinnes­ wood, near Loch Leven, was in the opinion of some authorities the author of the "Ode to the Cuckoo;" by others the poem was attributed to the Rev. John Logan .. Bruce died of consumption on July 5, 1767, at the age of 21. Burns had knowledge of Bruce whose poems had been published by Logan in 1770, and in 1791 he gave his support to a new edition of the poems, the profits of which were devoted to the support of Bruce's mother. Mr. Ebenezer Henderson, LL.D., in his "Annals of Dunferm­ line," published in 1879, said that Charlie Shorthouse was grave­ digger and beadle in 1787, and "he would no doubt point out to Burns one of the 'six large flat stones,' now under the northern transept, as that of King Robert's reputed grave. It is well that these misleading stones are now buried, as they never were con­ nected with the royal tombs." Robert the Bruce was only one of many royal personages buried in the Abbey Church. In 1818 when the foundation of the new parish church was being dug the workmen came across a stone coffin, which on being opened, was found to contain human remains wrapped in a pall of cloth of gold. There seemed no doubt that the remains were those of King Robert, and they were reinterred in front of the pulpit of the new parish church. Burns, as we learn from a letter of his addressed to Patrick Miller, Dalswinton, arrived in Edinburgh on October 20, after an absence of about three weeks. The end of the tour seems to have terminated the friendship of Burns and Adair. There is no evidence that they ever met again or even exchanged letters. The Rev. Charles Rogers, D.O., regarded the association of Burns and Adair as so slight that in "The Book of Robert Burns" he did not give Adair even a secondary place in the long list of the friends of the poet. THE WORK AND HUMOUR OF THE SCHOOL COMPETITIONS By FRED J. BELFORD

Of the many activities to which the Burns Federation turns its attention the one which probably has shown the greatest development and progress is the Scottish Literature Competitions held annually in the schools throughout Scotland. Inaugurated in 1945, it took as its model the scheme adopted in 1928 by the Edinburgh District Burns Clubs Association, which catered for local schools only. It has now become a national scheme. Young people between the ages of seven and eighteen are invited to enter the competition, which is divided into sections according to class: (a) Primary 3 to 6; (b) Primary 7; (c) Junior Secondary; and (d) Senior Secondary. The first returns (1945) from the head teachers showed that 331 schools represented by 60,654 pupils took part, while the figures from the latest returns (1956) have risen to 444 schools with over 95,000 pupils. So far, the emphasis has been on recitation from memory and written answers to set questions, and singing has not formed an integral part of the competition. But with the introduction of the new Burns Federation School Song Book, prepared by Messrs. John M'Vie, O.B.E., and George Short, certificates will be awarded by the Federation to successful competitors as is done at present in the literature tests. It is hoped that teachers will avail themselves of this collection of some of the loveliest songs of Burns, and which are suited to the range of children's voices. That the competitions held in the schools are popular there can be no doubt. From letters received from head and class teachers there is abundant testimony that pupils, teachers and, indeed, parents, enjoy the study of the prescribed poems not only from the merely recitative angle but also from the written examination side. Pupils in the Primary 3 to 6 section are not asked to do any written work but go in for recitation only, and adjudicators are loud in their praise as to the quality and the presentation of the oral work by these young performers. Some of the poems chosen are to be found in the Scots Readers pub­ lished by Messrs. Oliver & Boyd, Edinburgh, the most popular being "Whistle, Whistle, Auld Wife," "Katie Beardie," "Wee Willie Winkie," "the Sair Finger," "Aince upon a Day," "Wee Jock Todd," "Schule in June" and "My Hoggie." 44 THE WORK AND HUMOUR OF SCHOOL COMPETITIONS Many teachers derive much pleasure in teaching their children the Doric, which of necessity varies in different parts of the country, and these teachers are to be congratulated on the fine work they are doing in leading their pupils to understand the history, literature and traditions of their native land. At the same time it must be regretted that some of the teaching pro­ fession view the vernacular with slight disfavour, and are no doubt a little embarrassed by the inclusion of Scots poems and readings in their school text books. This was instanced by the young teacher who, when asked by her headmaster to teach the children Burns's poem "To a Mouse" and not to be afraid to use the Scottish pronunciation applied to this little animal, replied that she simply could not shape her lips to say the word "moose." It is, indeed, surprising that so many teachers in Scottish schools show a complete ignorance of their native tongue. With regard to the written examinations, some excellent papers have been submitted, particularly by pupils in the Senior Secondary classes, showing that much study and research have been devoted to works in pure Scots. Galt's "Annals of the Parish" and "The Ayrshire Legatees" are special favourites, as, too, are Burns's poems "Tam 0' Shanter" and "The Cotter's Saturday Night." No pupils have been reported who wrote, as was done by a well-known English periodical some time ago, that the hero in "Tam 0' Shanter" was Tam Skelpit, while the heroine in "The Cotter" was Jenny Halflins, though one pupil, in the line "His lyart haffets wearin' thin and bare," did write that "lyart haffets" were the shiny parts of a man's trousers. Another young enthusiast, in picturing the supper table in this same poem, after two attempts to spell "parritch" correctly, was ultimately forced to substitute the word "soop." A third youngster would persist in converting "Weel done, Cutty Sark" into "Weel done, tuck up sark." It is most refreshing to find in some of the essays that the writers are introducing some of those pithy Scots words which are so much more expressive than their English equivalents­ words like "eerie," "cozie," "couthy," "weird," "stoore," "gloamin'," "wersh," "auld lang syne" and many more. No one has yet been able to give a satisfactory equivalent for this last expression, "A bonnie wee lassie" has infinitely more music, more tenderness and more beauty than the English "a pretty little girl." There is no doubt that much attention has been given in the schools to the national element in our language and literature through the medium of the Burns Federation. Perhaps more definite encouragement could still be given by the inclusion in THE WORK AND HUMOUR OF SCHOOL COMPETITIONS 45 the circulating libraries sent periodically to the schools. How many of the books in these collections, it might be asked, are concerned with the standard Scottish authors in poetry and prose? Not all the credit for endeavouring to keep alive the vernacular of Scotland goes to the schools, for there are many Burns Clubs throughout Scotland and overseas, as well as the Caledonian and St. Andrew's Societies, which are doing a grand job of work in promoting public concerts at which children recite the poems and . sing the songs of Scotland, while choirs of young people and adults contribute to the enjoyment of a real Scots night. There is no question of the language of Burns passing into oblivion, for the language he sang will still for all time be the language of "the sweetest lyrical voice ever bequeathed to any nation." Out of the thousands of children who enter these competitions there may arise in time one who will emulate the poetic fire of our National Bard, re-awaken the love he had for all created things, animate and inanimate, and describe these in the tongue which is peculiarly Scottish. HUGH MACDIARMID

By ALEx. MACMILLAN, M.A., Ed.B., President 01 the Burns Federation

"Tae meddle wi the thistle an tae pluck The figs frae't is my metier, I think. Awak, my muse, an gin ye're in puir fettle We aye can blame it on th' inferior drink."

Poetry is not popular. It never has been, and the wonder is that Robert Burns commanded such a wide audience in his day. Nowadays, as if in defiance of the world's indifference, it has become the fashion for poets to make their work difficult to understand. It is only fair to say that if we are energetic enough to pursue its meaning, their poetry often makes it worth our pains. T. S. Eliot and Wystan Auden are almost "popular," although difficult, but we may wonder if it is because they have become fashionable, in the same way as the esoteric art of ballet has become "fashionable." Such thoughts pass through the mind of one interested enough to study the poetry of Hugh MacDiarmid. MacDiarmid has never been a popular poet, even among his ain folk, who might have been expected to praise where they understood. There are several reasons for this attitude. There is his use of auld-farrant words to express his meaning, which had aroused much controversy in the years gone by. There is his waywardness in poetic con­ struction, and the deliberate bathos in some of his poems, as if he delighted in the breaking down of an atmosphere created. There is his eagerness to tear a passion to tatters and his readi­ ness to take offence. And, of course, he burst upon an astonished Scotland-the literary part of it-like a great storm, sweeping out of his way all the whistlebinkies in the by-going. Worst of all, for his material success at least, he early in his (:areer profe~sed Communistic principles, although how his brilliant and erudite verse can be equated with the reading of the common man is something of a mystery. C. M. Grieve (for Hugh MacDiarmid is a pen-name) was born at Langholm in I1l92. He went to the local Academy, was lucky in his teacher of English, and fought in the first world war. He was invalided home from Salonika with malaria. Having done his bit for Britain, he proceeded to set Scotland's poetry in order HUGH MACDIARMID 47 in the 1920'S. He was then over thirty years of age, but charac­ teristically explains his comparatively slow ripening as a poet by saying that Scots are slow to mature because they have first to get rid of their parochialism 1 In any event, his "Sangschaw" was a triumph. Here was a new lyric poet writing in Scots, and using unremembered words to express his "inner consciousness." Whatever it was created this book of lyrics, it displayed a magni­ ficent poetic impulse.

THE MAN IN THE MUNE. The moonbeams kelter in the lift An Earth, the bare auld stane Glitters aneath the seas 0 space White as a mammoth's bane. An, lifted ower the gowden wave, Peers a dumfoun'ered thocht Wi keethin sicht 0 a' there is, An bodily sicht 0 nocht. A lyric like this, or like "The Eemis-stane," or the much­ anthologised "The Watergaw," showed that Scots could be used to express something more than emotion and uncouth thinking. This has never gone down well with the school of thought which declares "Lallans" to be "a vernacular of always limited and sometimes vulgar thought"; which maintains that the literary language of Scotland is "English with a sprinkling of Scotch"( I) The effect has been to reduce MacDiarmid's stature in the eyes of his countrymen, while he has built up a reputation among intellectuals abroad, his poems having been translated into French, German, Polish, &c. The "Scottish Renaissance" in poetry, per­ haps because it had more than a little to do with Scottish Nationalism, has never had the backing of the whole of intel­ lectual Scotland. (MacDiarmid would deny his opponents any intellect at all.) MacDiarmid, as its architect, has never been popular or weel-thocht-o in the "right" quarters, and his fame and genius have suffered. Consequently, although he calls himself autobiographically "Lucky Poet," his outlook became more and more crabb it as he met one rebuff after another. There is little sign of that, however, in his long poem, "A Drunk Man Looks at the Thistle" (1926):- For ilka thing a man can be or think or dae Aye leaves a million mair unbeen, unthocht, undune, Till his puir warped performance is, To a' that micht ha' been, a thistle tae the mune. HUGH MACDIARMID Many found the poetic flyting in this long poem little to their taste. To have no doubt that your country is allied with the ranks of the Philistines, and to express such a sentiment in vigorous verse is bound to cause offence and make you gey ill tae thole. Nevertheless, "The Drunk Man" has a brilliance and an exuber­ ance undimmed after a quarter of a century. It has become a minor classic. In it the drunken man is first concerned with Scotland's need to save herself from a kind of middle-class com­ placency; then he plays with the idea of Scotland as a little world in which all the great truths and falsehoods that harass humanity are bandied about. So, with a crack at spurious Burnsians and Anglo-Scots, he proceeds to write of love and religion, of death and drink, and what the poet calls "the soul of Scotland" :-

He canna Scotland see wha yet Canna see the Infinite, And Scotland in true scale to it.

This poem has recently been reprinted, but is difficult to get, and will become a collector's piece. It is a pity MacDiarmid did not write more in this vein, but with a wee thing mair 0' poetic architecture. "To Circumjack Cencrastus"-what a dreadful title-

Water nor licht nor yet the barley field That shaks in silken sheets at ilka braith, Its lang nap thrawin the quick licht aboot In sic a maze that taks an gies at aince As fair oottops the coontless ripplin sea. There's nae chameleon like the July fields; Their different colours change frae day to day While they shift instantly neath the shiftin licht Yet they're ower dull for this, stagnant an dull; And even your een beloved and your hair Are like the barley and the sea and Heaven That flaw and fail and are defeated by The blind turns 0 chance.

-in spite of such fine things, added little to his reputation. "To hell with happiness," he says, and, indeed, it was to hell with it, when he followed this up with his "First Hymn to Lenin," thereby denying himself the continued goodwill which his earlier work had engendered among the younger generation. Whether it was right or wrong to align one's poetry with a new and alien O n 3rd Jul y, I956, during her tour of Ayrshire, H.M. the Queen visited the Burns Cottage at All oway. H ere, she is seen leaving, accompani ed by Sir Charles Dunlop (on her left) and Mr. McMynn, th~ curator. 8. CA' THE YOWES TO THE KNOWES

(SECOND VERSION,

.. I 1m ftal~rtd :;u your IIdopfin. Ca' 'hI' y(,~ ,,,S IU if "".$ owinl to Il'It. tNtI ~' er it sa .., Ihr ti"tu," fl. ...· :tcr to fbonbOO. Sept . 11904)

tThe Cloudcn i~ " )nll,n fritlUlary of the Nilh nUl Oum(ries.,

cow. YOK': Ca' the yowes to Ihe kriowu,' new, hM''(iWr Co' them where the heather grows, growl

Ca' them where the burnie row~ . t ro~z bo

moivir Hark. the mavI s" e'ening saog Cloodf-n Soun,ling Clouden's woods ama"g. wuaz Then a-fauJding f let us gang," My boute deane,

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Yonder Clouden', silent towen: won minsheinz Wbcl1". at moonshine's midlljght hours. midnicht oor O'er the dewy bending flowe rs htnd;. floor: ."" Fairies dance sac cheer~.

Ghaist nor bogle ' shall thou re.,. Thou'" to Love and Heav'n sae de.n. Mtv'n tHHI<~l ; .11 Nocht' of ill may come thee n

Fair and lovely as thou art. rrt Thou hast stown' my very heart ; It~" du I can die - but canna part, ""Irt My bonie dearie.

t 4riw ...... to tbe knolls t brook f'\lIU ' tbl'\lSh't I I4lbcriftI the sheep • eo flO , .... '!"" tpO(:ttt • notbinl ·,,*olt!n

The Burns Federation Song Book, which sale. (See advert.) Intended primarily and edited by Mr. John McVie, O.B.E., H ere, reproduced from the Song 8. Ca' the yowes to the knowes

. C",' th~,tn wht" " th~

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wenty son gs of Robert Burns, is now on .n schools the so ngs have been selected ical arrangements by Mr. George Short. me of Burns's best loved songs.

HUGH MACDIARMID 49 creed, as Stephen Spender and Day Lewis were to do at less cost to themselves, matters little now, but it mattered at the time.

Many of the poet's erstwhile disciples shied away from a Move­ ment which had a Communist, and one who bounced about it, for a leader. Worse was to come, for from his retreat on the Isle of Whalsay, in the Shetlands, where he went to live in 1933, MacDiarmid wrote that he had turned from "the poetry of beauty to the poetry of wisdom." Wordsworth was another of that ilk, and as a result his poetry became clogged with abstractions. MacDiarmid's

o ease my spirit increasingly of the load Of my personal limitations and the riddling differences Between man and man, with a more constant insight Into the fundamental similarity of all activities.

may have given him more personal satisfaction to write, but surely his experimental "Water Music" is better poetry, when he hears

. . . Wachope, Esk and Ewes again, Each wit its ain rhythms till't.

and he goes, like his burn, "Archin here and arrachin there," describing the waters.

Or burnit, holine, watchet, chauve, Or wi a' the colours dyed o the lift abune and plants and trees That grow on either side. Or coinyelled wi the midges, Or swallows a' aboot, The shadow 0 an eagle, The aiker 0 a troot.

There is little doubt, too, that the Movement received a check from Edwin Muir's denial of the vitality of the Vernacular as a means of modern intellectual expression, although he hassinco recanted. MacDiarmid in his "Lucky Poet" is remarkably restrained in his riposte to Muir, although it ),S an excellent defence. But this may have helped him to turn with enthusiasm to the modern Gaelic poets, and find in the ancient language the solace that few were learned enough to joust with him in that field. Among his distinguished translations from the Gaelic, "The Birlinn of Clanranald" is oustanding. D 50 HUGH MACDIARMID A pilot in the prow be standing. Let him afford Us ever reliable knowledge Of what's toward And keep confirming the steersman In our right going, For he is the veritable Pole star We must have showing; Suresightedly taking a landmark With the trained vision That is God of all weathers On such a mission.

In his book, "A Kist 0 Whistles" (1947), the poet declares:­ A man cannot duck away from the pattern That life lays out for him.

It is a great pity that MacDiarmid was always incapable of ducking. He has been at his best when writing about the woes of Scotland, and whatever his political aberrations, he always writes of his ain countree with love and hope for her future. In Scotland his criticism for long was put down to presumption on his part. Anywhere you go in Scotland to-day You can hear the people Struggling to think and feel as little as possible Just as you hear a countryside in winter Crepitating in the grip of an increasing frost.

This was uncomfortably near the truth. Now, however, things are different. MacDiarmid's work has borne fruit in the many poets who do not disdain to use the Vernacular. Scotland herself

May fidge fu' fain; She's gotten poets 0 her ain.

which she never would have had, had not this dour polyglot led the way. MacDiarmid has fought a good fight for a place in Scotland's literary history, and it would be churlish to deny that he has won it.* Perhaps, living now in one of Scotland's prettiest villages, he

• The First Edition of his recent "In Memoriam James Joyce" is already sold out. HUGH MACDIARMID 51 has had time to mellow, and smile wryly at the new enthusiasms. After all, here he is appearing in the Burnsians' own book, in spite of all that he has said about them! And if the way to success has been hard, he might reflect that he is indeed a "Lucky Poet" when he thinks of Ezra Pound shut up in a madhouse and released only when the Americans thought he should be decorated for his poetic endeavours. In Scotland we do not treat living poets in such a fashion. We treat them with indifference. A PROMISING YOUNG POETESS

Each year the Edinburgh-Ayrshire Association presents a prize to the Secondary Schools in Ayrshire for an Essay or Poem on an Ayrshire theme, the system being that the prize is competed for in rotation by three schools per annum. In 1956 the winning effort was a poem on Burns's Birthday by Miss Janet Smith, in the IVth Form of Ayr Academy. Mr. J. Douglas Cairns, M.A., the Rector of Ayr Academy and a member of the Executive Committee of the Burns Federation, has a high regard for this girl's ability, and we feel sure that readers will agree that her winning poem shows distinct promise.

ON BURNS'S BIRTHDAY.

For twenty thousand years or more In timeless beauty Scotia stood; Her soil sweet wild-flowers mildly bore, And lowland pastures, green and good. Her skies with leaden grandeur low'rd O'er ancient hills, whose heads were crowned With mist: her streams in torrents poured Down rugged slopes, or peaceful wound To grey-blue lochs, on which the sun Would palely shine. But there was none To sing them.

And 'midst these scenes, beneath these skies, There dwelt a race whose lives were spent In ceaseless toil; whose simple joys Were shared with those they loved. Content They were, though poor, and though they had But little, yet that they would give If pity touch'd their hearts. And sad Those hearts would be that one should live Whom they could pity. Such the sons that Scotia bore. But there was none To sing them.

Then, on a gusty winter's day In humble cot a lad was born Whose star shines with a pure, bright ray A PROMISING YOUNG POETESS 53 In Heaven's floor; who, weary, worn With heavy toil, sweet love-songs wove And Scotland's beauties sang. His art Gave perfect utterance to the love For all mankind that filled his heart. His thoughts were high, and in his soul There burned the true, poetic fire; His nature mild, his very faults Sprang from his virtues, and his ire Was roused by meanness or by pride; While truth and freedom were his aims. Now he is gone, but left behind A Scotia full of famous names- For he had lived to sing them. JANET SMITH. THE AULD SCOTS TONGUE IS SAVED FOR POSTERITY

By GEORGE ALISON (By permission of the Author and the Editor of the Edinburgh Evening News)

Tucked away in two rooms of a building in George Square, Edinburgh, two men and a woman are prepared to devote the next fifteen years of their lives to Scotland. For them there will be no glory. Their names will probably never be remembered by any but a few. Their financial reward is negligible. They are working on an enterprise begun forty-nine years ago. The next fifteen years is the time it will take to complete it­ ten volumes, 5000 pages jn all. It is the "Scottish National Dictionary": an attempt to save for posterity before they are lost for ever by lack of use the words proudly used by Scotland's sons and daughters from 1700 -words foreign to any but a true Scot with a love for his mother tongue. Even to those of us who live in towns and cities, most of the words in the three volumes already published appear strange. Already over 1400 of the dictionarie~omplete so far to "H"-have been sold. Many have gone overseas to private homes, libraries, institutions, Burns Clubs and Caledonian Societies in every European country, the United States, Canada, Australia, New Zealand and South Africa. Several are even in Russian institutions and universities. But first meet the three whose immense task it is to catalogue these words, check and cross-check them. There is the editor, Mr. David Murison, M.A., B.A., who hails from Fraserburgh. For the past ten years this shy, self-effacing Aberdeen and Cambridge graduate has been gradually alpha­ betising the words laboriously procured from books, manuscripts, technical works, newspapers, law documents, magazines, kirk session records; in fact, any piece of writing which might possibly yield a true Scots word or saying. Second in command is Mr. Alexander Fenton, M.A., B.A., from near Turriff. He has been on the staff for a year. Completing the trio is Dr. Joyce Collie, M.A., from Collieston. An Aberdeen graduate, this young woman looks anything except a bookworm, if bookworms have a particular look. THE AULD SCOTS TONGUE IS SAVED FOR POSTERITY 55 Occupying much of a wall in the main office are dozens of cardboard drawers containing half a million slips of paper. It is on these slips that the dictionary is being compiled. They con­ tain the old Scots words and references from thousands of literary pieces written over the past three centuries. They were collected by the staff, plus hundreds of voluntary correspondents throughout the country. In addition to these there are a number of voluntary "sub­ editors," ranging from a farmer to a retired professor, who help vet the accuracy of the Hlustrative references which go to make the words easily understood even by Sassenachs. How different it all was when the dictionary was started half a century ago by Dr. William Grant, of Elgin, who has since died. He had what must have seemed an almost insurmountable, self-imposed task then of collecting the words and their meanings and sounds in different parts of the countryside. For, as any Scots linguist will tell you, one word frequently has several different meanings in different parts of Scotland. Then, in 1929, he managed to get formed an association in Aberdeen-the Scottish National Dictionary Association, Ltd., whose President is Mr. John McVie, Keeper of the Registers of Scotland. Since, the Association has been financed principally by contri­ butions and donations, plus help from the cities of Scotland, societies, and private individuals. Recently, when costs spiralled enormously in comparison with income, the Carnegie Trust helped the Association. For, although the dictionary is being sold for £20 for the ten volumes, each with four parts, it is being sold at a loss. Explained Dr. Collie: "The dictionary would not be much good to Scotland if it was not going to be available to anyone except exotic libraries and universities which could afford it. We want to make it available to the man in the street." Which is why you can buy it on a sort of hire-purchase agree­ meI)t-five annual instalments of £4. This Scots dictionary has come just in time. For our "language" is dying out. Listen to Dr. Collie: "Around Wigtown, Ayrshire, Shetland, the Borders and the North-East-places far away from the industrial areas-Scots is still in a fairly flourishing condition. But what there is is often slang. "The children of to-day are not being encouraged to speak Scots. If it is allowed to die, we Scots are losing some of our own heritage." 56 THE AULD SCOTS TONGUE IS SAVED FOR POSTERITY Until two years ago the Association offices were in an old brewery in Aberdeen. Then they moved down to Edinburgh to the present building, which is owned by Edinburgh University. "This," explained Dr. Collie, "was because we wanted to work in close co-operation with the School of Scottish Studies, which is in this building, and also because there are more and bigger libraries here." From 9 a.m. to 5.30 p.m. the trio work officially. Unofficially it is well over that. For when 5.30 comes on many evenings, for "entertainment," they sit down to books--searching for "new" words. In his spare time Mr. Murison has read some 450 books in search of words. One word alone frequendy means weeks of hard, plodding work. There are, for instance, so many variations of "heid" that it takes up nineteen pages of foolscap typescript! Odd as it may seem, there is good Scots spoken around Ire­ land's Ulster. Explanation is simple though. It was originally a Scots community. From Dr. Collie comes the compliment: "They speak better Scots there than in parts of industrial Scodand." A number of the words "discovered" for the dictionary came from these Scots-descended Irish. They migrated with James VI in the seventeenth century in large numbers from Ayrshire. "The dialect has been kept pretty well to this day," said Mr. Murison, "and has even permeated throughout the whole of Ulster." After each word are dates telling when it was last known to be heard in various parts of the country. The dictionary continues Sir William Craigie's "Dictionary of the Older Scottish Tongue," which ends with the close of the seventeenth century, and thus completes the full record of the Scots language. Though called a dictionary, it is not the kind which that word conjures up in your mind. . . . There are so many quotations from works both famous and unknown. The chequered history of the Church is reflected in the articles on Anti-burghers, Assembly, Auld Licht, Burgher, &c. Our legal system, based on Roman law, has a vocabulary all of its own. Hence articles on Avizandum, Caution, Damnum Fatale, Hamesucken, Spulzie, and many more. Trades and crafts have contributed their quota, from the ploughman and his "cutts" to the miner and his "Cunday." And what Scotsman does not like to be reminded of the ploys of his childhood?-Barley, beddies, gegg, guisers. peever, and all the terms of that intricate game, bools! For the Scots- THE AULD SCOTS TONGUE IS SAVED FOR POSTERITY 57 woman, the various national dishes-Ayrshire shortbread, crowdie, haggis, petticoat tails, powsowdie. One of the most fascinating features is on superstitions and folklore in which Scotland js so rich. Banshee, Clavie, Spunkie, Warlock are all exemplifications of our forefathers' belief in the supernatural and eerie (a Scots word now taken over into English). Auld Nick figures in our language quite liberally. There is an article on the "Deil," found in some fifteen phrases to express strong negation, in twenty-two combinations of plant names, in eight of animal names, and in twenty-five general phrases, all fully documented and illustrated by quotations. Local ceremonies and customs are recorded in full. The terminology of our national games has not been over­ looked either~urling, golf, shinty, have given us crampet, gaird, hogscore, inwick, rink, soop; bunker, mashie, stymie; curr, hail, hurley. But back to Mr. Murison, with the question: Where has the bulk of the "export trade" gone? "Across the Atlantic," he said. "There has been a tendency by Americans in the last few years to study Scots history. The reason is because it is a very fertile field; it has hardly ever been touched. American research students are always anxious to get something new on which to work. "There is also a traditional family interest. Traces of Scots traditions are still to be found in the United States. For instance, there are still many old Scots ballads being sung there. "Even Dvorak, the Czech composer, picked up an old Scots tune improvised by the Negroes over there and incorporated it in his New World Symphony." MICHAEL BRUCE

POETRY AND PIETY

Michael Bruce, "cite gentle poet of Loch Leven," was born at Kinnesswood, in the parish of Portmoak, Kinross-shire, on 2j'th March, 1746, and died on 6th July, 1761. Forty-six years ago, an edition of his poems was reviewed in the Burns Chronide, and it is interesting to recall that this volume was dedicated to the Federated Burns Clubs and Scottish Societies. On 10th July, 1955, the annual commemoration of Michael Bruce took place in Portmoak Parish Church, and afterwards a wreath was laid on the poet's grave in the churchyard. During the commemoration 'service, which was conducted by the Rev. Dr. Alexander Coune, the address was delivered by cite Rev. Professor W. R. Forrester, University of St. Andrews. In the course of his remarks, Professor Forrester said:

"If we leave out of our account the incomparable geniu~ of Robert Burns, Scotland is very I'ich for its size and popula­ tion in minor poets, and 'among them we may especially take note of James Hogg, Allan Ramsay and Michael Bruce. Of these three I would put Michael Bruce easily first, not merely for the high quality of much of his work, but because, on his death at cite early age of 21, he showed so much promise that no one knows to what heights he might have risen if he had been spared to reach the full vigour of his genius. He had barely finished his apprenticeship, had studied and imitated several of his predecessors, notably Milton, Pope, Thomson, Gray and Young. We have among the works he left attempts and successful achievements in odes, elegies, a historical ballad, and minor epics. Not all are equally suc­ ces,sful, nor had he reached fulfilment in anyone, though his 'Ode to the Cuckoo' was hailed by Edmund Burke as 'the finest lyric in the English language'! Besides, he wrote, collaborated in, or improved some eleven of our Scripture Paraphrases. How many more 'Gospel Sonnets' he wrote we shall never know, as many of them are supposed to have been destroyed. As is well known, lpoetry and piety seldom go well together. Art and religion are not entirely independent of one another, but they never coincide, any more than religion and morality MICHAEL BRUCE S9 coincide. If poetry is turned into moral propaganda or even religious propaganda, it is apt to degenerate into tedious moralising in doggerel of doubtful verse, but beauty, truth, and goodness, though not independent of one another, are not the same as one another, and their relationships have provoked the deepest and longest ponderings of mankind. The amount of definitely and explicitly religious poetry that can express devotion in worship without breaking the laws of poesie is very small. Michael Bruce is to be numbered among the very few real poets who could write such verse."

After referring to the "Bruce-Logan controversy" over the authorship of certain poems, and mentioning paraphrases attri­ buted in whole or in part to Bruce, Professor Forrester said:

"Surely one need say no more in claiming that Michael Bruce made a substantial contribution to our psalmody, or rather perhaps to our hymnody, a contribution not merely substantial in quantity but outstanding in quality."

P:rofessor Forrester said there was a mistaken tendency at the present day to decry the Puritans; to blame them for destroying much of the rich colour of life; for having no sense of order or beauty in worship, and no love of music. He asked: "But who was it who authorised and published the first hymn book of Scotland? It was the Relief Church in 1794 .... Anyone who says Puritanism is the enemy of culture doesn't know much about the post-Reformation history of Scotland." Professor Forrester continued: "If you are in danger of being carried away by this deplorable and ignorant modern tendency to decry the Puritans, just look at the sweet and tender poetry that arose from the pious family of Alexander and Ann Bruce, weaver-folk of Kinnesswood. It was by virtue of his Puritan upbringing that Michael Bruce's eyes were opened to the true spiritual beauty and significance of nature. "I do not claim for Michael Bruce that he, deserves to stand .,eside Robert Burns or Sir Walter Scott or the greatest figures of our Scots literary history, but he certainly has a place among our immortals. You will look in vain in him for the intensity of passion and broad humanity of Robert Burns. He had no orchestra of powerful instruments at his command, but only a shepherd's pipe. He accepts and tries to use many of the poetic artifices of his day that greater poets following after him rejected, and so ushered in a new age which called a spade a spade and no MICHAEL BRUCE longer called a countryman a swain. If Michael Bruce had lived, would he have had the courage to break with these literary con­ ventions and sing in his native Lallans Scots of the simple things of his quiet life as he must have spoken of them every day? We cannot tell. He was too gentle to be a ruthless revolutionary or a daring pioneer. "But for this, if for nothing else, I claim that he is more than a minor poet of purely local importance, that in the short span of twenty-one years he so learned to live and love, to see, to sing, and to write, that in him the language of piety and the language of poetry became the one language of his gentle heart." BARBOUR'S BRUCE AND BLIND HARRY'S WALLACE -PATRIOTISM AND POETRY IN MEDIlEVAL SCOTLAND

By ALEXANDER M. KINGHORN, M.A., Ph.D.

Mr. C. M. Bowra, writing on heroic poetry and listing examples of this genre, draws his illustrations from classical and modern literature, from the writings of the Anglo-Saxons, from little-known Slavonic poems of action and even from a tenth­ century Arabian epic. Although he succeeds in communicating the impression that the heroic battlefield is "a large feld to ere," he somehow fails to mention either the Bruce or the Wallace, both of which are worthy examples of the Scots heroic epic. 1 This is an omission for which there seems to be little excuse, for though these poems draw upon the techniques of the authors of medireval chivalric romance, the romantic action does not lie so much in the realm of the marvellous as in the spectacle of Scotland fighting heroically against mighty odds. Although the growth of national feeling North of the Tweed may reasonably be dated from the time of Kenneth MacAlpin in the middle of the ninth century, it did not find literary expression until after the War of Independence four and a half centuries later on. Racial, 'political and linguistic differences made a national literature impossible until the war united the various groups in one common purpose. Heroes like Robert the Bruce and more especi­ ally Sir William Wallace became symbols of the Scottish struggle for independence in the face of mighty odds and provided both scholars and minstrels with material for romantic history and poetry. The Life and Acts of the Most Victorious Conqueror Robert Bruce, King of Scotland, written about 1375 by John Barbour, Archdeacon of Aberdeen, is a verse-chronicle in the spirit of a noble romance. Its author managed to impart to it a unity rarely found in a continuous historical record and, animated by a novel theme and inspiration, gave vent in the Bruce to the first literary declaration of Scots patriotism. It is difficult to determine exactly how far the Bruce is actual history, and the task of separating fact from fancy is further com­ plicated because Barbour's poem is itself the main Scottish authority for the events it records. John of Fordun's Latin

1 c. M. Bowra, Heroic Poetry (London, 1952). 48tf. 62 BARBOUR'S BRUCE AND BUND HARRY'S WALLACE, &c. Chronicle of the Scottish Nation was continued only as far as the reign of David I (d. II53), and the author of The Orygynale Cronykil of Scotland, Andrew of Wyntoun, deliberately avoids poaching on Barbour's preserves. Since Wyntoun was a contem­ porary of Barbour and from his tone a faithful recorder not given to embellishment or undue prejudice, his respect for the Arch­ deacon should not be ignored in assessing the latter's value as a historian. Several scholars have noted the early reference to Bruce as "Thys lord the Bryss, I spak of ayr"2 and have pounced on it as an obvious error since the Bruce mentioned earlier is not the patriot himself, but his grandfather. Either by accident or design, Barbour had bolstered up his hero's case by confusing him with an ancestor who had neither sworn fealty to the English king Edward nor done homage to the puppet Baliol. Throughout the poem, there is certainly a tendency to exaggerate the exploits of Bruce and his fellow-champions, but the exaggerations, though often wild-especially with reference to the numeration of the English soldiery-is never connected with the belittlement of a brave enemy.3 The Bruce was written over forty years after the death of its hero and although Barbour undoubtedly had the testimony of eye­ witnesses for some of the events, and access to documentary records for others, many of his impressions must have been derived from traditional or other secondary sources. It is a tribute to his worth as a historian that he seems to have lacked neither the intuition and capacity for judging men and circumstances, nor such impartiality as might reasonably be expected from a Scot of that time endowed with strong nationalist feelings and a gift for making poetry. In many details he is corroborated even by English chroniclers, and Scottish state documents, as far as they are avail­ able, substantiate his claim that he wrote the truth as it appeared to him. The difficulty of deciding what is "truth" in history, especially in the face of contradictory second-hand evidence of equal prima facie value, complicates the task of the chronicler and the historiographer. No matter how much he may insist upon scholastic integrity, his account of a complex chain of events will certainly suffer, not only through his own liability to err in selecting accurate details, but also because of the rapidity with which legend casts its veil over important personalities and incidents. It is impossible to refute Barbour on existing evidence except on minor points and it is unimaginative and even unfair to

2 W. W. Skeat cd. The Bruce, printed for the Scottish Text Society (2 vols., London and Edinburgh, 1894), I, 20. 3 Ibid, preface lxiii-Ixiv for instances of numerical exaggeration in the poem. BARBOUR'S BRUCE AND BLIND HARRY'S WALLACE, &c. 63 judge him harshly on modern historiographical standards, though even on these he cannot be denied considerable credit. In any case, events of long ago need a spark of fancy in their re~tellini. To appreciate the Bruce as a poetical achievement one has first to accept the fact that it was an original venture in literature and the first poetical production written by a Scot to break away from the wonders of the older alliterative romance tradition. Barbour is looked on as the father of Scots poetry and occupies a position in Scots literature analogous to that of Chaucer in English. Not only did he create a formal literary language but his expression of patriotic feeling characterised for the first time the nationality of the Scot-an independent trend which may be traced through the country's literature from the ·time of Dunbar and the "makars" to that of Fergusson and Burns and which in our own century distinguishes the poetry and prose of Hugh MacDiarmid. Barbour's narrative, written in octosyllabic couplets, has none of the southern melody and rhetoric, but is instead plain and animated, unorna­ mented and vivid, hearkening back to the Anglo-Saxon poet of the Battle ot Maldon in the evocation of tone and the drawing of characters. Bruce himself is depicted as brave, fierce, magnani­ mous and kind to the humble, though merciless in war-his exhortation to his men recalls that of Byrtnod. James of Douglas, the second hero, reflects the qualities of his chief while remaining a distinct, and perhaps a more romantically-appealing personality. All the named personalities are human beings, not simply the wooden figures of impersonal record, and the glimpses we have of the common people show them to be lively and of one mind with their leaders. In Bruce's Scotland, heroism is in the air. Barbour has an eye for colour and frequently stops to note details like the blinking of the sun on the shields of the warriors and the colours of their armour and trappings. He gives us a vigorous account of Bannockburn which, though rougher-hewn than Scott's description of Flodden, maintains a dignity which the latter never reaches. The poet is at his best, as a scenario-writer, in describing scenes of action, of which one of the finest examples is the fight between Bruce on his grey palfrey and the English champion de Bohun on his war-horse, whom Barbour generously calls "ane gud knycht and hardy."4 The work is essentially masculine in temper, and its vocabulary is somewhat cryptic and limited in range, as might be expected of any report on a military expedition, yet Barbour does not lack the felicitous touch which saves the Bruce from being stark. The description of the Queen and her ladies taking leave of their knights before

• Ibid, I, 299. 64 BARBOUR'S BRUCE AN~ BLIND HARRY'S WALLACE, &c. going to Kildrummy Castle for shelter is one memorable example: Men mycht haiff sene, quha had bene thar, ... knychtis, for ther luffis sak, Baith sich, and wep, and murnyng mak.5 The atmosphere of the poem evoked by the economy of its language, the episodic lucidity of its narrative and the occasional flashes of lyricism, suggests that Barbour's poetic technique has much in common with that of the balladists. There is a strong element of minstrelsy about it and the ability to delineate a ~ene in a few powerful strokes is a sine qua non J.n the ballad-maker's art. Although he was a contemporary of Chaucer, Barbour exhibits no signs of "Chaucerianism" and in fact had finished the Bruce before Chaucer had fully emerged from his period of literary apprenticeship. Like Chaucer, however, he was stimulated by the Anglo-Norman romances of chivalry and spiritually, at least,the Bruce obviously owes a good deal to such tales as The Romance of Fierabras or that of Alexander the Great, which are introduced as illustrations in the early part of the poem. But Barbour is first and foremost a Scot and we never find decoration for its own sake in the tradition of Chaucer's followers. He is writing history before poetry and entertains a concept of historical truth similar to that of the nineteenth-century German· historian Ranke, who resolved to interest himself only in what actually happened. Bruce is not endowed with superhuman strength, nor is he assisted by miracles, as many epic heroes were; his struggle may result in victory or defeat at any time during his campaign. We encounter no chivalrous cavaliers in search of a phantom honour, nor do we find the courtliness of the verse romances, wherein the Royal Court is graced with splendour. The Scots Court moved about with the King, and often had the heavens for a roof and the battlefield for a floor. Bruce is a general, and is described as such-a man who regrets the necessity of fighting Bannockburn at all and who is conscious enough of his own human fallibility to seek the advice of his men before committing them to battle. Barbour's portrait is one of realism, not of romantic abstraction, and he depicts a man, not a demi-god. About a century later, a somewhat more ambitious work was written in the national spirit by a shadowy figure known as "Blind Harry" referred to in John Major's History of Britain (1521) as an itinerant minstrel. There seems to have been a real Harry, mentioned by Dunbar in Lament For The Makaris, who recited

i Ibid, 64. BARBOUR'S BRUCE AND BLIND HARRY'S WALLACE, &c. 65 traditional stories about Wallace and whose name appears in a few scattered entries in the Accounts of the Lord High Treasurer of Scotland for the period between New Year's Day, 1490, and New Year's Day, 1491. "The nakit blynd Hary" makes a brief appearance in an anonymous poem entitled "Ane Littill Interlud of the Droichis (Dwarf's) Part of the Play," which may have been part of a masque performed before the magistrates of Edinburgh. These items represent practically all that is known about the author of The Acts and Deeds of the Illustrious and Valiant Champion Sir William Wallace, Knight of Ellerslie;6 on external evidence the poem may be dated between 1474 and 1479' and the MS upon which all the printed editions of this epic have been based was written in 1488 by a scribe who also made a transcript of the Bruce. One might expect the Wallace to reflect the apparently lowly origin of its author and to be illiterate work but it soon becomes evident that Blind Harry, naked, sightless, mendicant or not, was a well-educated man who was familiar with the Bruce, the English, Scots, Latin and French chroniclers, the Buik of Alexander, Huchown's Morte Arthur and, inter alia, Chaucer's Canterbury Tales. Perhaps following a media:val fashion, he claims to be merely a translator, and declares the Wallace to be a rendering in Scots of the Latin works of a certain John Blair, a schoolfellow and comrade-in-arms of Wallace himself. 8 This, according to Harry, is reinforced by information obtained from Thomas Gray, parson of Libertoun, but Harry further confesses that he did not invariably abide by these two sure witnesses, Blair and Gray, adding that he was led astray by two knights who made him make "wrang record." No trace has ever been discovered of Blair's Latin History, though we have Wyntoun's authority that "gret gestis" or tales of Wallace's brave deeds were in existence before Harry's version appeared. As it stands, the Wallace, though it purports to be history, is so far removed from the true facts of the hero's life as to make historians assured of Harry's ignorance and illiteracy. It is obvious that Harry possessed a vivid imagination, and so the Wallace ought to be accepted, not as false history, but as an

6 James Moir cd., Schir William Wallace, printed for the Scottish Text Society (London and Edinbur~h, J886), introd. vii-viii. 1 Vide Matthew P. McDIarmid, "The Date of the Wallace" (Scottish Historical Review, XXXIV, April, J955), 26-3J. 8 Blair himself may have existed, since a "Master J. Blair" is men­ tioned together with members of the Wallace family in charters dated J477 and 1486, and someone of that name made a transcript of The Travels of Sir John Mandeville for James III in J467, but there is no tangible evidence connecting him with the Wallace. Vide McDiarmid, op. cit., =tI. E 66 BARBOUR'S BRUCE AND BLIND HARRY'S WALLACE, &c. imaginative work by an author who, in the interests of patriotism, believes that he is licensed to modulate the known facts. The political situation of the time was a far cry from the glorious triumph of yester-year, when Wallace and Bruce had battled against the Southron invader and the Declaration of Arbroath (1320) had proclaimed Scottish independence to Pope John XXII, stating that "While there exist a hundred of us, we will never submit to England!" Blind Harry had to go back to the past for his idea of nationality, for in his own day apathy was rife jn. Scotland. James III had proposed a marriage with the English throne so that the two countries might be more closely united, while at the same time his own nobles were intriguing with sub­ versive elements in England against James. In such a period of anarchy, the flame of patriotism flickered dangerously low. This is the historical background of the Wallace, and accordingly the character of the work is very different from that of the Bruce. In the Bruce we have the patriotic feeling of the nobleman, whereas in the Wallace it is the poor man, ashamed of the decadence of his social superiors, whose national pride is reflected. When Wallace sets out on his patriotic mission the Scottish nobles, who owned holdings in England as well as in their own country, refused to support him, since they feared that their possessions South of the Border might be forfeit if they did so. Opposition to English ,administration c3\IIle from the common people, who suffered greatly from the unnecessary cruelties perpetrated by order of Edward I's emissaries. Harry's poem, as we gather from the .opening lines, is the work of a man seeking to rouse ordinary Scotsmen to a renewed awareness of their long-dormant national pride, and we can see how he employed his wide knowledge of classical and media:val literature in order to exaggerate the deeds of a hero long dead and so to encourage the contempt of his hearers for the abject state of purposelessness into which once-proud Scotland had relapsed during the years between. The theme of the Wallace-an indi­ vidual fight for liberation-suggests the need for a different kind of liberation in fifteenth-century Scotland. Wallace himself subordinated all other considerations to the end of expelling the English invaders. As in the case of the Bruce, little is known of the details of Wallace's campaign except what Harry tells us. A few facts, such as the slaying of Hesilrig at Lanark, are authentic, and English chroniclers yield a few more; Wyntoun and Bower are fragmentary and, in any case, Harry borrowed liberally from both the Orygynale

t Vide McDiarmid, op. cit., 30-31. BARBOUR'S BRUCE AND BLIND HARRY'S WALLACE, &c. 67

Cronykil and the Scotichronicon. Contemporary English opinions are without exception markedly hostile and abusive and it is perhaps not surprising that his enemies heard of him as a blood­ thirsty savage or that the English recorders-mostly churchmen­ described him in terms of opprobrium. Harry's poem is composed with rhapsodical fervour and must be taken to represent the concentrated enthusiasm of a popular media:val hero-cult, for the narrative is largely fictitious. There was, for example, no siege of York, no invasion of England farther than Newcastle (Harry claims that Wallace penetrated to St. Albans), no plea for mercy from a craven Edward I hiding in the Tower, who sent, so Harry tells us, his wife Eleanor to plead for him before Wallace, 10 and of course no supernatural visitants. Like Barbour, Harry exaggerates the numerical superiority of Wallace's foes, but unlike Bruce, chivalry is not a feature of the earlier hero's conduct, and his prosecution of the war is based wholly upon his desire for vengeance, frequently of a gruesome kind. There are none of the gentlemanly reflections or moral scruples of Bruce in the make-up of Wallace, who neither asks for quarter nor gives any. Only on one or two occasions does he exhibit any sign of courtliness and even then it is of a rough, masculine variety, but he behaves well to Queen Eleanor on her suppliant mission and, being human, accepts the treachery of his mistress with resignation. Harry paints a full man-the first portrait of its kind in Scots literature-and although his account of Wallace's exploits is not history, but is instead patriotic propa­ ganda, such has been its effect on Scotsmen throughout the ages that we should regard it as we regard the tales of King Arthur and the exploits of Robin Hood and his Merry Men and say that even if the Wallace is not true, it ought to have been. As poetry, Harry's work is not up to the standard of Barbour's; though he had the same inborn emotional sympathy with his subject as the author of the Bruce, he is too much concerned with detail and his decasyllabic couplet is inclined to ring monotonously. Neverthdess, Harry shows himself to be a rhetorical artist of considerable ability who seizes every opportunity to display his talent. We may take it that his blindness debarred him from natural description, but he made up for this by enthusiastically depicting martial scenes and his racy dialogue looks forward to Scott's. But, in general, he concentrates on exposition rather than on the production of a work of art, and the Wallace is much closer

10 Edward had no Queen at the time at which this incident is supposed to have occurred (1298). Eleanor died in 1290 and he did not remarry until September, 1299. 68 BARBOUR'S BRUCE AND BLIND HARRY'S WALLACE, &c. to the style of the straightforward chronicle than is the Bruce. When he is "poetic," the result is highly artificial and lacks the stamp of originality; many such passages suggest that the author was an intelligent imitator of the form, style and diction of certain alliterative romances, notably the Gest Historiale and the Morte Arthur. 11 The Scots nature is so strongly bound up with the spirit of nationalism that no matter how they themselves understood the words, all the successive protagonists of freedom, nationalism, self-government and independence in Scotland have found their sentiments symbolised in the personalities of Bruce and Wallace, whose exploits, in paraphrased or modernised versions, have exercised a continued attraction and still serve as a worthy example. The Covenanters who fell to the sabres of Claverhouse's dragoons, the clansmen who flung themselves at the guns of the Hanovarian mercenaries at Culloden, the patriotic members of the "Easy" and "Cape" Clubs of eighteenth-century Edinburgh, and all those Scotsmen who, with sword or pen, have rebelled against English incursions into their way of life, remembered these early champions of the Thistle and the poets whose imaginations created flesh and blood from bare bones. Burns celebrated both Wallace and Bruce in "Scots Wha Hae" and we know that the Wallace, read by Burns in a modernised version, filled him with patriotic fervour. In the lines: At Wallace' name, what Scottish blood But boils up in a spring-tide flood (12 he captured the spirit of the race.

11 Vide J. T. T. Brown, The Wallace a"d the Bruce Restudied (Bonn, 1900), 34ft• 12 Epistle to William Simpson of Ochiltrcc (May, 1785). BOOK REVIEWS

THE RUSSET COAT: A CRITICAL STUDY OF BURNS'S POETRY AND OF ITS BACKGROUND. By Christine Keith. Pp. 235. (Robert Hale, London, 1956.) A book on Burns written by an M.A. of Oxford, Cambridge and Edinburgh, who, besides having been a Scholar of Newnham and a Fellow and Tutor of St. Hilda's, carried off the Special Prize for Gaelic at the National Mod, Dunoon, should on the face of things be a very learned and scholarly production indeed. Besides attaining all these impressive academic qualifications, Miss Keith received part of her early education in Lausanne, travelled all over the world and, appropriately enough for a Classical scholar, was once shipwrecked off the coast of Greece. In The Russet Coat we find her battery of learning brought to bear with all its immense range on the well-tried subject of Burns and his place in Scots literature. The book invites both bouquets and brickbats: it is learned, but not scholarly and the prose style is over-colloquial. Its author indulges in rather too much fervid emotionalism to suit the taste of the serious student and beats the drum of national and political prejudice with all the ardour of a suffragette. Digressions on the painful subject of the Welfare State may add spice to a public lecture, but they have no place in a critical study of this kind. Even with all these faults-poor organisation, irritating stylistic mannerisms, naive statements of a "chatty" kind and a highly­ coloured rhetorical approach to matters of fact-The Russet Coat is yet so full of good things as to be worthy of a higher place in Burns literature than, at first sight, it seems to deserve. It dis­ plays none of the pedantic qualities too often associated with "scholarly" studies; there is no dependence upon well-worn critical jargon or literary "gobbledegook" covering up a lack of sensi­ bility; no mere parrotting of standard ideas. Above all, there is none of the mawkish sentiment habitually lavished on Burns by the "Heav'n-taught ploughman" school of appreciators. Miss Keith sets out to analyse the Burns myth, not to perpetuate it. She takes a fresh approach to her subject, and her attitude is realistic and unsentimental, while her conclusions are often impressionistic and intuitive rather than methodical. The Russet Coat, as its sub-title suggests, includes an imagina­ tive analysis of the poems and songs and an attempt to show what forces moulded Burns and in what respects he may be considered BOOK REVIEWS Scotland's national poet. We have chapters on the intellectual climate of eighteenth-<:entury Scotland, on the poems in the Kilmarnock volume, on Burns's lyric art and its basis of folk-song and Highland airs, on the poet's national inheritance from the "auld Scotland" on the one hand and from the Scorland of the Reformed Kirk on the other. Last but not least comes a very eccentric chapter guaranteed to appeal to all zealous nationalists who look to the Highland spirit for salvation and join Miss Keith in condemning the W dfare State and the "barbarous" Reforma­ tion as contributing largely to the existing decay. The writer sees Burns not only against rus own Ayrshire back­ ground, which at first stamped him with provincialism-"the russet coat" of the rustic-but also against backgrounds which were less natural to him-metropolitan Edinburgh and the High­ lands, and that of Europe, where the Scottish literati hoped to become internationally known. Thus she gives a careful exposi­ tion of the artificial and derivative side of Burns as, for example, his pandering to contemporary taste in "The Cotter's Saturday Night," a bad poem that is yet representative of one major aspect of the Scottish national character. It might have helped if some account had been given of the theory and practice of Scots criti­ cism during the "Golden Age" instead of simply saying that the Kilmarnock volume "killed Ossian" and leaving it at that. "Ossian" was a touchstone of the critical practice of Blair and Mackenzie, but the psychology that brought forth Macpherson's "discoveries" and made them popular--connected as it is with the whole question of language-tensions-should have been dis­ cussed much more fully in a book that purports to deal with the "background" of Burns's poems. Well-read in the classics, Scots history and literature, and in European literature, Miss Keith, displaying an erudition that is all too rare nowadays, is never at a loss for a literary illustration and one shrewd perception follows another throughout the book -the reader's interest never flags, though it may here and there be seduced by an irrelevancy. The most distracting factor is the style of presentation, which is characterised by a superabundance of highly-questionable expressions better suited to the pages of a woman's journal than to a critical study. For example, in the opening chapter, we have "breath-taking broadsheets," "letup," "you couldn't have it too thrilling," a goodly number of "Ohs" and "Ahs," and an over-generous employment of exclamation marks. The writer is no doubt trying hard to avoid "fine English" and in so doing has gone to the opposite extreme of journalese. When we read about Adam Smith's "epoch-making" Wealth of Nations, we associate it less with "the new and por- BOOK REVIEWS tentous sUbject of Economics" than with glorious Technicolour and a cast of thousands. Though there are many sensitive images, such as "the long shadows by the gallows in the Grassmarket," most readers will find that keeping up with Miss Keith's meta­ phors throughout 225 pages becomes something of a strain. Also on the "technical" side mention must be made of the so-called "Bibliography" which is not a bibliography at all but a list of books consulted. Assuming that the object of including such a list is to help the reader, it becomes obvious at a glance that Miss Keith ought to have omitted it. Apart from the absence of either alphabetical or chronological arrangement of the authors cited and the many other eccentricities and inconsistencies in the formal lay-out there are really glaring errors such as misquotation of titles, mis-spelling of proper names, and in at least one instance, the wrong publisher and the wrong date of publication. This latter entry has not one single accuracy to commend it. But it is easy to flay technical faults which should never have been permitted to mar a book with so many excellent qualities. The illustrations do much to offset the defects of the bibliography; they are not hackneyed and have clearly been selected with an eye to "background." The Russet Coat is a fearless and original treatment of the subject and a welcome contribution to the limited stock of stimulating critical books about Burns. A. M. K.

DIARIES OF A DYING MAN (William Soutar), edited by Alexander Scott. (Chambers, Edinburgh, 1954.) In his introduction to Soutar's Collected Poems, published eight years ago, Hugh Macdiarmid ventured the observation that the appearance in print "even of a selection" from the poet's diaries and journals would be "a great event in Scottish litera­ ture." Thanks to Mr. Scott's dedicated industry, such an event has now taken place and the day-to-day jottings of this most original experimenter in modern Scots have been made available for public consumption. Soutar, like many a poet, was never fully appreciated during his own lifetime except perhaps by a restricted circle of intimates, and his bed-ridden condition limited the number of admirers who knew him personally. Furthermore, he died during the war, when the passing of a little-known poet excited but mild interest. The appearance of posthumous works and an appreciative essay or two, together with the renewed interest in Scottish literary and linguistic matters that followed the end of the war brought him more into the limelight. Now, thirteen years after his death, his poems are well-enough known BOOK REVIEWS to invite maturer judgments and his diaries provide a valuable insight into the poet's mind. The introduction to the Diaries reveals something of Soutar's poetical character. "His poetry was the pride wrested from a battle against death and despair which he fought for half a life­ time." Yet it was his confinement and physical incapacity to lead a normal life which brought out, or did much to bring out, his unique poetic qualities-his gift for the small image, his power of stark observation, his musings on life and death, his acceptance of things as they are and delight in their infinite variety and, frequently, a grim humour which looks back to the mediaeval makars. All these tendencies are revealed in the Diaries, which date from 1917, when Soutar was in the Navy, until 14th October, 1943, two days before he died, although the entries only begin to grow substantial after May, 1930, when he had the operation that was to mark the real beginning of his life in the sickroom. The published volume embraces these last thirteen years and includes what Soutar called his "Common-Day Book" (January, 1939, until June, 1940) and "The Diary of a Dying Man" (sth July until 14th October, 1943), written under the awareness that his days, as he himself put it in a humorous verse, were "on the trot." Soutar's entries are fairly regular, becoming more frequent as time passes and, as he comes to realise that time is limited for him, more whimsical. He set about to overcome a tremendous disability and displays little of the petulance generally exhibited by the permanent invalid. Nevertheless, we have scattered pungent entries, especially with reference to one or two of his visitors. "His meanness, like a skeleton, seems to be thrusting itself more and more through his skin" nails the subject of his comment to the wall for ever. But nine months later, after the same man had brought Soutar some cigarettes, the diarist recalls his earlier scathing comment and regrets his hasty judgment. He is faithful to his word-pictures, however, and prefers to let them stand, with all their errors. On 12th March, 1936, he wrote: "What diarist has not, at some moment, become ashamed of the numerous entries which belittle a friend or slight an acquaintance .... I shall leave all my entries, even such as may shame me, for I do not hate anyone; and I know that the moments of human sympathy are not rare." This generosity is typical of his whole attitude to life. He has time for everybody, and everything-time, in fact, is a capital asset for him. He notes tiny things-starlings and spar­ rows after bread, the careless sound of the blackbird and thrush which he tries to imitate onomatopoetically, the health and strength of his youthful visitors, such as, for example, an R.A.F. BOOK REVIEWS 73 pilot who drops in to see him, and, by contrast, the weakness and debility of his own body. He is marked by "a faithfulness to the commonplace." The world and its political chaos disappoints him and he does not make much of the specific events of a troubled era; but Soutar could never forget the misery of the world, even when he himself was under sentence of death. One of the earliest entries in the "Diary of a Dying Man" indicates something of his conviction that there is a spirit moving through all things and that man and the world are inseparably linked. "The suffering of a million casualties in accumulation is yet the suffering of one man; the ultimate death-struggle the striving of one." Now and then the flashes of a powerful patriotism and an indignation at injustice stab forth in a manner peculiarly Scots. To his own condition his attitude is one of absolute clinical detachment, even when he learns that he is in fact a dying man. On 4th July, 1943, he reports an examination by D. B. Low, his doctor: "After a sounding he saw there was a cavity at the apex of my right lung-I take this as a death sentence; actually, I believe my left lung is in a worse condition." The following day he titled his diary "The Diary of a Dying Man" and on 19th August penned a rhyme:- "D. B. Low my medico Pronounced with bedside gravity, I fear, I fear that I can hear, The echo of a cavity." Two months later he was dead. Characteristically, his last entry concerned the welfare of two soldiers who had met with an accident near his home. So ended the life of a poet who had applied his talents to the making of Scots poems and verses more vigorously than almost any other poet since Burns. His diaries testify to the human qualities of endurance and courage and to the power of the creative spirit. A.M.K.

THE LIFE OF DAVID HUM1!. By E. C. Mossner. Pp. 683. (Nelson, Edinburgh, 1954.) Professor Mossner first conceived the idea of writing a full­ scale biography of Hume in 1937, and a period spent in Edin­ burgh in 1939-

THE BURNS FEDERATION INSTITUTED 1885

Han. Presidents. Sir ALEXANDER GIBB, G.B.E., C.B., LL.D.{Edin.), F.R.S., Queen Anne's Lodge, Westminster, London, S.W.I. WILLIAM WILL, C.B.E., 83 Oakwood Court, Kensington, London, W.14. Sir CHARLES DUNLOP, A.D.C., T.D., D.L., Doonside, Alloway, Ayr. JOHN S. CLARKE, J.P., 2 Walmer Crescent, Glasgow, S.W.l. JAMES T. PICKEN, "Mossgiel," Coral Avenue, Beaumaris, Melbourne, Australia. Mrs. ANNIE DUNLOP, O.B.E., LL.D., D.Litr., Ph.D., 73 London Road, Kilmarnock. THOMAS B. GOUDIE, "Ewanrigg," Burnbank, Hamilton. JOHN M'VIE, O.B.E., M.S.M., 13 Hillside Crescent, Edinburgh, 7. Sir PATRICK J. DOLLAN, D.L., LL.D., J.P., 1 Kingsley Avenue, Glasgow, S.2. JOHN W. OLIVER, M.A., D.Litt., Ramsay Cottage, 41 Barnton Terrace, Edinburgh, 4. J. KEVAN M'DoWALL, F.S.A., 202 Bath Street, Glasgow, C.2. A. WILSON BOYLE, C.A., "Ardgreen," 3 Park Terrace, Ayr. JOHN E. BARBOUR, Green Acres, Almondsbury, Glos.

Han. Vice-Presidents. JAMES M'MuRDO, 85-71 144th Street, Jamaica, N.Y., U.S.A. RICHARD DOUGLAS, New York. Captain CHARLES CARMICHAEL, 54 Chatsworth Street, Derby. Mrs. MARY THOMSON, 21 Gilbertfield Road, Cambuslang. THOMAS C. ANDERSON, Rowan Cottage, 194 Main Street, Kelty. J. RENWICK VICKERS, "Belvoir," St. Bede's, East Boldon, Co. Durham. WILLIAM J. OLIVER, 2 Bellevue Street, Dunedin, N.I., New Zealand. WILLIAM BOYLE, 22 Osborne Street, Clydebank. FRED. J. BELFORD, M.A., F.E.I.S., 3 Park Grove, Liberton, Edinburgh, 9. C. A. A. DoUGLAS HAMILTON, Dunringell, Kyleakin. Isle of Skye.

EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE. President-ALEx. MACMILLAN, M.A., Ed.B., 13 Kilwinning Road, Irvine. Vice-Presidents-J. B. HARDIE, "Ravenna," 26 Newark Drive, Pollokshie1ds, Glasgow, S.I. A. NEIL CAMPBELL, F.C.C.S., 141 Craiglea Drive, Edinburgh, 10. Hon. Secretary-JOHN M. IitVING, 28 Melville Street, Kilmarnock. Hon. Treasurer-WILLIAM BLACK, Cardean, Eastfield Road, Dumfries. Hon. Editor-JAMEs VEITCH, 8 George Street, Peebles. Schools Competitions-FRED. J. BELFORD, F.E.I.S., 3 Park Grove, Liberton, Edinburgh, 9. Assistant Hon. Secretary-ANDREW STENHOUSE, M.A., LL.B., 104 West Campbell Street, Glasgow, C.2, THE BURNS FEDERATION 77 Past-Presidents - JOHN E. BARBOUR, Green Acres. Almondsbury, Glos. A. WILSON BOYLE, C.A., "Ardgreen," 3 Park Terrace, Ayr. JOHN W. OLIVER, M.A., D.Litt., Ramsay Cottage, 41 Barnton Terrace, Edinburgh, 4. J. KEVAN M'DoWALL, F.S.A., Scot., 202 Bath Street, Glasgow, C.2. JAMES R. CRAWFORD, F.S.A., SCOt., "Callister Ha'," 432 Unthank Road, Norwich. JOHN M'VIE, O.B.E., M.S.M., 13 Hillside Crescent, Edin­ burgh,7· THOMAS B. GOUDIE, Ewanrigg, Burnbank, Hamilton. Sir PATRICK J. DOLLAN, D.L., LL.D., J.P., 1 Kingsley Avenue, Glasgow, S.2. JOHN S. CLARKE, J.P., 2 Walmer Crescent, Glasgow, S.W.I. Sir ALEXANDER GIBB, G.B.E., C.B., LL.D.(Edm.), F.R.S., Queen Anne's Lodge, Westminster, London, S.W.I. District Representatives. I. Ayrshire-ANDREW Y. CRAWFORD, I Royston Terrace, Edinburgh. JAMES MILGREW, 55 Arran Drive, Auchinleck. GEORGE VALLANCE, 5 Park Terrace, Lugar, Cumnock. WILLIAM PHILLIPS, M.A., 93 Dundonald Road, Troon. II. E..dinburgh-W. J. KING GILLIES, 2 Saville Terrace, Edinburgh, 9. In. Glasgow-ALLAN S. MEIKLE, 40 Queensborough Gardens, Glasgow. JOHN T. STEWART, 5 Broomhill Avenue, Glasgow. IV. Dunbarton and Argyll Shires-WILLIAM BOYLE, 22 Osborne Street. Ciydebank. V. Fifeshire-T. C. ANDERSON, Rowan Cottage, 194 Main Street, Kelty, Fife. Mrs. M. FLEMING, 137 Carden Castle Park, Cardenden, Fife. VI. lAnarkshire-ADAM HUMPHRIES, 59a Mill Road, Halfway, Carnbus­ lang. Mrs. M. RENNIE, 21 Gilbertfield Road, Carnbuslang. ROBERT PATON, 49 Babylon Road. Bellshill, Lanarkshire. VII. Mid and East Lothians and Borders-RoBERT GREY, I Newton Street, Easthouses. Midlothian. VIII. West Lothian- IX. Renjrewshire-WILLIAM L. MORREN, 37a Union Street, Greenock. X. Stirling, Clackmannan and West Perth Shires-Mrs. W. G. STEWART, South View, Tullibody. DAVID WALKER, "Benview," Fishcross, Alloa. Mrs. M. LoWE, 9 Beechwood, Sauchie, Alloa. XI. East Perthshire, 4ngus and Kinross-(Vacancy). XII. Northern Scottish Counties-(Vacancy). XIII. Southern Scottish Counties-H. GEORGE M'KERROW, 43 Buccleuch Street, Dumfries. Mrs. M. CoULSON, 52 Friars Venne1, Dumfries. XIV. London and South Eastern England-JOHN M. SWAN, 17 Roxborourgh Park, Harrow, Middlesex. EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE

XV. North Eastern England-J. RENWICK VICKERS, "Belvoir," St. Bede'I, East Boldon, Co. Durham. XVI. North Western England-HAMISH H. RAE, 9 Park View, Waterloo, Liverpool, 22. XVII. Yorkshire-A. Y. SMITH, L.D.S., The Mount Hotel, Cliff Bridge Terrace, Scarborough. XVIII. North and East Midlands--G. BURNETT, 40 Brox Lane, Rotherham. ANDERSON WILSON, 81 Sparken Hill, Worksop, Notts. XIX. West Midlands of England-T. DUNKLEY HOGG, 143 Sandwell Road, Birmingham, :;lI. XX. South Western England--GEORGE LArNG, 104 Three Elms Road, Hereford. XXI. Wales-ARTHUR C. E. LEWIS, 10 Admiralty Cottages, Teighness, Arrochar. XXII. Ireland-C. J. CoUSLAND, F.R.S.E., "Achray," 26 Kinnear Road, Edinburgh, 4. XXIII. Africa--GEORGE S. G. VERNON, "Oaklands," Connaught Terrace, Crieff. XXIV. Australia-JOHN GRAY, 135 Whitletts Road, Ayr. XXV. New Zealand-Mrs. M. THOMSON, 21 Gilbertfield Road, C~mbuslang. XXVI. Canada-SAMuEL W. LOVE, The British Linen Bank, 515 Sauchiehall Street, Glasgow, C.3. XXVII. India-WILLIAM F. HOWE, Heathervale, Eastbank, Brechin. XXVIII. U.S.A.-JOHN R. HURRY, 9271 Neff Road, RR. No. I, Clio, Mich., U.S.A. ALEXANDER M. BUCHAN, 535 Dielman Road, St. Louis County, Missouri, U.S.A. XXIX. Near and Middle East-HUGH M. MAcINTYRE, Elmsley, 7 Racecourse Road, Ayr. XXX. Europe-ROBERT DONALDSON, 4 Forbes Street, Glasgow, S.E.

SUB-COMMITTEES. Finance: Messrs. A. Neil Campbell (Convener), W. J. King Gillies, H. George M'Kerrow, C. J. Cousland, Robert Donaldson, Samuel W. Love, Anderson Wilson, and J. Renwick Vickers. Memorials: Messrs. William Boyle (Convener), Andrew Y. Crawford, and W. J. King Gillies, Mrs. M. Coulson, Mrs. M. Rennie. Scottish Literature: Messrs. A. Wilson Boyle (Convener), Fred. J. Belford, Wm. F. Howe, John M'Vie, James Milgrew, George S. G. Vernon, Hugh M. MacIntyre, and Dr. John W. Oliver. Schools: Messrs. Fred. J. Belford (Convener), Hugh MacIntyre, John M'Vie, William L. Morren, William Phillips, John T. Stewart, Adam Humphries, and Dr. John W. Oliver. Co-opted Members: J. Douglas Cairns, 7 Wattfield Road, Ayr; Allan MacIntyre, Willowdene, So'ness Road, Linlithgow. AUDITORS. Messrs. Fraser, Lawson and Laing, C.A., Glasgow. THE BURNS FEDERATION 79

CONSTITUTION AND RULES. Name. I. The Association shall be called "The Burns Federation," with headquarters at Kilmarnock. Objects. 2. The objects of the Federation shall be (a) To strengthen and consolidate, by universal affilia­ tion, the bond of fellowship amongst the members of Burns Clubs and kindred Societies. (b) To purchase and preserve manuscripts and other relics associated with Robert Burns. (Gifts of relics shall be reported by the Hon. Secretary at the next meeting of the Executive Committee following thereon.) (c) To mark with suitable inscriptions, repair, or renew buildings, tombstones, etc., interestIng from their association with Robert Burns. (d) To encourage institutions and movements in honour of Robert Burns. (e) To encourage and arrange School Children's Com­ petitions in order to stimulate the teaching and study of Scottish history, literature, art and mUSIC. (f) To encourage the development of Scottish literature, art and music. Membership. 3. (a) The Federation shall consist of affiliated Clubs and Societies. Burns Clubs and kindred Societies may be admitted to the Federation by the Executive Committee, on application in writing to the Hon. Secretary, enclosing a copy of their Constitu­ tion and List of Office-bearers. Such applications shall be con­ sidered by the Executive Committee at its next meeting. (b) Clubs shall be grouped into Districts as shown in the subjoined Schedule, but Clubs on the borders of Districts shall have the right to elect to which District they wish to belong. (c) Ladies or gentlemen who have rendered conspicuous service to the Burns Movement may be elected by the Council to the position of Honorarl President or Honorary Vice-President, on the recommendation 0 the Executive Committee. Council. 4. The Council shall consist of the Hon. Presidents, the Hon. Vice-Presidents, the Executive Committee, the Auditors and three members elected by each Club. Conference of the Council. 5. (a) The Annual Conference of the Council shall be held,

I. Ayrshire. II. Edinburgh. III. Glasgow. IV. Dunbarton, Argyll, and Bute Shires. V. Fifeshire. VI. Lanarkshire. VII. Lothians (Mid and East) and Borders. VIII. Lothian (West). IX. Renfrewshire. X. Stirling, Clackmannan, and West Perth Shires. XI. East Perthshire, Angus and Kinross. XII. Northern Scottish Counties. XIII. Southern Scottish Counties. XIV. London and South-Eastern England. Essex, Hertford, Middlesex, Berks, Buckingham, Oxford, Hampshire, Surrey, Sussex, Kent. XV. North-Eastern England. Northumberland, Durham. XVI. North-Western England. Cumberland, Westmorland, Lancashire, Cheshire. XVII. Yorkshire. XVIII. North and East Midlands of, England. XIX. West Midlands of England. XX. South-Western England. Hereford, Gloucester, Wilts, Somerset, Dorset, nel'on, Cornwall, Monmouth. XXI. Wales. XXII. Ireland. XXIII. Africa. XXIV. Australia. XXV. New Zealand. XXVI. Canada. XXVII. India. XXVIII. United States of America XXIX. Near and Middle East. XXX. Europe. LIST OF DISTRICTS

I. Ayrshire-35 Clubs: 4 Members. o Kilmarnock. 593 Barrmill. 35 Dairy. 596 Glaisnock. -t5 Cumnock. 621 Scottish Aviation. 86 Winsome Willie, 622 Coylton. Old Cumnock. 623 Kilwinning. 173 Irvine. 632 Symington. 192 Ayrshire B.C. Assoc. 664 West Kilbride. 666 Valley of Doon Ladies. :152 Alloway. 671 St. Andrew's Cronies (Irvine). :174 Troon. 680 Thistle, Saltcoats. :175 Ayr. 681 Cronies, Kilmarnock. 288 Beith Caledonia. 715 Irvine Eglinton. 310 Mauchllne. 728 Bachelors' Club, Tarbolton. 365 Catrine 752 Colmonell. 377 Kilbirnie Rosebery. 765 Straiton. H5 Ayr Tam o' Shanter. 772 Prestwick. 500 New Cumnock. 773 Cumnock Cronies. 564 Ochiltree Winsome Willie. 802 Crosskeys Burns Club, 592 Benwhat. New Cumnock.

Secretary: James E. Shaw, I Central Avenue, Kilbirnie.

II. Edinburgh-9 Clubs: I Member. 22 Edinburgh. 314 Edinburgh Scottish. 124 Ninety. 341 Leith. 1I2 Portobello. 378 Edinburgh B.C. Assoc. :193 New Craighall. 3~ Collnton. 307 Edinburgh Ayrshire Assoc.

Secretary: Fred. J. Belford, M.A., F.E.I.S., 3 Park Grove, Liberton, Edinburgh, 9.

III. Glasgow--23 Clubs: 2 Members.

3 Tam o' Shanter. 72 Partick. 7 Thistle. 74 National Burns Memorial 9 Royalty. Cottage Homes. 33 Haggis. 91 Shettleston. 36 Rosebery. 139 National. 49 Bridgeton. 153 Scottish. 53 Govan Fairfield. J69 Glasgow B.C. Assoc. 1)8 Sandyford. 263 Masonic. THE BURNS FEDERATION 85

GusGow-cont;nued

282 Burns Bowling Association. 612 Torrance Masonic. 295 Burn. House. 653 Glasgow Ex-Service Teachers. 581 Cumbcmauld. 778 Glasgow Highland. 585 Queen's Park Clarinda. 799 Ballochmyle (Glasgow). Secretary: Andrew Stenhouse, M.A., LL.B., 104 West Campbell Street, Glasgow, C.2.

IV. Dunbarton, Argyll, and Bute Shires-8 Clubs: I Member. 2 Alexandria. 580 Cumbrae. 10 Dumbarton. 6240ban. 244 Dalmuir and Clydebank. 695 Kilmaronock (Dunbartonshire) 421 Arrochar and Tarbet. 766 Glencoe and District. Secretary: James Johnstone, 399 Kilbowie Road, Clydebank.

V. Fifeshire--I7 Clubs: 2 Members. 62 Cupar. 496 Auld Hoose, Burntisland. 85 Dunfermline. 655 Kennoway Jolly Beggars. 184 Blairadam. 656 Dundonald "Jean Armour" 262 Fife B.C. Assoc. Ladies. 283 Sinclairtown. 667 Thornton and District Tam 326 Bingry Jolly Beggars Ladies. 0' Shanter. 345 Den beath. 673 Highland Mary, 350 Markinch. Auchterderran. 452 Auchterderran Bonnie Jean. 688 Poosie Nansie Ladies, 478 Kelty and Blairadam Bonnie Kirkcaldy. Doon Ladies. 768 Auchterderran Jolly Beggars.

Secretary: T. C. Anderson, Rowan Cottage, 194 Main Street, Kelty, Fife.

VI. Lanarkshire-30 Clubs: 3 Members. 20 Airdrie. 207 Cambuslang Wingate. 121 Hamilton Junior. 237 Uddingston Masonic. 133 Newarthill. 348 Newton Bonnie Jean. 152 Hamilton. 86 LIST OF DISTRICTS

LANARKSHIRB~ont;nued 356 Burnbank Masonic. 549 Bothwell Bonnie Lesley Ladies. 37'~ Baillieston Jean Armour. 577 Dalserf and Clydesdale. 387 Mary Campbell 578 Lanarkshire B.C.A. (Cambuslang). 587 Budhill and Springboig. 388 Kyle (Shotts) Ladies. 598 Forth Jolly Beggars. 390 Meikle Earnock Jolly Beggars. 637 Larkhall Applebank. 392 WhifHet. 6042 Rutherglen. 467 Gilbertfield Highland Mary ~ Coatbridge Home Guard. Ladies. 700 Hamilton Jubilee. 494 Motherwell United Services. 757 St. Bride's, Douglas. 520 Uddingston Lochlie Ladies. 761 Carluke. 526 Dykehead Tam 0' Shanter. 762 Tannochside. 797 Wishaw East Cross. Secretary: Mrs. M. Rennie, 21 Gilbertfield Road, Cambuslang.

V'II. Mid and! East Lothians and BordeB-I4 Clubs: I Member. 187 Galashiels Burns Club. 635 Jean Armour, Tranent. 198 Gorebridge Jolly Beggars. 641 Rosewell. 199 Newbattle and District. 651 Dalkeith Plough. 239 Hawick. 654 Ormiston Yew Tree. 346 Oakbank Mossgiel. 740 Thorntree Mystic. 'P7 Gorebridge Glencairn. 747 Tranent "40," 631 Pencaidand and Ormiston. 784 The "Bowmont," Kelso. Secretary: Alex. Duncan, 52 Barleyknowe Crescent, Gorebridge.

VIll. West Lothian-2 Clubs: - Member. 432 Winchburgh. 579 Bathgate Tam 0' Shanter.

Secretary: Robert Findlay, 72 Main Street, Winchburgh, West Lothian.

IX. Renfrewshi.re-II Clubs: I Member. 21 Greenock. 430 Gourock. 48 Paisley. 472 Renfrcwshire B.C.A. '9 Gourock Jolly Beggars. 576 Fort Matilda. 190 Port-Glasgow. 702 Greenock Foundry Masonic. 209 Greenock St. John's. 748 Ouplaymuir. 785 Joy Sullivan (Employees) Masonic.

Secretary: William Christie, 50 Brisbane Street, Greenock. THE BURNS FEDERATION

X. Stirling, Clackmannan, and West Perth Shires-26 Clubs: 3 Members.

1 CalJander. 620 Muirhead. 37 DolJar. 630 Coalsnaughton. 50 Stirling. 646 Clear Winding Devon, Alva. 126 Falkirk. 648 Carron Bridge, Kilsyth. 292 Grahamston. 665 Gartmom Ladies. 380 Falkirk Cross Keys. 679 Tullibody and Cambus. 399 St. Ringans Burns Club. 690 Pim Hall. 126 Sauchie. 725 Ben Cleuch, Tillicoultry. 4~ Denny Cross. 741 Plean. 503 Dunblane. 769 Robert Bruce. 510 I.C.!., Grangemouth. 781 Ochil View. 543 Abbey Craig. 793 Scots' Wha Hae. 582 Higginsneuk. 795 Longcroft, Bonnybridge & Dist.

Secretary: Mrs. W. G. Stewart, South View, Tullibody, Alloa.

XI. East Perth shire, Angus and KinroSS-IO Clubs: 1 Member. 14 Dundee. 360 Lochee, Dundee. 42 Stratheam. 627 Kinross. 76 Brechin. 659 Dundee Burns Society. 82 Arbroath. 786 Thistle, Milnathort. 242 Montrose. 794 Dunning.

Secretary: R. V. Fairweather, Jun., 53 Baltic Street, Montrose.

XU. Northern Scottish Counties-13 Clubs: 1 Member.

10 Aberdeen. 670 Strath (Kyleakin). 149 Elgin. 686 Banchory. 336 Peter head. 691 Inverness. 103 Fraserburgh. 698 Turriff. 458 Stonehaven. 723 Strathpeffer. 170 St. Giles (Elgin). 733 Aberdeen Burns Study Circle 767 Laurencekirk.

Secretary: C. C. Easton, 55 Rosehill Drive, Aberdeen. 88 LIST OF DISTRICTS

xm. Southern Scottish Counties-19 Clubs: 2 Members. 112 Dumfries Howfi. 536 Whithorn. 217 Eskdale. 562 Castle Douglas. 226 Dumfries. 589 Solway. 309 Annan. 616 Kirkconnel and Sanquhar. 323 Kirkcudbright. 625 Lockerbie. 393 Annan Ladies. 626 Mofiat and District. 437 Dumfries Ladies. 629 Sanquhar. 479 Queen of the South Ladies. 660 The Langholm Ladies. 530 Southern Scottish Counties B.C.A.~3 Masonic, Kirkcudbright. 730 Wigtown. S~cretary: Mrs. M. Coulson, 52 Friars Vennel, Dumfries. XIV. London and South-Eastern England-II Clubs: 1 Member. 1 Burns Club of London. 719 Chelmsford and District Scottish 492 Harrow Cal. Soc. Society. 570 Scottish Clans Assoc. of 743 Romford Scottish Assoc. London. 788 Harlow and District Cal. Soc. 617 Reading and District Cal. Assoc 790 Thurrock Cal. Soc. 663 Bournemouth and District 791 Swindon and Dist. Cal. Society. Cal. Soc. 800 Newbury and Dist. Cal. Society. Secretary: John M. Swan, 17 Roxborough Park, Harrow, Middlesex XV. North-Eastern England-I4 Clubs: I Member. ll9 Sunderland. 745 Northumberland and Durham '5/l Darlington. Cal. Soc. 379 Hartlepools Burns Club. 755 Blyth and District Cal. Soc. 534 Bedlington and District. 759 Sunderland and District Cal. Soc. ¥ Whitley Bay. 775 Hartlepools Cal. Soc. 699 Choppmgton. 787 Ashington and District Cal. 735 Barnard Castle. Soc. 744 Durham and District Cal. Soc. 796 Gateshead and Dist. St. And. Soc. S~cr~tary: John D. McBain, 33 Humbledon Park, Sunderland. XVI. North-Western England-I4 Clubs: I Member. 7~ Carlisle. 572 Chester Cal. Assoc. 95 Bolton. 618 Altrincham and Sale Cal. Soc. l3fi Whitehaven. 04 Manchester and Salford 363 Isarrow St. Andrew's Society. Cal. Assoc. 366 Liverpool. 753 Westmorland St. Andrew Society. 'fI7 Burnley and District. 754 Thornton Cleveleys and District 436 Walney Jolly Beggars Scottish Society. Ladies. 780 Isle of Man Cal. Soc. 789 Aintree Burns Club. Secretary: David Brotchie, 6 Eshe Road, Blundell Sands, Liverpool. XVII. Yorkshire--7 Clubs: I Member. 548 Leeds Cal. Soc. 722 Bridling-ton Cal. Society. 551 Scarborough Cal. Soc. 763 Wakefield Cal. Soc. 'i55 Harrogate St. Andrew's Soc. 783 Huddersfield and Dist. Scottish 718 St. Andrew Society of York. SOciety. . . S~cr~tary: A. Y. Smith, L.D.S., The Mount Hotel, Cliff Bndge Terrace, Scarborough. THE BURNS FEDERATION xvm. North and East Midlands of England-I8 Clubs: :& Members. II Chesterfield Cal. Soc. 556 Doncaster Cal. Soc. 17 Nottingham. 563 Norfolk Cal. Soc. 55 Derby. 584 Corby. 329 Newark and District. 606 Rockingham. 405 Sheffield Cal. Soc. 706 North Lindsey Scots Society. 439 Barnsley Scottish Soc. 720 Retford Cal. Soc. 454 Rotherham. 736 Maltby Caledonian Society. 461 Leicester Cal. Soc. 742 Scots Society of St. Andrcw, 528 Loughborough Scottish Soc. Norwich. 746 Grimsby and District Cal. Soc. Secretary: XIX. West Midlands of England-Io Clubs: I Member. 167 Birmingham. 683 Stratford upon Avon and District 296 Walsall. Cal. Soc. 553 Wolverhampton. 707 Malvern Scots Club. 559 Coventry Cal. Soc. 751 Worcester Scots Society. 661 Leamington and Warwick 777 Nuneaton Scottish Society. Cal. Soc. 801 Hurley and Dist. Scottish Soc. Secretary: T. Dunkley Hogg, 143 Sandwell Road, Birmingham, 21.

XX. South--Western England-8 Clubs: I Member. 120 Bristol. 721 Plymouth Burns Club. 446 Herefordshire. 758 Bath and District Cal. Soc . .. 62 Cheltenham Scottish Soc. 774 Gloucester Scottish Society. 535 Plymouth and District Cal. Soc. 798 Exeter and Dist. Cal. Society. Interim Secretary: J. Burgess Parker, Cabot House, 2 Berkeley Square, Bristol, 8. XXI. Wale5-2 Clubs: I Member. 444 Swansea and West Wales. 776 Pembrokeshire Cal. Soc. XXII. Ireland-3 Clubs: I Member. 15 Belfast. 183 Londonderry. 406 Dublin St. Andrew's Soc. Secretary: XXIII. Africa--2 Clubs: I Member. 675 Fed. Cal. Soc. of Southern Africa. 764 The Plateau (Northern Nigeria). XXIV. Australia-II Clubs: I Member. 5II Perth. 712 N. and W. Melbourne Scottish 521 Waratah-Mayfield. Society. 523 Highland Society of KS.W. 716 Royal Cal. Society of Melbourne. 545 Parramatta. 726 Melbourne. s66 Scottish Soc. and Burns Club 739_Whyalla. of Australia. 792 Scottish Dancing and Society 7II Victorian Scottish Union. Club (Regd.), Adelaide. 90 LIST OF DISTRICTS XXV. New Zealand-3 Clubs: I Member. 69 Dunedin. 497 St. Andrew (Wellington). 636 Gisborne.

XXVI. Canada-II Clubs: I Member. 197 Winnipeg. 561 London (Ontario). 303 Victoria (B.C.) St. 571 Edmonton. Andrew's Soc. 575 Windsor (Ont.) Jean Armour. 344 Ladysmith (B.C.). 689 Prince Rupert (B.C.). 476 Border Cities (Ont.). 710 The Burns Literary Society of 501 Galt. Toronto. 779 St. Maurice Valley, Quebec. XXVII. India-I Club: I Member. 355 Calcutta.

XXVIII.· U.S.A.-I7 Clubs: 2 Memben. 220 St. Louis. 453 Philadelphia Ladies' 238 Atlanta. Auxiliary. 271 Trenton. 284 Philadelphia. 493 Akron. 320 Troy. 498 Flint. 331 Buffalo. 518 Ye Auld Cronies, Ohio. 354 Royal Order of Scottish 525 Flint Jolly Beggars. Clans. 557 Atlanta Ladies. 381 Greater New York Masonic. 413 San Francisco St. Andrew's 594 Cuyahoga County. Soc. 701 Detroit. Seeretary: Robert E. Urquhart, 1I0 Canvass Street, Cohoes, New York, U.S.A.

XXIX. Near and Middle East-I Club: I Member. 771 Caledonian Society, Karachi, Pakistan.

xxx. Europe-2 Clubs: I Member. 727 The St. Andrew Society of Denmark. 782 Bergen Burns Club, Norway. LIST OF PAST PRESIDENTS LIST OF PAST PllISIDENTS. 1885-1899 Provost Peter Sturrock, Kilmarnock. 1899"1906 Provost David Mackay, Kilmarnock. 19Q6-1907 : David Murray, M.A., B.Sc., Kilmarnock. 1908-1909 : William Wallace, M.A., LL.D., Glasgow. 1909-1910 Captain David Sneddon, V.D., Kilmarnock. 1910-1923 Duncan M'Naught, LL.D., Kilmaurs. 1923-1927 Sir Robert Bruce, D.L., LL.D., Glasgow. 1927-1930 Sir Joseph Dobbie, S.S.C., Edinburgh. 1930-1933 Sir Alexander Gibb, G.B.E., C.B., London. 1933-1937 : Ninian Macwhannell, F.R.I.B.A., Glasgow. 1937-1943 : M. H. M'Kerrow, F.S.A.Scot., Dumfries 1943-1946 : John S. Clarke, J.P., Glasgow. 1946-1948 : Sir Patrick Dollan, D.L., LL.D., J.P., Glasgow. 1948-1950 : Thomas B. Goudie, Hamilton. 1950-1951 John McVie, O.B.E., M.S.M., Edinburgh. 1951-1952 James R. Crawford, F.S.A.Scot., Norwich. 1952-1953 J. Kevan M'Dowall, F.S.A.Scot., Glasgow. 1953-1954 John W. Oliver, M.A., D.Litt., Edinburgh. 1954-1955 A. Wilson Boyle, C.A., Aye. 1955-1956 John E. Barbour, Bristol. List of places at which the Annual Conference of the Council has been held. 1885-93 Kilmarnock. 1924 Dumfries. 1894 Glasgow. 1925 Edinburgh. 1895 Dundee. 1926 Perth. 1896 Kilmarnock. 1927 Derby. 1897 Greenock. 1928 Aberdeen. 1898 Mauchline. 1929 Troon. 1899 Dumfries. 1930 Greenock. 1900 Kilmarnock. 1931 Hawick. 1901 Glasgow. 1932 Stirling. 1902 Greenock. 1933 London. 1903 Edinburgh. 1934 Glasgow. 190 4 Stirling. 1935 Ayr and Kilmarnock. 1905 Hamilton. 1936 Elgin. 1906 Kilmarnock. 1937 Newcasde-upon-Tyne. 1907 Sunderland. 1938 Dumfries. 1908 St. Andrews. 1940-46 Glasgow. 1909 Dunfermline. 1947 Dunoon. 1910 Lanark. 1948 Stirling. 191I Glasgow. 1949 Mauchline. 1912 Carlisle. 1950 Bristol. 1913 Galashiels. 1951 Montrose 1915-19 Glasgow. 1952 Norwich. 1920 London. 1953 Paisley. 1921 Dunfermline. 1954 Sheffield. 1922 Birmingham. 1955 Edinburgh. 1923 A~. 1956 Cheltenham. The Council did not meet in 1914 and in 1939. MINUTES OF THE ANNUAL CONFERENCE OF THE COUNCIL

DRAWING ROOM, TOWN HALL, CHELTENHAM, 8th September, 1956. The Annual Conference of the Council of the Burns Federa­ tion was held here to-day at 10 a.m. The President, Mr. John E. Barbour, occupied the chair and was accompanied by Mr. Alex. Macmillan, vice-President, and thirteen members of the Executive and the officials. Greetings to the Council and apologies were intimated from Mr. James T. Picken, Hon. President, Australia, Mr. John M'Vie, Mr. J. Kevan M'Dowall, Dr. John W. Oliver, Mr. James R. Crawford, Past-President, Mr. J. B. Hardie and Mr. A. Y. Crawford. The following sixty-two Clubs were represented:­ Kilmarnock, No. 0; London B.C., No. I; Chesterfield District, II; Greenock, 21; Edinburgh, 22; Dairy, 35; Rosebery (Glasgow), 36; Aberdeen, 40; Bridgeton, 49; Derby Scots Association, 55; Dunedin (N.Z.), 69; Carlisle, 71; Sunderland, 89; Burns HowfI, Dumfries, II2; Bristol Caledonian Society, 120; Edinburgh Ninety, 124; Scottish B.C., Glasgow, 153; Darlington, 158; Glasgow Di~ trict Association, 1~; Irvine B.C., 173; Ayrshire Association, 192; Winnipeg B.C., 197; Eskdale, 217; Dumfries 226; Uddingston Masonic, 237; Atlanta, U.S.A .. , 238; Ayr B.C., 275; Walsall B.C., 2¢; Edinburgh Ayrshire Association, 307; Annan, 309; Mauchline, 310; Rosebery (Kilbirnie), 377; Edinburgh District Association, 378; Sheffield Caledonian Society, 405; Arrochar and Tarbert, 421; Dum­ fries Ladies, 437; Rotherham and District, 454; Cheltenham Scots Society, 462; Queen of the South Ladies, Dumfries, 479; St. Andrews B.C., Wellington, N.Z., 497; Southern Counties, 530; Greenock Fort Matilda, 576; Cumbrae, 580; Glaisnock, Cumnock, 596; Coalsnaughton, 630; Symington, 632, Langholm Ladies, 660; Leamington and Warwick, 661; Detroit (U.S.A.), 701; Toronto, Canada, 710; Retford and District, 720; Melbourne, Australia, 726; St. Andrew Society, Denmark, 727; Northumberland and Durham Caledonian Society, 745; Worcester Scots Society, 751; Sunderland and District, 759; Plateau, N. Nigeria, 764; Caledonian Society, Karachi, Pakistan, 771; Gloucester and District Scots, 774; St. Maurice Valley, Canada, 779; Bergen B.C., Norway, 782; Bow­ mont, Kelso, 784; Swindon and District Scottish Association, 79I. MINUTES OF THE ANNUAL CONFERENCE 93 The President, having extended a warm welcome to the delegates, the minutes of last year's conference at Edinburgh­ which are printed on pp. 129-140 of the 1956 Burns Cnronicle­ were held as read and were approved.

SECRETARY'S REPORT Commenting on the report, the Secretary said that since it had been compiled seven new affiliations had been added to the roll. After commending the Tarbolton Bachelors' Club for the excellent work they were doing in the parish, the Secretary said he was happy to report that the Tam 0' Shanter Inn, Ayr, had now been opened to the public as a museum, and up to date, he understood, one thousand people had visited it. They had with them that day as a delegate from Ayr a gentleman to whom they owed a very great debt. He referred to the Secretary of Ayr Burns Club, Mr. John Gray, and undoubtedly it was through his efforts that the inn had been preserved for the Burns fraternity. Mem­ bership of the Federation remained steady, details of which would be found in the Annual Report. During the year intimation was received regarding the deaths of five gentlemen who had given great service to the Federation. Reference to them is contained in the obituary notices in the report. ANNUAL REPORT In order that my report should be in line with the other reports submitted at this time it has been necessary for me to cover the period from October, 1955, to April, 1956. Last year I gave a summary of the work of the Federation from September, 1954, until September, 1955. During the period mentioned I have been much encouraged by the number of new applications made for affiliation and by many inquiries from all over the country regarding membership. It may be that the approach of the bi-centenary of the birth of the Poet has some bearing on these inquiries and that many Clubs and Scottish Societies, not hitherto in the Federation, would now wish to be associated with the movement in any celebrations which may be arranged.

OBITUARY It is with very great regret that J have to report the deaths of five outstanding personalities in the Burns Federation who, by their passing, have left vacancies which will be difficult to fill. Their long years of service will be remembered as examples of devotion to the ideals of the Federation. 94 ~nNUTES OF THE ANNUAL CONFERENCE From Sheffield we learned of the death of W. Gregor Macgregor, an Hon. Vice-President of the Federation and one of the prime movers in the formation of the Sheffield Caledonian Society, whose enthusiasm assisted in making that body the fine Society it is to-day.

Andrew McCallum, who died at Callander, aged eighty-five years, was an Han. President of the Federation. For more than fifty years he worked as a journalist in the Pollokshaws district of Glasgow-a district not unassociated with Scodand's Bard-where, until his retirement to Perthshire, he was a familiar figure in local affairs. A Past-President of Thornliebank Burns Club (now defunct) he was a Burns enthusiast. Practically to the end of his life he was tireless in his researches into the life and times of the National Bard.

Earlier productions of the Burns Chronicle contain his writings and, in collaboration with the late esteemed Editor, Mr. J. C. Ewing, he did much to add to the store of knowledge of lovers of the Bard. A stout defender of the Poet, he never lost an oppor­ tunity to deal with his detractors.

T. Atholl Robertson, Crieff, well known as the Editor of the Scots Year Book, an enthusiastic member of the Executive Com­ mittee, and a kenspeckle figure at the Annual Conferences of the Federation, will be missed not only for his personality, but for his lively interest in all matters pertaining to the work of tlie Federation.

In Nottingham the Scottish Society as well as the Burns Federation suffered a severe loss by the death of John Currie. For over a quarter of a century he had been actively associated with the Burns Federation, and in September, 1953, was appointed an Honorary President of the Federation in recognition of his 25 years' work as Secretary of the Midlands district. He was a founder member in 1900 of the Nottingham Scottish Association, was Secretary from 1912 to 1937 and President in 1928-29. For very many years he had been a member of the Nottingham Mechanics Institution. He gave the St. Andrew's flag which flies on the Council House flagstaff on St. Andrew's Day to the city.

The news of the death of Donald F. Macnair, Glasgow, the Senior Vice-President of the Federation, came as a shock MINUTES OF THE ANNUAL CONFERENCE 95 to those of us who had been working with him in Committee in recent months. Mr. Macnair was indeed a man deeply inter­ ested in the work of the Federation. For six years he acte:! as Convener of the Finance Committee with such acceptance that it warranted his promotion towards the President's Chair. His attendance at all meetings of the Executive Committee was regular and he will be much missed for his wise counsel and encouragement. At the Quarterly Meetings, President John E. Barbour paid suitable tributes to all those mentioned and letters of condolence were sent to the relatives and friends.

MEMBERSHIP The number of Clubs and Scottish Societies on the Roll of the Federation at the end of October, 1955, was 349, and to this I am happy to report 9 new affiliations and 3 re-affiliations. Three resignations were also notified, but two of these may yet be retained. Removals from the Roll equals the affiliations and the number now on the active Roll is 350. Inquiries regarding mem­ bership have come in from many quarters and I am hopeful that the number mentioned will steadily increase.

New Clubs 'ldmitted during the Year- 787. Ashington and Distnct Caledonian Society. 788. Harlow 1I'Jd District Caledonian Society. 789. Aintree Burns Club, Liverpool. 790. Thurrock Caledonian Society. 791. Swindon and District Caledonian Society. 792. Scottish Dancing and Social Club, Adelaide, Regd. 793. Scots Wha' Hae Burns Club, Stirling. 794. Dunning Burns Club, Perth. 795. Longcroft, Bonnybridge and District Burns Club. 796. Gateshead and District St. Andrew's Society. 797. Wishaw East Cross Burns Club. 798. Exeter and District Caledonian Society. 799. Ballochmyle Burns Club, Glasgow. 800. Newbury and District Caledonian Society. 801. Hurley and District Scottish Society. 802. Crosskey s Burns and Social Club.

Re-affiliations- 399. St. Ringans Burns Club, Stirling. 360. Lochee Burns Club, Dundee. 187. Galashiels Burns Club. 96 MINUTES OF THE ANNUAL CONFERENCE

QUARTERLY MEETINGS The Quarterly Meetings of the Executive Committee have been well attended and the Sub-Committees have met as the occasion demanded.

BI-CENTENARY COMMITTEE The Special Committee appointed to consider and develop the proposals made and endorsed at the Conference last year has met on several occasions. It is as yet too early to put concrete pro­ posals before the Council, but it is hoped that a comprehensive programme will be presented during the next few months. In the meantime the Committee is still open to accept suggestions which might tend to lend variety to the proposed celebrations. Suggestions should be sent to me as early as possible so that full consideration may be given to them. Clubs are reminded that the celebrations being arranged by the Bi-centenary Committee and the Executive Committee are on an international scale, and are not intended to interfere with the arrangements made by indi­ vidual Clubs. There is no doubt that there will be a great demand for speakers for this occasion, and any lady or gentleman willing to give their services as such should send their names to me for inclusion on the existing list of speakers.

MEMORIALS As reported last year, the Kilmarnock Town Council had decided to complete the work of restoration on the Kay Park Monument. This work is now nearing completion and the Council is to be congratulated on the magnificent result achieved. The attention of the Council was drawn to the danger of losing some of the valuable manuscripts housed in the Monument due to over-exposure to the sun, and I am glad to report that this danger has now been eliminated by the provision of suitable protective covering. The Edinburgh and District Burns Association continues to keep the matter of improvements on the Monument in Regent's Road before the City Council.

TARBOLTON BACHELORS' CLUB During the past few years the members of the Tarbolton Bachelors' Club have done much valuable work in and around the village. They are now faced with a problem affecting the structure of the old building which will entail considerable expense. It is hoped that the appeal recently issued for funds to preserve the old building will meet with a ready response. MINUTES OF THE ANNUAL CONFERENCE 97

MARY CAMPBELL MEMORIAL FUND The disposal of this fund has now been satisfactorily com­ pleted, the details of which will be found in the Hon. Treasurer's report.

THE BURNS CHRONICLE The campaign which was launched last year in an endeavour to increase the sales of the Chronicle has met with considerable success. Our thanks are due to Mr. A. Wilson Boyle, Past President, who took it upon himself to contact all the Clubs in the Federation on the matter. As the Chronicle is indispensible to all Club members I would urge the early application for copies for the 1957 issue.

SCHOOL COMPETITIONS This feature of the Federation's activities continues to flourish, and to Mr Fred. J. Belford, Hon. Secretary of Schools Competi­ tions must go the credit. His enthusiasm in this matter is boundless, and is reflected in the ever increasing numbers taking .part in the competitions. This year the total number of com­ petitors reached the 100,000 mark, a really grand achievement.

DECLARATION OF ARBROATH There is still on hand a supply of the Declarations and these may be· obtained on application to the Hon. Treasurer at the price of £I IS.

FEDERATION SONG BOOK It is hoped that the Federation Song Book for Schools will be published during early autumn and the thanks of the Federa­ tion are due to Mr. John McVie, Past President, for his work in selecting and compiling this book. The price for the pupils' copy, with melodies in staff and sol-fa, will be 2/6, and for the piano edition 6/6. The Song Book is published by The McDougall Educational Co., Ltd., Edinburgh.

AULD BRIG OF AYR I have received the following report on the condition of the Auld Brig of Ayr, from the Burgh Surveyor which appears to be satisfactory: - G 98 MINUTES OF THE ANNUAL CONFERENCE

AYR CORPORATION

Report on Auld Brig, Ayr, as at 14th May, 1956. The masonry of piers, abutments and parapets is all in good order, with the exception of the projecting parts of the gargoyles for conducting water from the carriageway, which has been mentioned in the reports of previous years, but these do not interfere with the discharge of water from the carriageway. The granite sett paving of the bridge and approaches is still in good order. The foundation of the abutments and piers are in good order, but the concrete aprons of the first and third piers have been scoured out in places by action of the water. The replacement of this concrete will be done during the summer by the Roads and Bridges Department of the Corporation, otherwise I consider the whole structure is in a very satisfactory condition.

Reported by THOMAS O'BEIRNE, Burgh Surveyor. Burgh Surveyor's Office, Town Buildings, Ayr. 15th May, 1956.

TAM 0' SHANTER INN, AYR Much water has flowed beneath the "Auld Brig 0' Ayr" and many storms have raged around "Alloway's Auld Haunted Kirk" since the story of the adventures of "Tam 0' Shanter" was told "As he £rae Ayr ae nicht did canter." Throughout the intervening years the old hostdry retained all its original characteristics, but the old must give place to the new, and with the passage of time the old building became unsafe and a few years ago was closed as a place of refreshment to the public. Ayr Burns Club, ever on the alert for anything which has a direct connection with the life and times of Burns, set itself the task of creating ways and means of preserving the old build~ng. Meetings have been held between the officials of the Burns Club and the Town Council, and as a result a scheme has been evolved whereby the old Inn will be preserved and be re-opened shordy as a museum. Many Burns relics have been collected over the years which will form the nucleus of the exhibits, and the Secretary of Ayr MINUTES OF THE ANNUAL CONFERENCE 99 Burns Club will be pleased to receive donations of relics which will add to the interest and attraction of the museum. Although this great change has taken place in the character of the Inn, and internally it will be dressed in the sombre garb of a museum, to the public eye it wjll still present the appearance of the old hostdry and retain the world-famous name of "Tam 0' Shanter." For their foresight and diligence in having this old and historical building preserved, Ayr Burns Club has earned the commendation of Burnsians all over the world.

BURNS WALK, DUMFRIES Throughout this report it has been my pleasure to mention the continued interest in the preservation of all the monuments and places of interest associated with Robert Burns, and not the least of these is the work done by the Southern Scottish Counties' Association to preserve the amenities of the Burns Walk, Dum­ fries. For some time the "walk" was in a very bad state of repair, and the Association, realising the urgency of having this work of restoration completed, ~ook upon its shoulders the responsibility of raising a fund to defray the cost of repairs. The estimated cost was £180, and the Association by their efforts col­ lected the sum of £140. The attention of the Executive Committee was drawn to this situation by the Convener of the Finance Com­ mittee and it was unanimously agreed that the balance of £40 be paid by the Federation. The Southern Scottish Counties' Association is to be congratu­ lated on its enterprise in having this work completed on one of the most beautiful walks in Scotland.

BEQUEST BY THE LATE MR. DAVID GRANT, WINNIPEG During the year intimation was received from the executors of the estate of the late Mr. David Grant, Winnipeg, that the sum of 1000 dollars had been bequeathed to the Federation. Inquiries were made through the solicitors to ascertain if there were any relatives with whom contact could be made, so that suitable ~cknowledgment might be given to the bequest. Unfortunately, little information regarding Mr. Grant or his relatives could be found, nor could any inform,ation on his association with the Burns movement be elicited. It is evident, however, that Mr. Grant had had a very great regard for the work of the Federa­ tion, and the movement in general, as the Winnipeg Burns Club was also bequeathed a very substantial sum. There being no stipulation regarding the disbursement of the roo MINUTES OF THE ANNUAL CONFERENCE bequest, it was agreed by the Executive Committee to place the sum of £350 in the Central Fund. Suitable acknowledgment was made on behalf of the Executive by the Hon. Treasurer to the solicitors in Winnipeg.

CONCLUSION Looking back over the period under review I feel that a steady progress has been maintained, the outlook for the future is bright and I look forward to a rising enthusiasm as the Bi-centenary year approaches. I would take this opportunity of thanking the President and all Office-bearers for their assistance and support during the past year. JOHN M. IRVING, Hon. Secretary. April, 1956.

TREASURER'S REPORT Mr. William Black, Dumfries, in submitting his report as Hon. Treasurer, said that the credit balance of £756 14s. 4d. at 1St May, 1955, showed an increase of £127 16s. 8d. over the previous year. Annual subscriptions were well maintained. The reminder issued to Club officials in 1954-55 was effective to a degree, but the ideal of closing the year without any arrears did not materialise and at 30th April, 1956, 43 Clubs were in arrears -32 for one year, 10 for two years, and I (overseas) for three years. Unfortunately, Rule 8 (c) fell to be applied to II of these Clubs and, as a result, the active roll remained at 349, despite an increase in the number of affiliations. An increase in the sales of Burns Chronicles was offset by a decrease in advertising receipts, the decision to secure an earlier publication costing them three-and-a-half pages in advertisements. The response by affiliated Clubs to repeated appeals for increased intake of the Chronicle left much to be desired and, despite a special appeal by the Convener of the Literature Committee, they found that approximately one half of the Clubs on the roll were content with the two gratis copies they received on paying their subscription. Sales of Federation brooches showed an appreciable increase of £24 lOS. and there was still a demand for pocket diplomas. For the first time in many years conference receipts were in excess of expenditure and they were indebted to the Edinburgh District Burns Clubs' Association. To those who liked to compare one year's figures with another, the result of the appeal for funds for charities in which the Burns Federation was interested might, at first glance, appear disappoint- MINUTES OF THE ANNUAL CONFERENCE 101 ing. The reason for the apparent decrease was that donations had lately been sent direct to the officials of the charities without appearing in the Federation books. They were assured by these officials that subscriptions were well up to average and that the response to the appeal for the Jean Armour Burns Houses Building Fund had been most encouraging. As agreed last year, a portion of the credit balance was deposited in the Savings Bank and the income from bank interest showed a corresponding increase. The income for the year amounted to £1944 os. 5d. On the expenditure side, the sums set against postages and printing showed a decrease as compared with the previous year, a portion of these items having been cor­ rectly charged against the Burns Chronicle. It would also be observed that expenditure on school competitions had been omitted from the ordinary fund account. Again, this had been correctly charged to its proper fund, the Scottish Literature. The increase in the printing costs of the Chronicle was occa­ sioned by the extension of the literary section. Miscellaneous printing included the letter of appeal by the Convener of the Literary Committee already referred to. The sum set against back numbers repurchased included the cost of the complete set of bound volumes which belonged to the late Hon. Treasurer. The increase in the amount paid to contributors was due in part to the increase in the number of literary articles. It also included £10 5s. paid to competitors in the poetry competitions. If they discounted the £20 advertising charges received in the year under review, but actually applicable to the previous year, they found that the 1956 Chronicle just paid its way with very little to spare. They were advised that the upward trend in printing costs, postages, &c., would continue and the Executive were faced with the alternatives of publishing the Chronicle at a loss or increasing the selling prices. The latter course was adopted and the prices for the 1957 Chronicle would be 5s. for paper covered and 7s. 6d. for cloth-bound copies. The expenditure for the year amounted to £1758 IS. Id., and they were thus able to increase their balance by £185 195. 4d. to £942 13S. 8d., of which approximately half was in the Savings Bank earning interest at 3 per cent. The ancillary funds statements were more or less self­ explanatory and called for little comment. Those who had com­ pared the figures before them with those of the previous year would have noted a drop of £40 in the royalties on sales of the "Scots Readers." This was not due to the falling off in the sales but to the fact that a reprint was required of Book II of the series. They would note also that a deficit of approximately £20 102 MINUTES OF THE ANNUAL CONFERENCE arose during the year. Year by year the excellent work done by Mr. Belford and his committee was rightfully acclaimed by dele­ gates to the conference; and year by year the Hon. Treasurer had appealed for contributions from Clubs to support the work of the Schools Committee. Last year not one Club responded. Were they going to impede the admirable results of the committee by denying them the financial support they required? He asked delegates to go back to their Clubs determined to inspire their fellow-members into contributing. Mr. A. Neil Campbell, Edinburgh, Convener of the Finance Committee, in moving the adoption of the report, suggested that they put on record their appreciation of the good work done by the Treasurer and by the Auditors, who had recently retired, namely, Mr. William A. Gold, Kilmarnock, who had been an Auditor for twenty years, and Mr. W. Y. Haggo, who had acted in a similar capacity for four years. They had both given great hdp. Mr. A. Wilson, Sheffield, seconded, and the report was unanimously adopted. The Financial Statement is printed on pp. 109-II 2.

BURNS CHRONICLE Mr. James Veitch, the Hon. Editor, submitted his report on the 1956 issue of the Burns Chronicle. The report, which is printed on p. 108, was unanimously adopted.

SCHOOL COMPETITIONS Mr. Fred. J. Belford, Han. Secretary of School Competitions, submitted his report on the 1955-56 competitions. In the course of his comments, Mr. Belford said that the new song book would provide an ideal opportunity for Burns Clubs. This was a worthy production and the profits were going to the Burns Federation. After a lengthy discussion, the report, which is printed on pp. II3-II5, was unanimously approved.

BI-CENTENARY CELEBRATIONS Mr. A. Wilson Boyle, Ayr, chairman of the committee dealing with the arrangements for the bi-centenary cdebrations, said that among the things that had been discussed by the committee was the issuing of a commemorative badge to Club members in the bi-centenary year. They had more or less decided on one which they thought would be quite attractive and not cost too much, and which they hoped would be popular with the Club members. They hoped also that there would be supplied a button badge for MINUTES OF THE ANNUAL CONFERENCE 103 school children ~n that year, but a lot would depend on the sup­ port they got from the various Education Committees, because they must look to them to supply the finance that would be required for these badges. The question of a commemorative postage stamp had been mentioned last year, but one or two misguided gendemen asked the Postmaster-General questions about it and the answer was "No." They had not altogether given up hope of having a Burns stamp. Russia had issued a Burns postage stamp, and they were still a litde hopeful that something would be done about a stamp here. The question of a film had also been considered and one or two of the people they had approached were delighted to help them, provided the Federation put up the money. The original cost was put at £4000. The bi-centenary fund stood at £101 17s. 6d. and of that sum, £100 came from the balance that was left over from their inter­ national festival. That meant that the support they had had since then amounted to £1 17s. 6d. Appeals would be made to Clubs to give them perhaps over the next three years £2 per annum per Club. Many of the wealthier Clubs could perhaps give them much more. Continuing, Mr. Boyle said that in Maxwell Park, Glasgow, this summer there was a considerable lay-out in flowers depicting the Brig 0' Doon, a man at the plough with a horse, Burns's cottage and the quotation, "A man's a man for a' that." He had had a photograph taken of that particular plot and he had sent one or two copies to the parks departments of some burghs for their information and ·suggesting that they might do something in their parks in the bi-centenary year. That could be done in many of the parks in England and, if the Caledonian Society Presidents or Secretaries had any influence with their Councils, the committee would be happy to supply them with photographs of the display in Maxwell Park. When the question of Cumnock having raised money for the celebration was mentioned, the Secretary pointed out that the money raised in Cumnock would be spent there. They wanted. to encourage Clubs to have their own celebrations, but it would be wrong for this event to pass without some effort on the part of the Federation to have some celebration of an international nature. Mr. Morren said that a former President of Dundee Burns Society had a film of the Burns Country, and Mr. Boyle replied that they had been in touch with him. Mr. W. Ormiston Roy, Winnipeg, suggested that with the co-operation of the Royal Caledonian Curling Club, they could 104 MINUTES OF THE ANNUAL CONFERENCE get something like 200,000 curlers throughout the world to play a game on the occasion of the bi-centenary. Mr. Andrew Stenhouse, Glasgow, Secretary of Glasgow and District Burns Association, said that that body intended to incor­ porate in the celebrations the opening of the new Jean Armour Burns Houses at Mauchline in 1959. The Association owned and looked after the Jean Armour Burns Houses, which were situated in Castle Street in Mauchline. Nine or ten elderly widows and spinsters resided in them and the Association gave them a little pension. These houses were nearly three hundred years old and although they were in a very good state of preservation, the com­ mittee felt about five years ago that they were getting too old for modern habitation. The Association decided that they would build modern houses. About five years ago they feued approxi­ mately two acres of ground on the historic farm of Mossgiel, which was just at the back of the Memorial Homes, and they then started to collect funds to build the new houses. They intended to have ten houses and a common room in the middle, joined together in tlle shape of a "V," and they also hoped to build another ten houses, making twenty in all. It was estimated five years ago that the first ten houses would cost about £10,000, but within the past year they had got fresh estimates from contractors and the cost had gone up to approximately £15,000. He was glad to say that through the efforts of various friends and Clubs, particularly in Glasgow, they had collected that money. The founds had actually been laid and the laying of the foundation stone was to take place on Saturday, 29th September. This pro­ ject would fit in with the bi-centenary programme of the Federa­ tion. These houses did not just belong to the Glasgow and District Burns Association-they belonged to the Burns movement all over the world. Mr. James Adair suggested that in view of the interest that the Glasgow parks superintendent had shown, a letter of thanks should be sent to him. Mr. Boyle'S report was approved.

ELECTION OF OFFICE-BEARERS The following recommendations by the Executive Committee were cordially and unanimously approved:- Hon. Presidents-J. Kevan M'Dowall, Glasgow; A. Wilson Boyle, Ayr; John E. Barbour, Bristol. President-Mr. Alex. Macmillan, M.A., Ed.B., Irvine. Vice-Presidents-Mr. J. B. Hardie, Glasgow; Mr. A. Neil Campbell, F.C.C.S., Edinburgh. MINUTES OF THE ANNUAL CONFERENCE 105 Hon. Secretary-Mr. John M. Irving, Kilmarnock. Hon. Treasurer-Mr. William Black, Dumfries. Hon. Editor-Mr. James Veitch, Peebles. Hon. Secretary of Schools Competitions-Mr. Fred. J. Belford, M.A., F.E.I.S., Edinburgh. Assistant Hon. Secretary-Mr. Andrew Stenhouse, M.A., LL.B., Glasgow. Auditors-Messrs. Fraser, Lawson lit Laing, C.A., Glasgow. Before demitting office and investing the new President with the chain of office, Mr. Barbour expressed his gratitude to the members for giving him the opportunity of endeavouring to serve them during the past twelve months. Referring to the new President, Mr. Barbour said that he would add lustre to the Federation. On taking the chair, Mr. Macmillan said he came somewhat untimely to that illustrious office through the death of that fine gentleman, Mr. Donald Macnair. Sometimes, he continued, the Burns Federation came under a great deal of criticism, amply reported in their national press. He thought somehow it added to their dignity that they forbore to reply and carried on with the work they were doing, and it was good work. "We are called old-fashioned," continued Mr. Macmillan. "Well, if it is old-fashioned to foster auld acquaintance with Scots across the Border and far over the seas, if it is old-fashioned to try to nourish and keep alive the Auld Scots tongue, if it is old-fashioned to try to preserve and honour the name of Scotland's greatest poet, then I am glad that I am one of the old-fashioned ones." Continuing, Mr. Macmillan said that he wished to mention Mr. James Dunlop of Mauchline, who had presented him with a mallet and plaque. In conclusion, Mr. Macmillan pointed out that a year in office was a very short time, but while he was in it he would do what he could to further the interests of that great movement.

NEXT ANNUAL CONFERENCE Miss Ethel Hall, Hon. Secretary of Aberdeen Burns Club, presented an invitation to the Federation to hold the next Annual Conference in Aberdeen. After discussion about the date, it was unanimously agreed to accept the invitation and hold the con­ ference at the usual time if possible.

GREETINGS FROM OVERSEAS On the invitation of the President, Sir Donald Cameron, Dunedin, New Zealand, spoke on behalf of delegates from over­ seas. In conveying greetings to the conference, he gave an 106 MINUTES OF THE ANNUAL CONFERENCE interesting account of Burns Clubs abroad, stressing the fact that "they were doing all they could to do what the Federation repre­ sented, namely, the fostering of the traditions of Auld Scotland and -the life and character of Robert Burns." The business meeting was closed with the recording of a vote of thanks to the Pre&ident, on the motion of Mr. A. Neil Campbell. SOCIAL FUNCTIONS On Friday evening delegates and friends attended a Civic Reception in the Town Hall and were received by the Deputy Mayor, Alderman Lt.-Col. C. W. Biggs, and afterwards enjoyed a varied programme of Scottish country dances. Two grand-daughters and a great-grand-daughter of Robert Burns are buried in the churchyard of St. Mary's, Charlton Kings, and delegates and friends attended a wreath-laying ceremony there prior to the business meeting on Saturday morning. Follow­ ing the usual custom, the conference luncheon took place immedi­ ately after the meeting in the drawing-room of the Town Hall. The new President, Mr. Alex. Macmillan, occupied the chair, and the toast of "The Borough of Cheltenham" was proposed by Mr. A. Neil Campbell, the junior Vice-President, and responded to by the Deputy Mayor. Dr. J. Bronowski submitted the toast of "The Burns Federation" and Mr. Macmillan replied. The toast of "The Chairman" was proposed by Mr. James Graham, Presi­ dent of the Cheltenham Scottish Society. On Saturday afternoon delegates and friends enjoyed a bus tour which took in a visit to Chedworth to view a Roman villa, and a visit to Burford, a small Cotswold town, for afternoon tea. In the evening there was a social gathering and concert in the Queen's Hotel. Delegates and friends attended divine service in St. Andr~w's Presbyterian Church on Sunday morning, at which an appropriate sermon was preached by the Rev. W. J. Martin. The customary retiring collection on behalf of the National Burns Memorial Cottage Homes and the Jean Armour Burns Houses, Mauchline, realised the handsome sum of £27 5s. In the afternoon visitors enjoyed a bus tour through typical Cotswold country, towns and villages, and on their return to Cheltenham they were entertained to high tea in the Queen's Hotel. Before they dispersed Mr. Macmillan expressed the thanks of delegates and friends to the Cheltenham Society and the societies of the surrounding district for the excellent entertainment and hospitality provided. In responding, Mr. James Graham paid special tribute to Mr. Edgar F. Young, Secretary of the Cheltenham Society, who acted as MINUTES OF THE ANNUAL CONFERENCE 107 Conference Secretary, and Mr. Barbour presented Mr. Young with a silver cigarette case in appreciation of his work. In returning thanks for the gift, Mr. Young expressed appreciation of the great help he had received from his committee and many others, and acknowledged the financial assistance that had been provided by Clubs in the surrounding district and by his own Society and individual members of it. The members of the Reception Committee were Mr. James Graham (chairman), Mrs. Graham, Mrs. Young, Dr. and Mrs. A. Bruce Wallace, Mr. and Mrs. N. W. Scoular, Mr. and Mrs. R. C. Henderson, Mr. and Mrs. W. D. Paterson, and Mr. Edgar F. Young (Secretary). THE "BURNS CHRONICLE" It is twenty years since there was an issue of the Burns Chronicle to equal the 1956 number in size. The literary section was extended by several pages and a large amount of space was again devoted to Club Reports. The growing interest in these reports is a healthy sign. Total sales ordered to 30th April, 1956, were most satisfactory, there being an increase over the previous year. Apart from the fact that the number appeared in good time for Christmas, this increase was due to a variety of reasons. 314 copies were sold (288 paper and 26 cloth) as l\ result of an appeal by Mr. A. Wilson Boyle, Convener of the Scottish Literature Committee, to all Club Presidents. Two of our contributors, Dr. G. G. Neill Wright and Miss L. M. Stirling, bought a good number of copies; while competitors in the Poetry Competition also had a share in raising our total sales. It ought to be pointed out, too, that Miss A. V. Stuart, the distinguished poetess, very kindly took it upon herself to sell copies at her poetry reading functions. Against all this, 175 Clubs took no more than their gratis copies. In many instances, members of these Clubs are still not being made aware (by their Secretaries) of the existence of the Burns Chronicle. It must also be borne in mind that printing costs are rising at an alarming rate, and to maintain the Burns Chronicle on a sound financial basis, the utmost support is essential. Once more, grateful thanks are due to all those who have given their advice and practical help in the preparation of the Burns Chronicle.

Clubs which purchased 50 or more copies: - Calcutta 142 copies Dumfries - 132 " Border Cities, Toronto 77 " Toronto Literary Society - 62 " Atlanta 61 " Scottish (Glasgow) 58 " Edinburgh Ayrshire - 57 " Burns House Club 53 " Cheltenham 52 " Dunfermline 52 " London 52 " National, Glasgow 52 " Sandyford - 52 " Ayr 50 " Sheffield 50 " JAMES VEITCH, Editor. &&l''"'''''-A£r1LJ o..1£J'1£L"!>'£J..J'''£ lur .Ll;;ilr lU JUtD april, 1::1.,0

ORDINARY FUND INCOME EXPENDITURE

To Balance at 1st May, 1955-'-­ By Postages and Telephones £79 18 9 Deposit Account £443 18 0 " Printing and Office Supplies­ Current Account 313 16 4 Typewriter for Secretary £32 10 0 Printing, Stationery, etc. 92 13 10 £757 14 4 125 310 Less Due to Bi,..Centenary Fund I 0 0 " Bank Charges 2 I 0 6 £75 14 4 " Expenses of Meetings 18 7 6 " Annual Subscriptirms­ " Allowances to Secretary and Treasurer Current ", £462 0 0 (1954/55) 140 0 0 Arrears '" 36 0 0 " Income Tax (1955/56) 82 0 6 Advance I 10 0 " Insurance ... I 0 0 499 10 0 " Travelling Expenses 23 16 9 " Affiliation Fees 17 17 0 " Conference Expenses 83 II 7 " Burns Chronicle- " Federation Brooches 68 10 0 Sales to Affiliated Clubs £582 13 6 " Miscellaneous 18 8 6 Sales to Individuals and Trade 41 13 10 " Burns Chronicle- Advertising, 1955 Chronicle .. . 20 9 6 Printing, Blocks, etc £671 10 0 Advertising, 1956 Chronicle .. . 323 12 2 Publishers' Commission on 968 9 0 Advertisements ... 29 14 8 " Sale of Pocket Diplomas 12 8 0 Packing and Postages 53 12 I " Sale of Federation Brooches 57 0 6 Miscellaneous Printing 8 3 7 " Conference Receipts II2 13 0 Editor's Allowance (1954/55) 100 0 0 " General Appeal Funds­ Editor's Outlays for Posts, Scottish National Dictionary £2 2 0 Telephones, etc ." 14 9 6 National Burns Memorial and Contributors' Allowances 47 0 0 Cottage Homes .. 0 10 8 7 Licence for Reply Paid

Jean Armour Burns Houses 000 31 19 5 Envelopes 0 0 0 5 0 0 Mary Campbell Memorial Back Numbers re-purchased 17 4 10 Fund 220 946 14 8 12 0 46 " General Appeal Funds, per contra 46 12 0

" Contribution to Central Fund 000 I I 0 " Transferred to Scottish Literature Fund- " Scottish Literature Fund- Contributions 000 £--- Contributions 000 £- - - Sale of Declaration of Arbroath 2 12 0 Sales of Declaration of Arbroath 2 12 0 Half Affiliation Fees 000 8 18 6 2 12 0 II 10 6

" Contributions to Bi-Centenary Fund 000 101 17 6 " Transferred to Central Fund 000 1 I 0 " Income Tax recovered (1954/55) II2 10 0 " Transferred to Bi-Centenary Fund 101 17 6 " Bank Interest- " Donations- Deposit Account £6 10 9 Royal Caledonian Schools 000 £5 5 0 Savings Bank 000 4 19 8 Scottish Council of Social II 10 5 Service 220 77 0 " Balance at 30th April, 1956- Current Account £343 2 10 Deposit Account 150 8 9 Savings Bank 0' 449 2 1 942 13 8

£2,700 14 9 £2,700 14 9 SCOTTISH LITERA TURE FUND To Balance in Glasgow Savings Bank (Kil- By Expenses of Schools Competition, etc.- marnock Branch) £789 10 5 Secretary of Competition- " Royalties on Sales of "Scots Readers" 106 8 3 Allowance, 1954/55 £50 0 0 " Sale of Declaration of Arbroath 2 12 0 Stationery 3 0 4 " Half Affiliation Fees 8 18 6 Posts, travelling, etc. 10 15 0 " Bank Interest 18 6 0 Robert Dinwiddie & Co., Ltd. Certificates ... 38 16 5 Oliver & Boyd, Ltd.­ Printing, 1956 Syllabus 13 6 6 Printing 1956 Selections 30 5 0 Printing Circular re New Burns Federation Song Book 99 8 £155 12 II ,. Balance in Glasgow Savings Bank (Kil- marnock Branch) 770 2 3

£925 15 2 £925 15 2

CENTRAL FUND

To Balance in Dumfries Savings Bank ... £286 9 II I By Contribution towards repair of Burns Walk, " Balance on Deposit Account ... 18 6 4 Dumfries £40 0 0 " David Grant (Winnipeg) Bequest 355 4 10 " Balance in Dumfries Savings Bank ... 63 1 3 3 " Donation ... I. I 0 " Bank Interest 10 I 2

£01 3 3 £01 3 3 JOSEPH LAING WAUGH MEMORIAL FUND

To Balance in Dumfries Savings Bank ...... £208 12 6 I By School Children's Competition Prizes £6 5 0 .. Bank Interest ... 6 5 0 "Balance in Dumfries Savings Bank ... 208 12 6

£214 17 6 £ 214 17 6

MARY CAMPBELL MEMORIAL FUND

To Balance in Bank of Scotland, Mauchline £547 15 I By Dunoon Town Council for the Church of " Donation ... 2 2 0 Scotland Committee on Social Service " Ba nk Interest 6 7 4 (Invereck Home, by Dunoon) £556 4 5

£556 4 5 £556 4 5

BI-CENTEN AR Y FUND To Cash in Bank £1 0 0 r By Balance in Dumfries Savings Bank ...... £104 8 6 " Donations ... 101 17 6 " Bank Interest I II 0

£104 8 6 I £104 8 6

DUMFRIES, 17th May, 1956. KILMARNOCK, 241h May, I956.-Examined and found correct.

(Sgd.) WILLIAM BLACK, Han. Treasurer. (Sgd.) WM. A. GOLD, Auditor.

(Sgd.) W. Y. HAGGO, Auditor. SCHOOL COMPETITIONS

In submitting this annual report on the Scottish Literature Competitions held in the schools and on the Burns Competitions organised by Clubs I have pleasure in stating that the former have proved more successful than ever this year, the numbers over all showing a net increase of BI98 over the previous year, thereby creating a new record. While the Primary and Junior Secondary Classes continue to rise substantially it is to be regretted that entries from Senior Secondary pupils have ~hown a slight decrease. It is hoped this may be remedied in the near future.

Burns Clubs are to be congratulated on the renewed activity in evidence in promoting the Recitation and Singing of Scots pieces, returns received showing a slight increase in the number of Clubs taking part. From the subjoined list it will be noticed that an interesting addition comes from Cheltenham where the Annual Conference this year is being held. The number of entries is small, but this did not detract from the enthusiasm of the parents and pupils, and the results were most satisfactory.

Teachers and pupils have the cordial thanks of the Burns Federation who recognise fulIy the amount of work and study devoted to this particular branch of the Federation's activities and also to those Burns Clubs whose willing organisers year after year carry out this laudable work.

The Schools Committee is especially indebted to Dr. John W. Oliver, Mr. J. Douglas Cairns and Mr. Alexander McMillan for their part in setting the examination questions for the various sections of entrants.

My personal thanks are due to the Directors of Education for their courtesy and unfailing help in the distribution of the litera­ ture applicable to the Competitions.

Reference to the new Burns Federation Song Book for Schools is made in the Hon. Secretary's Annual Report. H CLUB

Ayr 10 1200 52 48 Cambuslang and District - 6 108 9 6 54 Cheltenham Scottish Society 10 2 4 Coalsnaughton 2 97 18 II Coylton - 30 10 10 Dunblane 2 120 5 Hamilton 4 657 15 Kilbirnie United 4 170 22 2 6 Mauchline 24 24 2 12 Newbattle and District 2 343 12 4 4 Newcraighall and District 2 300 4 20 Renfrewshire B.C.A. 17 1412 49 24 Rutherglen 6 2500 12 9 66 Southern Scottish Counties 25 962 77 125 Strath (Isle of Skye) I 20 2 2 Troon I 350 20 20 West Kilbride - 200 26 SCOTTISH LITERATURE COMPETITION-I9S6.

, N' o. of Pupils

I 1 Edueation I No. of I N o. of ~. to Committee : Schools I » » COltificates ~ .. ~~ l\W nrded I I .. ""'" 0" I "'''' '" .~0" 0 .~ 0 3 I 1 il.l 'E~ i~ : 0.. ...,m""" .. moo ~ I I I Aberdeen ... 22 :3 ,215 85a 736 - 4,804 i 181 Dundee 18 3 ,221 510 161 32 3,924 U8 Edinburgh 79 16 ,778 4,673 2,674 150 24,275 710 Glasgow 27 5 ,619 991 475 423 7,508 232 Aberdeenshire 28 1 ,788 418 698 61 2,965 184 Angus 14 1 ,387 199 137 - 1,723 1 80 Argyll 5 152 42 148 - , 342 27 Ayrshire ... 40 5 ,139 1,490 3,391 36 10,056 1 354 Banlfshire .. , 416 558 50 86 14 203 1,227 Bute 4 370 94 - - 464 I 25 Ca.ithness ... 4 57 53 7 13 130 24 Claekmannanshire 8 608 204 860 - 1,672 57 Dun bartonshi re 10 ,151 283 822 102 2,358 I 103 East Lothian 8 463 151 864 120 1,598 64 Fife ... 40 5 ,86:{ 11,263 2,335 81 9,542 320 Inverness ... 1 70 24 170 6 270 12 Kirkcudbrightshire 5 91 62 - - 153 22 Lanarkshire ... 20 ,860 394 2,212 156 4,622 170 Midlothian 11 831 407 1,140 65 2,443 91 Moray and Nairn ... 11 724 167 254 69 1,214 60 Peeblesshire 4 121 58 169 - 348 26 Perth and Kinross 17 644 152 1 315 701 1,812 94 Renfrewshire 13 ,385 364 431 - 2,180 91 Ross and Cromarty 3 56 23 80 -- 159 10 Roxburghshire 9 884 251 220 40 1,395 61 Selkirkshire 2 98 29 - - 127 I 9 Shetland .•. ... I I 20 4 54 - 78 11 Stirlingshire 15 3 ,116 696 1,531 60 5,403 174 Sutherland ... 2 17 38 52 - 107 10 West Lothian 5 781 172 167 26 1,146 41 Wigtowllshire 4 657 160 290 - 1,107 37 I -- -_._--- : .- i Total ... ! 444 57 ,582114,428120,951 2,191 i 95,152 3 ,564

FRED. J. BELFORD. Hon. Secretary Schools Competitions. BURNS CLUB NOTES

0: KILMARNOCK BURNS CLUB Dates and Place of Club Meetings: Ossington Hotel; St. Andrew's Night and 25th January. Anniversary Dinner Report: The oration was given by the late Andrew S. M'Culloch. The Schools' Competition is being maintained under active supervision by Mr. James Henderson. The usual contribution was forwarded towards the cost of maintenance of the Jean i\rmour Burns Houses at Mauchline. ROBERT McCALL, Hon. Secretary. 2: ALEXANDRIA BURNS CLUB Dates and Place of Club Meetings: Annual Dinner is held on last Saturday of January. Anniversary Dinner Report: The "Immortal Memory" was proposed by the Rev. William Fraser Wills, Kilmaronock. JOHN BARTON, Hon. Secretary. 7: THISTLE BURNS CLUB Dates and Place of Club Meetings: October each year. Anniversary Dinner Report: On 25th January, 1956, the "Immortal Memory" was proposed by the Rev. William D. Drysdale. JOHN C. ALLAN, Hon. Secretary.

10: DUMBARTON BURNS CLUB Anniversary Dinner Report: On 25th January, 1956, the "Immortal Memory" was proposed by the President of the Club, Mr. Arthur Wilson. At the St. Andrew's Night Celebration the guest speaker was Mr. Tom Allan. WILLIAM HAMIL, Hon. Secretary.

II: CHESTERFIELD AND DISTRICT CALEDONIAN ASSOCIATION Dates and Place of Club Meetings: Various. Anniversary Dinner Report: Mrs. Jane Burgoyne (;ane Lymburn) was the principal speaker. At a Members' Night, Mr. W. S. Wilson lectured on Chester­ field old and new, with slides as illustrations. BURNS CLUB NOTES 117 In addition to the St. Andrew's Night function, a special ser­ vice was conducted by the Rev. W. L. Auld, Chaplain to the Association, in St. Andrew's Presbyterian Church, on 27th November, when the President, Mrs. Yeomans, read the lesson. Our A.G.M. was held on 2nd May, 1956, when the new President, Mr. John Steven, was installed in office. The Caledonian Golf Club Competition was held at Walton on 20th June, and the annual Treasure Hunt on 6th June. Our winter session is now in full swing. Mrs. M. NICHOLSON, Hon. Secretary. 15: BELFAST BURNS ASSOCIATION Dates and Place of Club Meetings: Meetings are held in Thompson's Restaurant, Donegal Place, Belfast, on the first Thursday of each month, from October to March. Anniversary Dinner Report: The "Immortal Memory" was proposed by Mr. William Miller, M.A., St. Andrew's Burns Club, Irvine. EDWARD R. FORGRAVE, Hon. Secretary. 17: NOTTINGHAM SCOTTISH ASSOCIATION Anniversary Dinner Report: The principal toast was given by Sir John Cater, Ph.D., Edinburgh. The Association suffered a grievous loss during the year by the death of Mr. John Currie, F.S.A.(Scot.). (An obituary notice of Mr. Currie is included in the Annual Report, compiled by Mr. r. M. Irving, Hon. Secretary of the Burns Federation.) HUGH FRANCIS, Hon. Secretary. 21: THE GREENOCK BURNS CLUB Dates and Place of Club Meetings: Quarterly Meetings are held in the Club Rooms, Nicolson Street, Greenock, and social evenings, including a St. Andrew's Night Dinner, are held during the winter months. Anniversary Dinner Report: On 25th January, 1956, the "Immortal Memory" was proposed by Ivor J. C. Brown, LL.D., F.R.S.L., author and literary critic. The sum of £14 5s. was collected at the Dinner for the Jean Armour Burns Houses. WILLIAM CHRISTIE, Hon. Secretary. 22: EDINBURGH BURNS CLUB Dates and Place of Club Meetings: Blair AthoIl Hotel, Gros­ venor Street, at 7.30 p.m., on 17th October, 14th November, 12th December, 1956, 13th February and 13th March, 1957. IIB BURNS CLUB NOTES

Anniversary Dinner Report: On 25th January, 1956, the "Immortal Memory" was proposed by William Beattie, Esq., M.A., Librarian, National Library of Scotland. ARCHIBALD GRANT, Hon. Secretary.

33: GLASGOW HAGGIS CLUB Dates and Place of Club Meetings: Kintyre Room, Central Hotel, Glasgow, every second Tuesday from October to March, at 7.30 p.m. Anniversary Dinner Report: On 21st January, 1956, the "Immortal Memory" was proposed by the Rev. Robert Paterson, B.D., King's Park Parish Church. Collection for the Jean Armour Burns Houses was £62. Speakers this season included Bailie John S. Clarke, Mr. James Adair, O.B.E., Mr. Edwin G. Morgan, Mr. Andrew Hannah and Mr. James Brown. The membership of the Club is now full. J. LAWRENCE GRANT, C.A., Hon. Secretary. 35: DALRY BURNS CLUB Dates of Club Meetings: New activities have been extended to monthly meetings during the coming winter. February: an illus­ trated talk by Club member, Thomas Loudon, on "The Haunts and Places of Robert Burns." Anniversary Dinner Report: The chairman, Mr. W. H. G. Wishart, proposed the "Immortal Memory." Hon. Secretary. 36: ROSEBERY BURNS CLUB Dates and Place of Club Meetings: Third Thursday of Lach month at Burns House Club, 27 India Street, Glasgow. Anniversary Dinner Report: On 21st January, 1956, in the Burlington House, Glasgow, A. Wilson Boyle, Esq., C.A., Past­ President, Burns Federation, proposed the "Immortal Memory." Annual Outing to Dunoon held on 21st May. Two rinks entered for the M'Lellan Bowling Trophy. Visit to Mauchline Homes in September. Essay Competition-Possilpark, Riverside and Copland Road Schools; and visitations to Govan, Fairfield, Dalmuir and Clydebank. During the session the Club was favoured by many excellent speakers, and we also had many musical evenings. ABEY IRVINE, Hon. Secretary. BURNS CLUB NOTES

40: ABERDEEN BURNS CLUB Dates and Place of Club Meetings: Once a month in the Music Hall, but, during the winter, we also hold a Hallowe'en Party for children, a St. Andrew's Night Celebration, and the Anniversary Dinner in January. Anniversary Dinner Report: The "Immortal Memory" was proposed by Mr. A. L. Nixon, Procurator Fiscal of Aberdeenshire. Owing to accommodation difficulties, it is still necessary to limit membership to 150, but the Club has instituted its own Building Fund and hopes, at some time in the future, to have its own headquarters. The Building Fund already stands at over £350, and is being steadily augmented. Big event in the offing for the Club is the 1957 Federation Conference in Aberdeen-the first to be held here since 1928, and for this we are working in conjunction with the other Burns organisations in Aberdeen and the North of Scodand. Not the least important of the Club's activities is the Children's Competition for the reciting of Burns's poems and the singing of his songs. ETHEL HALL, Hon. Secretary.

42: STRATHEARN BURNS CLUB Anniversary Dinner Report: The "Immortal Memory" was proposed by Mr. Alex. Young of Edinburgh. F. DOULL, Secretary.

48: PAISLEY BURNS CLUB Dates and Place of Club Meetings: Tannahill Cottage, Queen Street, Paisley. Once monthly-October to March-dates to be arranged. Anniversary Dinner Report: On 25th January, 1956, the "Immortal Memory" was proposed by the President, Mr. Daniel Ure. (The Club has, as usual, produced an attractive booklet, containing a ful! account of the Anniversary Dinner, Editor, Burns Chronicle.) Summer Outing on 21St June, 1956, to Kirkoswald, Crossraguel Abbey and Alloway. Tannahill Cottage (birthplace of Robert Tannahill) has been re-thatched and restored with aid of grant from Historic Building Council. ALEX. COCHRAN, Hon. Secretary. 12.0 BURNS CLUB NOTES

49: BRIDGETON BURNS CLUB Anniversary Dinner Report: On 25th January, 1956, the "Immortal Memory" was proposed by Mr. John M. Bannerman, O.B.E. The School Competitions were held on 16th December, 1955. when 22 schools, approximately 360 pupils, competed in the Elocution, Singing and Choir sections. On 13th January, 1956, we held a Concert and Prize-giving ceremony. As a souvenir of the occasion, a book on Robert Burns and his Works was pre­ sented to each pupil who had taken part in the competitions. At our Hallowe'en Supper the speaker was Mr. Francis A. Flood, American General-Consul to Glasgow. ROBERT DONALDSON, H on. Secretary. 50: STIRLING BURNS CLUB Dates and Place of Club Meetings: As and when arranged. W. 1. MCCRACKEN, Hon. Secretary. 53: GOVAN FAIRFIELD BURNS CLUB Dates and Place of Club Meetings: First Wednesday of eacb month from September to April, held in the Carbeth Halls, 801 Govan Road, Glasgow, S.W.I. Anniversary Dinner Report: On 21St January, 1956, the "Immortal Memory" was proposed by Mr. James Brown. Miss BETTY MACLEAN, Hon. Secretary. 59: GOUROCK JOLLY BEGGARS' BURNS CLUB Anniversary Dinner Report: The "Immortal Memory" was proposed by the Rev. Joseph Hardie, M.A., Irvine. The Annual Burns Competition, open to children in the Gourock Eastern School, was held on Wednesday, 6th June, 36 taking part. LACHLAN A. OSBORNE, Hon. Secretary. 62: CUPAR BURNS CLUB Anniversary Dinner Report: Mr. Fred. J. Belford, M.A.,. F.E.I.S., proposed the "Immortal Memory." The Club continues to furnish book prizes for the Literary Competition organised by the Bell-Baxter High School. An endeavour is being made to have additional meetings in the course of the winter months. J. G. RUTHERFORD, Hon. Secretary. BURNS CLUB NOTES 121

68: SANDYFORD (GLASGOW) BURNS CLUB Dates and Place of Club Meetings: The Burns House Club, 27 India Street, Glasgow. No fixed dates for meetings. Anniversary Dinner Report: The "Immortal Memory" was proposed by Mr. A. Neil Campbell, F.C.C.S. Hallowe'en Dinner Dance, Outing to Pitlochry, and Presenta­ tion Dinner to Past-Presidents Mungo B. Campbell and David R. Smith were other features of the session. The deaths of Past­ Presidents Donald F. Macnair and J. Duncan Montgomerie are recorded with regret. SAMUEL W. LOVE, Hon. Secretary. 1"'9: DUNEDIN BURNS CLUB (INCORP.) Dates and Place of Club Meetings: Every third Wednesday in month in Town Hall Concert Chamber. Anniversary Dinner Report: On 25th January, 1956, a Concert, featuring leading artistes, was held. Scottish Country Dancing takes place every week, and a Hallowe'en Concert or Play is held in October. There is a subsidiary meeting every month featuring talks and Scottish films. J. A. PATERSON, Hon. Secretary. 71: CARLISLE BURNS CLUB Dates and Place of Club Meetings: Second Monday in month, October to March, in County Hotel, Carlisle. Anniversary Dinner Report: The "Immortal Memory" was given on 19th January, 1956, by Mr. H. George M'Kerrow of Dumfries. J. JORDAN, Hon. Secretary. 72: PARTICK BURNS CLUB Dates and 'Place of Club Meetings: A.G.M. in Secretary's Offices (June). Anniversary Dinner Report: The "Immortal Memory" was proposed by Kenneth Fraser, M.B.E. RUSSELL A. SHARP, H on. Secretary. 85: DUNFERMLINE UNITED BURNS CLUB Anniversary Dinner Report: The Oration was delivered by Dr. Alan Henderson, M.A., B.D., Ph.D., Glasgow. Mr. W. A. Thaxton retired from the office of President after serving in that capacity for eight years. T. SPOWART, M.A., Hon. Secretary. I22 BURNS CLUB NOTES

86: "WINSOME WILLIE" BURNS CLUB Dates and Place of Club Meetings: Last Sunday of month in Town Hall. AnniversarY' Dinner Report: The Club celebratod its Centenary on 25th January, 1956, Provost J. Edgar, M.A., pro­ posing the "Immortal Memory." The Secretary, Mr. W. Waugh, presented Provost Edgar with a leather brief case to mark the occasion. A collection taken on behalf of Ayrshire Spastic Fund amounted to £6 6s. The Annual Outing took place to Newcastle, and on 9th July, 1956, a Bus Run to Strathyre and Loch Katrine was organised. WILLIAM WAUGH, Hon. Secretary.

89: SUNDERLAND BURNS CLUB Dates and Place of Club Meetings: The Club meets on the second and fourth Thursday each month, from September to April, and holds its meetings in No. 7, The Cloisters. Anniversary Dinner Report: On 25th January, 1956, the "Immortal Memory" was given by Rev. Robert Paterson, B.D., Glasgow. At the Annual General Meeting held on 19th April, Mr. A. W. Semple gave his forty-eighth report as Treasurer. Mr. Semple is 96 years of age and continues to give the "Address to the Haggis" at our Anniversary Dinner-a truly "grand old man." The Club held a motorbus Excursion on 30th June and visited Richmond and Teesdale district. J. D. McBAIN, Hon. Secretary.

95: BOLTON BURNS CLUB Dates and Place of Club Meetings: Literary meetings held in Co-operative Lower Hall. Weekly Dance Class and Monthly Dances in Co-operative Unity Hall. Anniversary Dinner Report: The "Immortal Memory" was proposed by the President, Mr. D. Maitland Beagrie. Club functions were well attended and Dance Class continues to be extremely popular. The Literary Section provided a num­ ber of interesting Lantern and Film Lectures. N. CHISHOLM, Hon. Secretary.

II2: BURNS HOWFF CLUB Dates and Place of Club Meetings: Globe Inn, Dumfries, 31St October, 30th November, 1956, 25th January, 14th February, 14th March, and 17th April, 1957. BURNS CLUB NOTES 123 Anniversary Dinner Report: The "Immortal Memory" was proposed by Me. J. Sturgeon, a Past-President of the Club. DAVID MILLER, Hon. Secretary. 126: FALKIRK BURNS CLUB Date~ and Place of Club Meetings: Mathieson's Rooms, Falkirk. Anniversary Dinner Report: On 25th January, 1956, the Rev. Alexander Gemmell, Nairn, Chaplain to the Royal Caledonian Curling Club, submitted the "Immortal Memory." The St. Andrew's Night Dinner was held on 30th November, 1955. Principal speaker was James L. M'Millan, M.A., Glasgow. DAVID F. MOFFAT, C.A., Hon. Secretary. 133: NEWARTHILL BURNS CLUB Dates and Place of Club Meetings: Legion Hall, Newarthill on last Saturday of month. JAMES B. MATHEW, Hon. Secretary. 139: NATIONAL BURNS CLUB, LTD. Dates and Place of Club Meetings: First Friday in each month -Directors' meetings. Third Thursday in December-Annual General Meeting. Anniversary Dinner Report: On 20th January, 1956, the "Immortal Memory" was proposed by John Caldwell, Esq., M.A.(Hons.), one of the Club members. IAN DONALDSON COPLAND, C.A., Hon. Secretary.

152: HAMILTON BURNS CLUB Dates and Place of Club Meetings: Annual Meeting held III December. JOHN JACKSON, Hon. Secretary. 153: SCOTI'ISH BURNS CLUB Dates and Place of Club Meetings: Third Monday, October to March, Y.M.C.A. Restaurant. Bothwell Street. Glasgow. Annual Dinner, Ivy Restaurant, St. Vincent Street, Glasgow. Anniversary Dinner Report: The "Immortal Memory" was proposed by John M. Bannerman, B.Sc. During the season speakers included Mr. lain F. Anderson on "Scotland in Films"; the Happy Padre, the Rev. Robert Paterson, B.D., President of the Club, on "National Humour"; Mr. A. Wilson Boyle, C.A., Past-President of Burns Federation. 124 BURNS CLUB NOTES on "Wallace and Burns"; and Dr. T. A. Kerr, former Lord Provost of Glasgow, on "By-ways of Folk Songs." J. KEVAN McDoWALL, Secretary.

158: DARLINGTON BURNS ASSOCIATION Dates and Place of Club Meetings: Various dates at the Imperial Hotel, Darlington. Anniversary Dinner Report: On 29th January, 1956, at our Golden Jubilee Dinner, Dr. J. S. Montgomerie of Sunderland proposed the "Immortal Memory." The main event of the year was our Golden Jubilee Celebra­ tion on 8th March, 1956. Many happy memories were awakened on this occasion, and fine tributes paid to the founder members, of whom there are only two alive to-day-Mr. R. M. Liddell, who was Hon. Secretary for over 30 years, and Mr. John Macgregor, Committee member. Other events were the St. Andrew's Ball, Hallowe'en Party, St. Andrew's Church Service, Whist Drives and Dances. We took part in the North-East England Burns Clubs' Bowling Tourna­ ment held at Wall send and at which the Wall send Club won the Dr. Roy Fortune Silver Cup. JOHN A. LAWSON, Hon. Secretary.

169: GLASGOW AND DISTRICT BURNS ASSOCIATION Dates and Place of Club Meetings: Third Tuesday each mOllth except July at Burns House Club, Glasgow. ANDREW STENHOUSE, Hon. Secretary.

192: AYRSHIRE ASSOCIATION OF BURNS CLUBS Dates and Place of Club Meetings: Four Quarterly meetings. Annual General Meeting in October. Anniversary Dinner Report: No Anniversary Dinner held. A fair representation from the Association supported Ayr Burns Club at the Commemoration Service at Leglen Wood, Ayr, on Sunday, 15th July, 1956. A wreath was laid on behalf of the Association by the Vice-President, Mr. A. Wilson Boyle. JAMES E. SHAW, Hon. Secretary. BURNS CLUB NOTES 125

197: WINNIPEG BURNS CLUB Anniversary Dinner Report: The Winnipeg Burns Club held its Annual Celebration in the Marlborough Hotel on 25th January, 1956. The head table guests were played to their places by Pipers Norman MacLeod and Robert Young. The Lieutenant-Governor of the Province of Manitoba, the Hon. Mr. J. S. McDiarmid, and Mrs. McDiarmid, the Premier of the Province, the Hon. Mr. Douglas L. Campbell, and Mrs. Campbell, and the Vice-Consul of the United States of America, Mr. Knowlton V. Hicks, and Mrs. Hicks, graced the gathering with their presence. Grace was sai~ ?y the Chaplain, th~ ~ev. Fred. J. Douglas, and Sandy P~Imister, bore ~~ Hagr,s In on a shining platter, led by the pIpers. The tradItional Address to the Haggis" was rendered by Mr. O. W. Bull. The contributing artistes to the programme were Mr. J. M. Smith at the piano, Miss Anne M'Leod, soprano, :md Mr. Ted Moskal, baritone. Among the songs were "My Love is like a Red, Red Rose," "Lay thy loof in mine, lass," "Ye Banks and Braes 0' Bonnie Doon" and "My Braw John Highlandman." Sandy Phimister sang a selection of comic Scottish songs. The President of the Club, Mr. Thomas Wooler, proposed the toast to "Canada, the land we live in," which was responded to by Mr. Ralph Hedlin, Editor of the Winnipeg Free Press. Then came the toast to "Oor Guid Neebour to the South." Mr. Knowlton V. Hicks, the U.S.A. Vice-Consul, resident in Winnipeg, replied and reminded those present of the ties that bind us so closely to our friends south of the Forty-ninth Parallel. The guest speaker, Major A. M. Pratt, formerly of the Manitoba Department of Education, then delivered his address to the "Immortal Memory," in which he stressed the influences felt by Burns, of the several men who played an important part in his life. Mr. A. H. Hoole proposed the toast to the "Lassies." The response was given by Miss Margaret E. Bayer, a descendant of the old Selkirk settlers. Her response was all the more amusing since it was rendered in the old Red River dialect, a mixture of Scottish, English, French and Cree Indian languages. Mr. A. N. Robertson, a Past­ President of the Club, expressed the thanks and appreciation of the gathering to the guests and artistes. To show the cosmo­ politan nature of the gathering, the toast to "Canada" was responded to by Mr. Hedlin, of Swedish descent. The guest speaker was an Englishman, as was Mr. Hoole. Miss Bayer is a native-born Winnipeger. The male singer, Mr. Ted Moskal, is a Canadian of Ukranian descent. Who was it said the Scottish people were clannish? 126 BURNS CLUB NOTES

198: TWENTY-FIVE JOLLY BEGGARS' BURNS CLUB (GOREBRIDGE) Dates and Place of Club Meetings: Every fourth Saturday from September to April in Hunterfield Tavern, Gorebridge. Anniversary Dinner Report: On 28th January, 1956, the "Immortal Memory" was proposed by our Hon. President, Mr. Jack. Scottish Literature Schools' Competition.-Mr. Jack presented d gold watch to the pupil who gained the highest marks at Gore­ bridge School. The Club presented six volumes of Burns's Works to runners-up. RICHARD YOUNG, Hon. Secretary.

199: NEWBATTLE AND DISTRICT BURNS CLUB Dates and Place of Club Meetings: Every second Saturday from October to April in the Welfare Hall, Newtongrange. Anniversary Dinner Report: On 28th January, 1956, the "Immortal Memory" was proposed by Mr. A. M'Kinlay, Cold­ wells Farm, Dalkeith. The Old Folks' Annual Christmas Treat was held on 24th December, 1955, when 160 old people were entertained. The Old Folks' Annual Outing went by Forth Bridge, Kincardine and Stirling, returning to Falkirk for high tea. 190 old people were present. Children's Presentation of Prizes for Burns Essays was held in October, 1956, when four cups, four Federation certificates and twelve prizes were presented. DAVID CARSON, Secretary and Treasurer.

209: SAINT JOHN'S BURNS CLUB Dates and Place of Club Meetings: All dates are printed on syllabus. Club meets in Masonic Hall, Argyll Street, Greenock. Anniversary Dinner Report: On 26th January, 1956, J. R. Finnie, Esq., F.I.M.T.A., proposed the "Immortal Memory." Mr. J. R. Lynn, a Past-President of the Club, gave an address entitled "Burns in Song and Story." JOHN BAIN, Hon. Secretary.

212: PORTO BELLO BURNS CLUB Dates and Place of Club Meetings: Dates as arranged, Royal Hotel, Portobello. BURNS CLUB NOTES 127 Anniversary Dinner Report: Mr. Fred. J. Belford, M.A., pro-­ posed the "Immortal Memory" on 23rd January, 1956. On 6th May, 1956, we had an Outing by bus to Aberfoyle, the Trossachs and Crieff, and on 9th June, by the courtesy of Porto-­ bello Bowling Club, a bowling match was held between teams representing the President and Vice-President. WM. H. GARVIE, Hon. Secretary. 217: ESKDALE BURNS CLUB Anniversary Dinner Report: The Anniversary Dinner was held on 3rd. February, 1956. This was a memorable occasion, being the last before the retiral of Mr. G. Jeffrey, who has been so admirable a President and Chairman for many years. The chief guest was Mr. David Mackie, Editor of the Southern Reporter, of whose passing we heard shortly afterwards with great regret. Our usual St. Andrew's Night was held in Ashley Bank Hotel, and the speaker was Mr. A. G. Melross. (Mrs.) JANE S. POOL, President. 220: THE BURNS CLUB OF ST. LOUIS Dates and Place of Club Meetings: 25th January in Burns Club Rooms. IRVIN MATTICK, Hon. Secretary. 236: THE WHITEHAVEN BURNS CLUB Dates and Place of Club Meetings: Globe Hotel, Whitehaven. Anniversary Dinner Report: On 25th January, 1956, the "Immortal Memory" was proposed by Dr. John Gilmour. The Annual Dinner Dance and monthly classes of Scottish Dancing were well attended. Subjects debated by the newly­ formed Discussion Group proved interesting and instructive. J. S. FERGUSON, Hon. Secretary. 238: BURNS CLUB OF ATLANTA Dates al." Place of Club Meetings: First Wednesday of each month at Burns Cottage (replica of Burns's birthplace). W. RICHARD METCALFE, Hon. Secretary. 244: DALMUIR AND CLYDEBANK BURNS CLUB Dates and Place of Club Meetings: Public Library Lecture Room every second Thursday of October, November, December, January, February and March. 128 BURNS CLUB NOTES Anniversary Dinner Report: Mr. C. M. Grieve (Hugh MacDiarmid) proposed the "Immortal Memory." The Literary sessions held during the winter months were highly successful. Mr. John R. S. Lockhart has retired, after twenty-five years of unbroken service as Secretary. Mr. Lockhart, who is 78, can still recite "Tam 0' Shanter" from memory. HUGH WOOD, Hon. Secretary. 252: ALLOWAY BURNS CLUB Anniversary Dinner Report: On 25th January, 1956, the "Immortal Memory" was proposed by A. Wilson Boyle, Esq., C.A., of Ayr. WILLIAM HEPBURN, Hon. Secretary. 263: GLASGOW MASONIC BURNS CLUB Dates and Place of Club Meetings: Last Friday-September to April. Anniversary Dinner Report: The "Immortal Memory" was proposed by Bro. Rev. John M. Stewart. The Annual Children's Verse Speaking Competition had a large entry and the Adjudicator, Miss Grace M'Chlery (Mrs. M'Cotton of the M'Flannel radio family) found it difficult to award the Club Shield to the winner of the Senior Section owing to the very high standard. ANDREW T. GORDON, Hon. Secretary. 271: TRENTON BURNS CLUB Dates and Place of Club Meetings: Second Saturday of each month at members' homes. Anniversary Dinner Report: Held on 25th January with the ladies as guests. NEIL A. WAUGH, Hon. Secretary. 274: TROON BURNS CLUB Dates and Place of Club Meetings: When required. Anniversary Dinner Report: On 25th January, 1956, the "Immortal Memory" was proposed by President James G. Hutcheson. A.G.M. was held on 26th March, 1956, when new President and office-bearers were appointed. T. MONTGOMERY BROWN, Hon. Secretary. BURNS CLUB NOTES 129

275: AYR BUaNS CLUB Anniversary Dinner Report: On 25th January, 1956, the "Immortal Memory" was proposed by Dr. J. W. Oliver, M.A., D.Litt. Miss Jacqueline Mackenzie, of B.B.C. fame, was present and subsequently gave a report of the proceedings on television. An Outing to Tarbolton and Mauchline, with commentaries by Rev. A. M. Paterson and Mr. Robert Stewart, was attended by eighty members and friends. Leglen Wood Service: The Federated Clubs of Ayrshire were represented, and the Oration was given by Rev. A. M. Beaton, Dundonald Parish. JOHN GRAY. Hon. Secretary. 282: BURNS BOWLING ASSOCIATION On 7th August, 1956, the M'Lennan Cup, probably the most beautiful of all bowling trophies, was again won by the Scottish Burns Club with 37 shots up. The winning rink was Messrs. William Garden, John Archibald, Hugh Scullion and William Carruthers (skip); runners-up were Troon Burns Club with 30 shots up, their rink being Messrs. W. Wilson, W. Henderson, W. S. Blackley and D. Waddell (skip). JOHN B. BODIE, H on. Secretary. 284: NORTH-EASTERN BURNS CLUB OF PHILADELPHIA Dates and Place of Club Meetings: "The Lighthouse," Masher Street and Lehigh Avenue on the last Saturday of each month, from September to June. Anniversary Dinner Report: Cronie William Spencer (for­ merly of Greenock, Scotland) proposed the "Immortal Memory." ALEX. MACDONALD, Hon. Secretary. 293: NEWCRAIGHALL AND DISTRICT 'POOSY NANCY" BURNS CLUB Dates and Place of Club Meetings: Niddrie Bowling Club every second Saturday vf month from October to March. Anniversary Dinner Report: Mr. William Duncan, a member of our own Club, proposed the "Immortal Memory." We gave prizes as usual for local School Competition. ROBERT MALCOLM, Hon. Secretary. 296: WALSALL BURNS CLUB Dates and Place of Club Meetings: Business meetings at Pre~byterian Church Hall, Walsall. BURNS CLUB NOTES Anniversary Dinner Report: The "Immortal Memory" was again proposed by the President for this year, Mr. William F. McKie. Past-President's Badge was presented to Dr. E. R. Scott Grice (President, 1952-54) by Mrs. W. F. McKie. Mr. R. A. Ash again provided a clever sketch for the menu card. D. M. MACMILLAN, Hon. Secretary. 307: EDINBURGH-AYRSHIRE BURNS CLUB Dates and Place of Club Meetings: Various. Anniversary Dinner Report: On 20th January, 1956, the "Immortal Memory" was proposed by Jane Lymburn, M.A. (Mrs. J. E. G. Burgoyne), the translator from the German of Hans Hecht's "Robert Burns: the Man :lnd His Works." (Miss) E. M. SYMINGTON, Hon. Secretary. 310: MAUCHLINE BURNS CLUB Dates and Place of Club Meetings: Monthly from September to April in "Poosie Nancies." Anniversary Dinner Report: On 25th January, 1956, the "Immortal Memory" was proposed by Mr. Lionel Daiches, Advo­ cate, Edinburgh. Topics at the monthly meetings included "The Old Crafts," "The Bracken Menace in Scotland," "Boswell" and "The History of Coal Mining in Ayrshire." We also had a visit from mem­ bers of Ayr Toastmasters' Club, who gave a demonstration of how their meetings are conducted. This year also marked the start of a series of informal meetings which are held between regular meetings. WILLIAM BEE, Hon. Secretary. 314: THE SCOlTISH BURNS CLUB (EDINBURGH) Dates and Place of Club Meetings: Second Friday of month, October to April, in 5 Manor Place, Edinburgh. Anniversary Dinner Report: On 26th January, 1956, the "Immortal Memory" was proposed by Hugh Tannahill, Esq., M.A. Summer Outing to St. Mary's Loch and Moffat was held on 26th May, 1956, and Evening Outing on 13th June to places of Burns interest within the city of Edinburgh, conducted by Mr. David Kennedy. JAMES W. ELDER, Hon. Secretary. BURNS CLUB NOTES 131

320: noy BURNS CLUB (INC.) Dates and Place of Club Meetings: Fourth Saturday of each month at the Y.M.C.A., Troy, New York. Anniversary Dinner Report: On 28th January, 1956, the principal speaker was Rev. Hugh M. Rae, of Ottawa, Canada. On 17th June the Annual Observance of Bannockburn and Thisde Day was held at Lake Lauderdale, New York, with family picnic, there being a large gathering of Scottish folk from far and neat. On 1st September we participated in the Annual Scottish Games and Field Day at Schenectady, New York, held on the American Locomotive Co:s grounds. Nine thousand people attended, with twenty-four bagpipe bands in competition from many parts of the United States and Canada. Two hundred entered for the Highland Dancing contests. A very outstanding event was held on 16th October when we promoted and attended the performance of the Regimental Band and Massed Pipers of the Scots Guards at the R.P.1. Field House, Troy, New York. Eight thousand people attended. HOWARD D. WHINNERY, Secretary.

323: KIRKCUDBRIGHT BURNS CLUB Anniversary Dinner Report: On 25th January, 1956, Bailie Donaldson, Castle Douglas, proposed the "Immortal Memory." JOHN GRAHAM, Hon. Secretary. 326: BINGRY JOLLY BEGGARS LADIES' BURNS CLUB Dates and Place of Club Meetings: Every Thursday in Gothenburgh, Lochore. Anniversary Dinner Report: On 14th January, 1956, the "Immortal Memory" was proposed by Mr. Abe Sinclair, Bowhill. We held our Old Folks' Christmas Social on 22nd December, 1955, and the Annual Drive on 5th May was to Oban. (Mrs.) HENRY DAVIDSON, Secretary. 329: NEWARK AND DISTRICT CALEDONIAN SOCIETY Dates and Place of Club Meetings: Usually in the Clinton Arms Hotel, Newark. W. M. R. HENDERSON, Hon. Secretary. 331: BUFFALO ROBERT BURNS SOCIETY Dates and Place of Club Meetings: Highland Hall, first and third Tuesdays of each month. BURNS CLUB NOTES Anniversary Dinner Report: The speaker was Dr. John McCrae, of Buffalo State Teachers College. The Club members were the guests of the Hamilton Burns Society, along with St. Catherine's Burns Society, in Hamilton, Ontario, Canada, on 19th May, 1956. These three Clubs inter­ change visits and a joint Picnic was held at Queenston Heights, Niagara Falls, Canada, on 12th August, 1956. ROBERT C. P01TS, Secretary.

336: PETERHEAD BUUS CLUB Dates and Place of Club Meetings: March, September and December in Palace Hotel, Peterhead. ROBERT NEISH, Han. Secretary.

344: LADYSMITH BUllNS CLUB Dates and Place of Club Meetings: Third Friday in every month in the Legion Memorial Hall, Ladysmith. Anniversary Dinner Report: On 25th January, 1956, the "Immortal Memory" was proposed by Mr. R. Strachan, M.L.A. DAVID D. MORRISON, Han. Secretary.

345: DENBEATH AND DISTRICT BURNS CLUB Dates and Place of Club Meetings: White Swan Hotel. THOMAS BALLANTYNE, Han. Secretary.

346: OAKBANK MOSSGIEL BURNS CLUB Dates and Place of Club Meetings: Monthly meeting held in Oakbank Hall between the months of October and March. Anniversary Dinner Report: On 21St January, 1956, the "Immortal Memory" was given by Mr. D. Celland. For the first time in the Club's history a woman President was dected. Two Basket Teas were held, raising a total of £35. The Annual Children's Party was held on 24th December, 1955, when 150 children were entertained. R. F. M. HAMMETT, Han. Secretary.

348: NEWTON JEAN ARMOUR BURNS CLUB Dates and Place of Club Meetings: First and third WednesdQy 01 the month in Co-operative Board Room, Newton. (Mrs.) A. KENNEDY, Han. Secretary. BURNS CLUB NOTES 133

350: KARKINCH BUllNS CLUB Anniversary Dinner Report: The principal speaker was J. C. Maclure, Esq., of Edinburgh. A School Competition was again held for recitations and essays, and six volumes of the Works of Robert Burns were awarded by the Club. T. M. ARMSTRONG, . Hon. Secretary.

354: ROYAL CLAN, ORDER OP SC01TISH CLANS Our Office-bearers were elected at a Convention held in New York. WILUAM SLATER, Hon. Secretary.

355: CALCUTrA BURNS CLUB Anniversary Dinner Report: Our Dinner was held at the Saturday Club, Calcutta, on 26th January, 1956. A Social Gathering was held at the New Club, Calcutta, on 25th August, 1955. J. D. MAcCALLUM, Hon. Secretary.

360: LOCHEE BUllNS CLUB Dates and Place of Club Meetings: Third Sunday of each month from October to May in 'Shepherds' Rooms, 133 High Street, Lochee, Dundee. Anniversary Dinner Report: On 20th January, 1956, the "Immortal Memory" was proposed by Mr. David Milne (ex-Chief Inspector, Dundee City Tramways). Club Summer Outing took place on Sunday, 8th July, to the Burns Country. JOHN H. STRACHAN, Hon. Secretary.

365: CATRINE BURNS CLUB Dates and Place of Club Meetings: First Monday of month, October to April. Anniversary Dinner Report: The "Immortal Memory" was proposed by Mr. William Pearson, M.A., Cumnock. JAMES Y. ROXBURGH, Hon. Secretary. 372: BAILUESTON JEAN ARMOUR BURNS CLUB Dates and Place of Club Meetings: 6th September and every second Thursday in Baillieston Supporters' Hut. BURNS CLUB NOTES

At the Anniversary Dinner the sum of £5 10•• was handed to the Treasurer for Club funds. J. HADDow, Hon. Secretary. 377: KILBIRNIE ROSEBEIlY BURNS CLUB Dates and Place of Club Meetings: First Monday of each month in the Casde Vaults. A.G.M. in February. Anniversary Dinner Report: The "Immortal Memory" was proposed by the President, Mr. Osborne McQueen. Theatre Night was to the Theatre Royal, Glasgow. Mr. James Milgrew was guest speaker at Social Evening held in November. Annual Bus Outing in August was to Loch Earnhead and Crieff. The School Children's Burns Competition was again up to a high standard. JAKES E. SHAW, Hon. Secretary. 378: EDINBURGH DISTRICT BURNS CLUB ASSOCIATION Dates and Place of Club Meetings: Quarterly-March, June, September and December at 22 Forth Street, Edinburgh, I. A.G.M. in May. FRED. J. BELFORD, Hon. Secretary.. 379: HARTLEPOOLS BURNS CLUB Dates and Place of Club Meetings : Various. Anniversary Dinner Report: The "Immortal Memory" was proposed by Mr. P. J. ~y. At the Annual General Meeting in April we had an increased membership. Whist Drives and Dances were held during the winter season, and a Summer Outing to Rothbury and Whitley Bay took place in June. WM. S. ALLEN, Hon. Secretary. 381: THE GREATER NEW YORK 1l0BERT BURNS CLUB· Anniversary Dinner Report: On 27th January, 1956, the Rev. W. R. Chalmers, of the Fort Washington Presbyterian Church, New York City, N.Y., proposed the "Immortal Memory." A collection" was taken on behalf of the Mauchline and Jean Armour Homes. WM. McALpINE, President. 388: KYLES LADIES' BURNS CLUB Dates and Place of Club Meetings: Every Wednesday evening in the Stane Hotel. BURNS CLUB NOTES 135 Anniversary Dinner Report: We always celebrate the Anni­ versary of our National Bard on the Saturday nearest to 25th January. (Mrs.) JEANIE ANDERSON, Hon. Secretary. 390; MEIKLE EARNOCK JOLLY BEGGARS' BURNS CLUB Dates and Place of Club Meetings: Guy's, the Meikle Earnock Inn, Hamilton on First Saturday of every month (first and third in winter months). ANDREW H. GILLESPIE, Han. Secretary. 392: WHIFFLET BUllNS CLUB Dates and Place of Club Meetings: Held at times when con­ venient to members of Committee. Anniversary Dinner Report: On 27th January, 1956, the "Immortal Memory" was proposed by M. Jean Jacques Oberlin, O.A., M.A., Ch.d'H. The Rev. William Hamilton appealed on behalf of the Jean Armour Homes with such eloquence that the company of just over fifty contributed £30. JAMES H. LOGAN, Han. Secretary. 393: ANNAN LADIES' BURNS CLUB Dates and Place of Club Meetings: Second Thursday, October to March, in Kirkpatrick's Cafe. Anniversary Dinner Report: The Rev. Mr. McLean, Ruthwell, proposed the "Immortal Memory" on 26th January, 1956. (Mrs.) G. JAMES, Han. Secretary. 398: COLlNTON BURNS CLUB Dates and Place of Club Meetings: Club meetings are held monthly from October to March, 1956, in Library Hall, or Harwell's Rooms, Bridge Road, Colinton. Anniversary Dinner Report: On 20th January, 1956, the "Immortal Memory" was proposed by Sheriff P. P. McDonald, Q.C., Edinburgh. The Annual General Meeting was held in March last, when special reference was made to the coming Jubilee year of the Club, in January, 1957. The meeting elected their Hon. Secretary, Mr. John Millar, J.P., as President, as he was the founder and first President of the Club when it was instituted in January, 1907. The Summer Outing took place on 21st July to Long­ formacus in Berwickshire, going by way of Haddington, Dunbar BURNS CLUB NOTES and Duns, and returning by the Lammermuir Hills and Gifford. JAMES MILLAR, J.P., Han. Secretary. 399: ST. RINGAN'S BURNS CLUB Dates and Place of Club Meetings: Monthly meetings held in Borestone Bar, St. Ninians. Anniversary Dinner Report: On 20th January, 1956, the "Immortal Memory" was proposed by Mr. W. Cook, one of our oldest members. JOHN FERRY, Han. Secretary. 405: CALEDONIAN SOCIETY OF SHEFFIELD Dates and Place of Club Meetings: Main functions are held regularly throughout the season. Sectional activities include Scot­ tish Country Dance Class, Burns Circle, Bridge and Sport. Anniversary Dinner Report: The "Immortal Memory" was proposed by the Rev. Leslie P. Hope, M.A., Ph.D., F.S.A.(Scot.), of Glasgow. (The twenty-fifth number of Caledonian News, the official organ of the Caledonian Society of Sheffield, is a most interesting issue and reflects great credit on the Hon. Editress, Isobel Burnett, 7 York House, Endcliffe Crescent, Sheffield, lo.-En.). WK. CAMPBELL HEsELwoon, Han. Secretary. 426: SAUCHIE BURNS CLUB Dates and Place of Club Meetings: First Wednesday of each month in Sauchie Hall. Anniversary Dinner Report: On 27th January, 1956, the Rt. Hon. Arthur Woodburn, M.P., P.C., proposed the "Immortal Memory." WM. A. L. PATERSON, Hon. Secretary and Treasurer.

432: WINCHBURGH LEA RIG BURNS CLUB Dates and Place of Club Meetings: Lea Rig Hall monthly. Anniversary Dinner Report: Mr. Philip A. Stalker proposed the "Immortal Memory." Throughout the year there were two Socials and Dances, the Children's Christmas Party, and two Excursions. ADAM PATERSON, Han. Secretary. BURNS CLUB NOTES 137

437: DUMFRIES LADIES' BURNS CLUB NO. I Dates and Place of Club Meetings: Municipal Lower Hall Department every second Tuesday of each month from September to March. Anniversary Dinner Report: The speaker this year was Mr. Walker, All(la. The Annu:11 Outing was held in June, when the members visited Ayr and made the homeward journey via Stranraer and Newton-Stewart. (Mrs.) M. BELL, Han. Secretary. 439: BARNSLEY AND DISTRICT SCOTTISH SOCIETY Anniversary Dinner Report: The "Immortal Memory" was proposed by Mr. Thomas B. Goudie. Opening Dance, 7th October, 1955; St. Andrew's Dinner and Dance, 30th November, 1955; Hogmanay Dance, 30th December, 1955; Burns Dinner and Dance, 25th January, 1956; and final Dance, 9th March, 1956. C. L. SUTHERLAND, Han. Secretary. 444: SWANSEA AND WEST WALES CALEDONIAN SOCIETY Dates and Place of Club Meetings: The Mackworth Hotel, Swansea, as occasions demand. Outstanding events: Caledonian Ball each New Year's Eve; Burns Supper and Dance, 25th January each year; St. Andrew's Dinner and Dance, 30th November each year; Monthly Reels Class; and Children's Party. ALEX. KINLOCH MILLER, Han. Secretary. 446: HEREPORDSHIRE BURNS CLUB Dates and Place of Club Meetings: Imperial Hotel. Anniversary Dinner Report: On 21st January, 1956, the "Immortal Memory" was proposed by the Lord Bishop of Hereford, the Rt ..Rev. T. Longworth, D.D. Unfortunately, our President, Mr. J. Balman has, for health reasons, been forced to resign, thus terminating many years of yeoman service. Our Vice-President, Mr. J. Inglis, now occupies the President's chair. GEORGE LAING, Han. Secretary. 454: ROTHERHAM AND DISTRICT SCOTTISH ASSOCIATION Dates and Place of Club Meetings: The Co-operative Cafe, Rotherham. BURNS CLUB NOTES

Anniversary Dinner Report: On 27th January, 1956, the "Immortal Memory" was proposed by Mr. W. S. Wilson, M.B.E., Past-President, Chesterfield and District Caledonian Association. Other outstanding events: St. Andrew's Dinner Dance, 30th November, 1955, when the floral decorations and lighting effects were outstanding. Children's Christmas Party, 28th December, 1955. St. Valentine's Leap Year Fancy Dress Ball, 10th February, 1956, and a Ceilidh on 21st February, 1956. WM. MCCORMICK HAMILTON, Hon. Secretary. 458: STONEHAVEN (FATHERLAND) BURNS CLUB Dates and Place of Club Meetings: Carron Tea Rooms, Cameron Street, Stonehaven, on last Wednesdays of every month from September to April. Anniversary Dinner Report: On 25th January, 1956, the "Immortal Memory" was proposed by Mr. L. Burness, Aberdeen. Over a hundred members attended a special Burns Service in St. Bridget's Church, Dunnottar, Stonehaven, on 27th January, 1956. The Rev. J. C. Campbell preached the sermon and the Burns version of the 1st and 90th Psalms were sung. (Mrs.) J. EDMONSTON, Hon. Secretary. 461: LEICESTER CALEDONIAN SOCIETY Dates and Place of Club Meetings: As notified to members. Anniversary Dinner Report: The "Immortal Memory" was proposed by Mr. James Veitch. WALTER EASTON, Hon. Secretary. 470: ST. GILES (ELGIN) BURNS CLUB Dates and Place of Club Meetings: Annual Dinner to be held in Murray's Tea Rooms, Elgin, on 25th January, 1957, and Scot­ tish Concert on St. Andrew's Night, 1956, in Masonic Hall, South Street, Elgin. Anniversary Dinner Report: On 27th January, 1956, the Rev. John Fraser, M.A., B.D., of Grange, proposed the "Immortal Memory." A Bus Run, via Forres, Dava, Carr Bridge and Tomatin, and a Whist Drive and Dance took place during our 1955 ~ason. GEORGE EDWIN WALLACE, Hon. Secretary. 472: RENFREWSHIRE ASSOCIATION OF BURNS CLUBS Dates and Place of Club Meetings: Meetings held quarterly in the Club Room of the Greenock Burns Club. Six hundred and eighty-one Primary pupils, 542 Junior BURNS CLUB NOTES 139 Secondary pupils and 189 Senior Secondary pupils entered for the Burns Essay Competition and 49 prizes were awarded in the form of book tokens. WM. CHRISTIE, Hon. Secretary.

476: BORDER CITIES BURNS CLUB, WINDSOR, ONTARIO, CANADA Dates and Place of Club Meetings: The third Friday of every month in the Norton Palmer Hotel, Windsor, Ontario, Canada. Visitors always welcome. Anniversary Dinner Report: The "Immortal Memory" was proposed by the Rev. Donald A. Munro, formerly of Glasgow, Scotland. JOHN G. SAUNDERS, Hon. Secretary.

478: BONNIE DOON BURNS CLUB Dates and Place of Club Meetings: Every Tuesday in No. I Gothenberg Room, Kelty. Anniversary Dinner Report: Mr. William Ferguson, Gore­ bridge, proposed the "Immortal Memory." Members' Drive to Ayr and a Children's Drive to Burntisland were held. Members were entertained to Christmas Tea and children had a Christmas Party. (Mrs.) T. PENMAN, Hon. Secretary. 479: QUEEN OF THE SOUTH LADIES' BURNS CLUB Dates and Place of Club Meetings: First Thursday of each month from September to May in British Legion Hall. Anniversary Dinner Report: The "Immortal Memory" was proposed by the Rev. Waddell of Moffat. The March meeting is our Annual Old Folks' Night, when the Club entertains 60 old age pensioners to a Social Evening. (Mrs.) M. COULSON, Hon. Secretary. 492: HARROW AND DISTRICT CALEDONIAN SOCIETY Dates and Place of Club Meetings: Varied throughout the winter months. Anniversary Dinner Report: The "Immortal Memory" was proposed by Lt.-Col. T. M. Riddell, O.B.E., T.D. Annual New Year Ball was held at Wembley Town Hall and attended by the civic dignitaries of the Boroughs of Harrow and Wembley. WM. A. CUTHBERTSON, Hon. Secretary. BURNS CLUB NOTES

498: FLINT BURNS CLUB Dates and Place of Club Meetings: First Friday of every month from September to June in Flint Scots House, 412 E. Kearsley Street, Flint, Michigan. Anniversary Dinner Report: On 28th January, 1956, the Rev. H. W. Colenso delivered the "Immortal Memory." In addition to the regular monthly meetings, the Club holds a Social Gathering on the fourth Saturday of every month. We endeavour to have at least tWo Dinner Dances during the winter season. Jos. M. GRAHAM, Htm. Secretary. 503: DUNBLANE BURNS CLUB Dates and Place of Club Meetings: Commercial Bank Build­ ings, Dunblane. Anniversary Dinner Report: On 20th January, 1956, the "Immortal Memory" was proposed by Mr. Noel Stevenson, Chair­ man of the B.B.C. "Matter of Opinion." Our Annual Bus Outing was held on 22nd June, 1955, to Pitlochry, via Perth ,and Dunkeld, and returning by Sma' Glen and Crief!. ARCH. P. LAMONT, Htm. Secretary. 511: PERTH ~WOMEN'S) ROBERT BURNS CLUB Dates and Place of Club Meetings: First Tuesday of month. Anniversary Dinner Report: We always have an afternoon with Haggis and Bagpipes on the first Tuesday in February or a date nearer 25th January. All our money is sent to the Presbyterian Children's Homes (orphans). We keep a box on the table at meetings and all that members can spare is put in the box. A very large number of Scottish children have been sent to West Australia and need the interest of Scottish people. (Mrs.) E. GARDEN, Htm. Secretary. 530: SOUTHERN SCOTIISH COUNTIES BURNS ASSOCIATION Dates and Place of Club Meetings: Quarterly, in Globe Inn, Dumfries. The Annual Church Service was held ;,n St. Michael's Church on 25th January, 1956, and was attended by the Provost, Magis­ trates and Councillors, together with office-bearers and members from the local Burns Clubs. This was followed by a wreath­ laying ceremony at the mausoleum. (Mrs.) M. COULSON, Htm. Secretary. BURNS CLUB NOTES

534: BEDLINGTON AND DISTRICT BURNS CLUB Dates and Place of Club Meetings: Ex-Servicemen's Club, Front Street, West, Bedlington. Anniversary Dinner Report: On 25th January, 1956, Dr. J. Brown of Bedlington proposed the "Immortal Memory." The Treasurer, Mr. M. Hall, has sung at every Burns Dinner since the Club was formed in 1934. A Social Evening was held on 28th November, 1955, to com­ memorate St. Andrew's Day, and a Ladies' Night was held on 21St March, 1956. J. R. WELTON, Han. Secretary. 545: PARRAMATTA AND DISTRICT BURNS CLUB Dates and Place of Club Meetings: First Saturday of each month at 8 p.m. in the Protestant Hall, Aird Street, Parramatta. Anniversary Dinner Report: Held on 21st January, 1956. The Mayor of Parramatta, Alderman E. A. Hunt, gave our members a grand treat by showing views of his trip to Scotland, including the Burns Country, from which he has just returned. RON MACKINTOSH, Han. Secretary. 555: HARROWGATE ST. ANDREW'S SOCIETY Dates and Place of Club Meetings: First Monday of each month in Club Rooms, 1 Victoria Avenue, Harrogate. Anniversary Dinner Report: On. 25th January, 1956, the "Immortal Memory" was given by Rev. R. Leonard Small, M.A. NORMAN C. STURROCK, Han. Secretary. 556: CALEDONIAN SOCIETY OF DONCASTER Dates and Place of Club Meetings: Monthly on Thursdays, October to April (inclusive) in Y.W.C.A., Cleveland Street, Don­ caster; in addition, President's Reception at Mansion House, Doncaster, on last Thursday in September. Anniversary Dinner Report: The Oration was proposed by Dr. Neil McEachran Montgomery, M.D., D.P.M. On the whole a satisfactory year, with a pronounced improve­ ment in the financial position. A. G. SCOTT, Hon. Secretary. 557: LADIES' BURNS CLUB OF ATLANTA, GEORGIA Dates and Place of Club Meetings: First Wednesday in each month in the homes of members. Anniversary Dinner Report: No special report. Our meetings are always luncheon meetings. (Mrs.) S. M. HASTINGS, Han. Secretary BURNS CLUB NOTES

559: COVENTRY AND DISTRICT CALEDONIAN SOCIETY Anniversary Dinner Report: On the 28th January, 1956, the "Immortal Memory" was given by Mr. George Inglis of Leamington Society. A joint New Year Ball (Leamington, Nuneaton and Coventry) i~ to be held at Chesford Grange on Friday, 4th January, 1957. R. S. MILLER, Hon. Secretary. 562: CASTLE DOUGLAS BURNS CLUB Dates and Place of Club Meetings: Quarterly in the Imperial Hotel. Anniversary Dinner Report: The "Immortal Memory" was proposed by Mr. H. A. P. Haugh, the Club's President. Annual Competition for children attending Castle Douglas schools.-Eighty children entered for the Competition in Singing and Reciting. Prizes were provided by the Burns Club. During the year a "Jean Armour" Dinner was held for members and their wives, the toast of "Jean Armour" being proposed by Dr. T. M. Donald, the Vice-President of the Club. JOHN C. STODDART, Hon. Secretary 566: SCOTTISH SOCIETY AND BURNS CLUB OF AUSTRALIA Dates and Place of Club Meetings: Third Wednesday in each month in St. Philip's Church Hall, Sydney. Anniversary Dinner Report: On the 25th January, 1956, the "Immortal Memory" was proposed by the Rev. R. F. MacKay. The Annual Drive for Sydney Legacy was held in September, 1956, and receipts totalled £89 16s. 2d. The St. Andrew's Day Church Gathering was held at the Scots Church, Sydney. ARCH. FERGUSON, Hon. Secretary. 577: DALSERF AND CLYDESDALE BURNS CLUB Dates and Place of Club Meetings: Harmony Night every second Saturday of the month. Business meeting last Saturday of each month. Anniversary Dinner Report: The "Immortal Memory" was proposed by Mr. Adam Stronach. Annual Bus Run to the Burns Country and Girvan was held on 26th May, and second Bus Run to Whitley Bay on 28th August. On 9th June the unveiling of portrait of the late Crony Thomas Waddell, first President of the Dalserf Club, took place, with an address by Crony Adam Stranach, Past-President. GEORGE SPIERS, Hon. Secretary. BURNS CLUB NOTES

579: BATHGATE TAM 0' SHANTER BURNS CLUB Dates and Place of Club Meetings: Bathgate Inn. I have no report, as I have been struggling to try and hold the Club together for the last three years. JAKES LoGAN, Hon. Secretary. 594: THE BURNS CLUB OF CUYAHOGA COUNTY, CLEVELAND, OHIO, U.S.A. Dates and Place of Club Meetings: Last Friday in month at 1747 Lake£ront Avenue, East Cleveland. Anniversary Dinner Report: On the 28th January, 1956, the address on "Robert Burns" was given by Judge Earl R. Hoover. We remember all the residents of Mauchline Home each in their turn. This year we lost two valuable members by death­ Donald C. Noble, who was the founder of this Club, and William Kerrigan, who acted as Auditor for a number of years. ARCHIBALD W. Dow, Hon. Secretary. 596: GLAISNOCK BURNS CLUB Dates and Place of Club Meetings: Club Room, "Buck's Head," Cumnock, monthly. A.G.M. on 23rd March, 1956. Anniversary Dinner Report: On the 3rd February, 1956, the "Immortal Memory" was given by Mr. A. Bickerstaff. A presen­ tation of a silver cigarette case was made to Mr. T. NoHan on his retiral from work. St. Andrew's Night Dinner was held on 2nd December, 1955, and Annual Trip round Galloway coast on 6th May, 1956. A. A. McKINLAY, Hon. Secretary. 612: TORRANCE MASONIC SOCIAL AND BURNS CLUB Dates and Place of Club Meetings: All meetings in Caldwell Hall, Torrance. Monthly meetings on third Tuesday of October, February and March. St. Andrew's Night, 1St December. "Christmas Cheer," 22nd December. Annual Burns Supper, 19th January, 1957. Anniversary Dinner Report: On the 21st January, 1956, the "Immortal Memory" was proposed by the Rev. Robert C. Lee, M.C., B.D. A generous collection was made for the Jean Armour Homes Building Fund. We have had another successful year, which included a Bus . Outing, St. Andrew's Night, and a visit to Kelvin Hall Circus for the children. F. C. JORDAN, P.-P., Hon. Secretary. I44 BURNS CLUB NOTES 618: ALTRINCHAM AND SALE CALEDONIAN SOCIETY Dates and Place of Club Meetings: Various. Anniversary Dinner Report: The "Immortal Memory" was proposed by Mr. R. Brooks, one of our Past-Presidents. A full social programme was undertaken during the season. T. C. LoCHHEAD, Han. Secretary. 622: COYLTON BURNS CLUB Dates and Place of Club Meetings: Rechabite Hall, Joppa. Anniversary Dinner Report: The "Immortal Memory" was given by Mr. William Gold, M.A., Sinclairston School. A presentation was made to Mr. James Thom, "Lea Rig," retiring Secretary. A successful Outing to Glasgow Theatre Royal was made on 3rd December, 1955. WM. PATERSON, Han. Secretary. 625: LOCKERBIE BURNS CLUB Dates and Place of Club Meetings: Annual Dinner and any other meetings which can be arranged at King's Arms Hotel, Lockerbie. Anniversary Dinner Report: Mr. W. J. King Gillies gave the Oration at the 1956 Dinner. ALASTAIR K. McTAVISH, Han. Secretary. 626: MOFFAT AND DISTRICT BURNS CLUB Dates and Place of Club Meetings: Second Tuesdays, October to April (inclusive). Anni versary Dinner Report: The "Immortal Memory" was proposed by John Young, Esq., Locharbriggs. During the season an unusual talk on the Romany in Scodand was given by Mrs. Malcolm M'Pherson. (Mrs.) M. CAMPBELL, Han. Secretary. 630: COALSNAUGHTON BURNS CLUB Dates and Place of Club Meetings: Monthly from September till March in Coalsnaughton Lesser Hall. Anniversary Dinner Report: On the 28th January, 1956, the "Immortal Memory" was proposed by Mr. H. George McKerrow. Opening Supper of the winter season was held on 1j7th September, 1955; Hallowe'en Party for members' children on 29th October, 1955; and St. Andrew's Celebration on 26th November, 1955. In the Schools' Competition book prizes were awarded to pupils of Coalsnaughton and Fishcross Schools. ALEx. C. COOK, Ron. Secretary. BURNS CLUB NOTES 145 632: SYMINGTON BURNS CLUB Dates and Place of Club Meetings: Monthly, from September to April, in Church Hall, Symington. Anniversary Dinner Report: On the 27th Janua,ry, 1956, the "Immortal Memory" was proposed by Mr. George Campbell, Galston. Theatre Night was to the Alhambra, Glasgow; St. Andrew's Night Celebration was held on 2nd December, 1955; and the Annual Summer Outing was to Dumfries on 23rd June, 1956. (Mrs.) JEAN ANDERSON, Hon. Secretary. 636: GISBORNE BURNS CLUB, NEW ZEALAND Dates and Place of Club Meetings: Second Thursday of each month in Low's Reception Rooms, Derby Street, Gisborne. Anniversary Dinner Report: The "Immortal Memory" was proposed by Mr. W. Cameron. A presentation was made to the President, Mr. W. B. Turnbull, J.P., on his tenth successive year as President, also a presentation to Vice-President Mr. A. Richards and Mrs. Richards on their twenty-fifth wedding anniversary. The President, Mr. W. B. Turnbull, J.P., travelled to Hastings and gave the "Immortal Memory" address to the Hastings and District Scots Society. (Mrs.) M. R. A. WOOD, H on. Secretary. 637: APPLEBANK INN BURNS CLUB (LARKHALL) Dates and Place of Club Meetings: Applebank Inn. Anniversary Dinner Report: The "Immortal Memory" was proposed by Mr. Hugh Ingles. JOHN CAMPBELL, Hon. Secretary. 642: RUTHERGLEN BURNS CLUB Dates and Place of Club Meetings: Every second Thursday from 6th September to May in Gallowflat School, Hamilton Road, Rutherglen. Anniversary Dinner Report: The programme for the Anni­ versary was a "Night with Burns," provided by the winners of our School Children's Competition. Our Schools' Competition, held in Rutherglen Town Hall, was another grand success; five shields, five cups and ten books were awarded. In the Schools' Choirs Competition Gallowflat School were the winners of the R. F. Nairn Challenge Shield. R. S. McMILLAN, Hon. Secretary. BURNS CLUB NOTES

655: KENNOWAY JOLLY BEGGARS' BURNS CLUB Anniversary Dinner Report: The "Immortal Memory" was proposed by Dr. Sellar of Markinch Burns Club. LEWIS C. WADDELL, H on. Secretary. 659: DUNDEE BURNS SOCIETY Dates and Place of Club Meetings: "Old Palais," 97 Seagate. Dundee, on first Wednesday of each month, from October to March. Anniversary Dinner Report: On 25th January, 1956, we cele­ brated our Diamond Jubilee, when 125 attended. The "Immortal Memory" was proposed by Mr. Edward Hird. A wreath was placed at Burns Statue by the President, Mr. D. Small. On Saturday, 26th May, 1956, we had an Outing to Edzdl and Glenbervie Churchyard to view the encased tombstones of the great-grand-parents and grand-uncle of Robert Burns. (Mrs.) L. M. SMALL, Hon. Secretary. 660: LANGHOLM LADIES' BURNS CLUB Dates and Place of Club Meetings: Last Saturday evening of month, from October till March, in Ashley Bank Hotel. (Mrs.) R. W. IRVING, Hon. Secretary. 663: BOURNEMOUTH CALEDONIAN SOCIETY Dates and Place of Club Meetings: Hallowe'en, St. Andrew's Night, Hogmanay, Burns Night, &c., in Pavilion, Bournemouth. Anniversary Dinner Report: The "Immortal Memory" was proposed by Mr. William Niven. The Annual Church Service was conducted by the Society'S Chaplain, the Rev. James Jackson. T. P. SAUNDERSON, Hon. Secretary. 665: GARTMORN LADIES' BURNS CLUB Dates and Place of Club Meetings: Sauchie Lesser Hall on last Wednesday of each month. Anniversary Dinner Report: Miss MCFarlane, Tillicoultry, proposed the "Immortal Memory" on 25th January, 1956. We held our Annual Outing to Ayr on 1St July, 1956. A presentation was made to Mrs. C. Fudge, Secretary for past nine years, of a brass paper box with Burns cottage on it, which was presented to her by Mrs. M. Kilpatrick, a member of the Club. (Mrs.) E. DAWSON, Hon. Secretary. BURNS CLUB NOTES

666: v ALLEY OF DOON LADIES' BURNS CLUB Dates and Place of Club Meetings: Band Hall, Main Street, Dalmellington, on alternate Wednesdays each month. (Mrs.) AGNES YOUNG, Hon. Secretary. 667: THORNTON AND DISTRICT TAM 0' SHANTER BURNS CLUB Dates and Place of Club Meetings: From October onwards in Crown Hotel, Thornton. Anniversary Dinner Report: On the 27th January, 1956, the "Immortal Memory" was proposed by Mr. W. Grubb, Kirkcaldy. The Club is hoping to run the usual Competition for children of the local schools. It is usual to have the co-operation of the school teachers in this effort. JAMES COLVILLE, Hon. Secretary. 670: STRATH (ISLE OF SKYE) BURNS CLUB Dates and Place of Club Meetings: October, 1955-Hallowe'en Party for local children, in Kyleakin. November, 1955-St. Andrew's Day Ceilidh. March, 1956-Third Annual Club "Mod." Anniversary Dinner Report: On the 25th January, 1956, the "Immortal Memory" was proposed by the Club Secretary, Mr. M. Soper. Last autumn some members visited Ayrshire to see Burns Cottage and other places associated with the poet, and purchased prizes for local Club "Mod" (oral and solo singing for ladies and gendemen); also for singing of a Burns's song by school pupils at the Annual Schools' Musical Festival in Skye. We also hold dances to send a donation to the Burns Homes. M. SoPER, Han. Secretary. 6]3: HIGHLAND MARY BURNS CLUB Dates and Place of Club Meetings: Opened on 27th August and every second Monday thereafter, in the Railway Tavern, Cardenden, Fife. Anniversary Dinner Report: On the 21St January, 1956, Mr. James Gillies, Secretary of the People's Burns Club, Auchter­ derran, proposed the "Immortal Memory." We gave our old folks a Dinner and a gift of money, and took our children for a Picnic to Burntisland. (Mrs.) M. MATHIESON, Hon. Secretary. 683: STRATFORD-UPON-AVON AND DISTRICT CALEDONIAN SOCIETY Dates and Place of Club Meetings: October to April, Fridays, 8 to 10 p.m., in Trinity Hall, Tyler Street, Stratford-on-Avon. BURNS CLUB NOTES Anniversary Dinner Report: The "Immortal Memory" was given by Mr. Andrew Webster of the Redditch and District Caledonian Society. (Mrs.) E. M. SOMERVILLE, Hon. Secretary. 686: BANCHORY BURNS AND SOCIAL CLUB Dates and Place of Club Meetings: First Wednesday of each month, from September to April, in Burnett Arms Hotel. Anniversary Dinner Report: On the 24th January, 1956, Mr. John Caseby, M.A., proposed the "Immortal Memory." The Annual Old Folks' Social Evening and Supper was held during the season. ALEX. SHAND, H on. Secretary. li9o: PIRNHALL BURNS CLUB Dates and Place of Club Meetings: Monthly at Pirnhall Inn, Bannockburn . . Anniversary Dinner Report: On the 27th January, 1956, the "Immortal Memory" was given by Mr. James Weir, Plean, Stirling. A Children's Picnic was held in June and an Adult Bus Trip to Blair Athol in September. Television was introduced to the David Watson (Church of Scotland) Eventide Home, near Gargunnock, recently, because of " special effort made by the Pirnhall Burns Club. The Club decided that they would bring T.V. to Gargunnock. An Hon. Member of the Club, which Mr. M'Clumpha, the President, said had "thirty very enthusiastic members," went further and said that the home would have a set for Christmas. He was 79-year­ old Mr. Hugh Gray, a bath attendant at Millhall pit, who advanced money so that this could be done. The set was unveiled when Mrs. W. Hogg, Mr. Gray's sister, drew a "lion rampant" flag from the top of the set. JAMES MCCLUMPHA, H on. Secretary. 693: MASONIC BURNS CLUB, KIRKCUDBRIGHT Dates and Place of Club Meetings: A.G.M. held in Masonic Hall, Kirkcudbright, during November of each year. Anniversary Dinner Report: On the 23rd January, 1956, the "Immortal Memory" was given by J. M. Young, P.Z., The ')choolhouse, Locharbriggs, Dumfries. A successful Ladies' Night was held on lIth April, 1956. H. LITTLE, H on. Secretary. BURNS CLUB NOTES 149 li99: CHOPPINGTON BURNS CLUB Dates and Place of Club Meetings: The Railway Tavern, Choppington, Northumberland, on Sunday mornings at II a.m. as and when required. Anniversary Dinner Report: The Dinner was held on 26th January, 1956. Also held were Hallowe'en Night; Ladies' Night, 27th October, 1955; St. Andrew's Night, 8th December, 1955. JOHN LAKE, Hon. Secretary. 701: THE DETROIT BURNS CLUB Dates and Place of Club Meetings: First Friday of the month in Building Trades' Council Rooms, East Grand Boulevard, Detroit, Michigan. Anniversary Dinner Report: A Stag Dinner was held in Detroit on 23rd January, 1956, when Past-President Richard MacRae proposed the "Immortal Memory." The Detroit Burns Club has presented the Scottish National Dictionary to the library of Bethany College, West Virginia. S. R. DICKEY, Hon. Secretary. 702: GREENOCK FOUNDRY MASONIC ASSOCIATION Dates and Place of Club Meetings: Monthly in St. John's 175 Club. Anniversary Dinner Report: Burns Dinner and Annual Dinner (April). During the session Lectures, Outings, Visits to Works and Children's Parties were held. Bro. JOHN HENDRY, H on. Secretary. 706: NORTH LINDSEY SCOTS SOCIETY Dates and Place of Club Meetings: Various as arranged. Anniversary Dinner Report: The "Immortal Memory" was proposed by Dr. William Marshall, President of Peterborough and District Caledonian Society, on 27th January, 1956. A Celtic Ball, supported by the Scots, Welsh and Irish Societies in the town, was held in December. JOHN D. BURNS, Hon. Secretary. 718: THE ST. ANDREW'S SOCIETY OF YORK Dates and Place of Club Meetings: Cumberland House, Cum­ berland Street, York. Anniversary Dinner Report: On the 27th January, 1956, A. IS° BURNS CLUB NOTES Wilson Boyle, Esq., C.A., proposed the "Immortal Memory." H. HUTCHISON, Hon. Secretary. 720: RETFORD AND DISTRICT CALEDONIAN SOCIETY Dates and Place of Club Meetings: Tuesday (monthly) at Ebsworth Hall. Anniversary Dinner Report: On the 18th January, 1956, the "Immortal Memory" was proposed by Dr. A. McD. Maiden, Saxilby, Lincolnshire. The President's Reception was held on loth October, 1955; a Hallowe'en Party on 1st November, 1955; and a St. Andrew's Night Party on 29th November, 1955. (Mrs.) D. I. WALKER, Hon. Secretary. 721: THE PLYMOUTH BURNS CLUB Dates and Place of Club Meetings: On the second and last Wednesdays of the month, from September to May, at the Odd Fellows' Hall, 148 Union Street, PlymoutP. Anniversary Dinner Report: On the 25th January, 1956, the "Immortal Memory of Robert Burns" was given in his poetry and songs by various Club members. Each item was linked by a script specially written for the occasion, while the introductory music for the songs was being played sofdy as a background. The Lord Mayor of Plymouth (Councillor J. E. Broad) gave the toast "Scodand." Other events included a Hallowe'en Dance and Hogmanay Highland Ball, and a Hallowe'en Afternoon Party for the bairns was held at our Club Rooms. Members attended St. Andrew's Divine Service at the Plymouth Presbyterian Church. MARGARET ROWAN, Hon. Secretary. 722: BRIDLINGTON AND DISTRICT CALEDONIAN SOCIETY Dates and Place of Club Meetings: Last and third Thursdays of each month at the Alexandra Hotel, Bridlington. Anniversary Dinner Report: The "Immortal Memqry" was proposed by D. J. M'Diarmid, Esq., LL.D., Dunoon. A Grand Caledonian Ball was held on 1St March, 1956. A. B. MITCHELL, M.A., Hon. Secretary. 723: STRATHPEFFER BURNS CLUB Dates and Place of Club Meetings: Strathpeffer Hotel. Anniversary Dinner Report: On the 25th January, 1956, the "Immortal Memory" was proposed by Dr. George Thomson, BURNS CLUB NOTES M.A., B.Sc., Ph.D., Director of Education, Ross-shire. The entire proceedings were recorded and members unable to be present at the function were given the opportunity of hearing the programme at a meeting convened for this purpose. WM. S. FAIRHOLM, B.E.M., Hon. Secretary. 727: THE ST. ANDREW SOCIETY OF DENMARK Dates and Place of Club Meetings: Generally once a month from September to April (inclusive). Anniversary Dinner Report: On the 25th January, 1956, the "Immortal Memory" was given by Mr. T. Muir Wilson from Kilmarnock at our Seventh Annual Burns Dinner. We celebrated St. Andrew's Day on 30th December, 1955, at the Palace Hotel and had five pipers sent over from the City of Glasgow Police Pipe Band. The British Ambassador in Copen­ hagen was present. HANS SCHRODER, Hon. Secretary. 730: WIGTOWN BURNS CLUB Dates and Place of Club Meetings: Commercial Hotel. Anniversary Dinner Report: On the 20th January, 1956, Mr. Haig Gordon proposed the "Immortal Memory." This year our Burns Outing was to Hawick. ANDREW McADAM, Hon. Secretary. 737: ASHINGTON AND DISTRICT CALEDONIAN SOCIETY Anniversary Dinner Report: The "Immortal Memory" was proposed by Mr. J. Renwick Vickers of East Boldon. M. K. MILLS, H on. Secretary. 739: WHYALLA MEN'S BURNS CLUB Dates and Place of Club Meetings: Committee meetings are held on the first Wednesday of every month at Mr. J. Wilkin's residence, 18 Forsythe Street. Monthly meetings are held on the 5eCond Wednesday of every month at the R.A.O.B. Hall, Dick Street. Anniversary Dinner Report: On 25th January, 1956, Dr. A. A. Wallace gave the "Immortal Memory." PERCE G. OPIE, Hon. Secretary. 743: ROMFORD SCOTTISH ASSOCIATION Dates and Place of Club Meetings: Third Wednesday of each month at the Swan Hotel, Market Place, Romford. [52 BURNS CLUB NOTES

Anniversary Dinner Report: On the 23rd January, 1956, the "Immortal Memory" was proposed by Mr. Duncan Macintyre. A. ANDERSON, Hon. Secretary. 744: DURHAM AND DISTRICT CALEDONIAN SOCIETY Dates and Place of Club Meetings: St. Oswald's Church Hall and Lyon's Cafe. Meetings of the Committee convened when necessary. Anniversary Dinner Report: Professor E. J. R. Eaglesham, M.A., B.Ed., LL.B., proposed the "Immortal Memory" on 25th January, 1956. J. A. McLEISH, H on. Secretary. 745: NORTHUMBERLAND AND DURHAM CALEDONIAN SOCIETY Dates and Place of Club Meetings: Various. Anniversary Dinner Report: On the 25th January, 1956, the "Immortal Memory" was proposed by the Rev. George Adam of Edzell. Social functions included a Hallowe'en Party, St. Andrew's Dinner and Ball, Hogmanay Dance and a Supper Dance in March, 1956. JAMES G. GALL, Hon. Secretary. 746: GRIMSBY AND DISTRICT CALEDONIAN SOCIETY Dates and Place of Club Meetings: Commencing on Friday, 21St September, and each alternate Friday, in the Tudor Cafe, Grimsby. Anniversary Dinner Report: The "Immortal Memory" was proposed by J. Reynard, Esq., of Grimsby. (Mrs.) R. B. WATSON, Hon. Secretary. 748: OUPLAYMUIR BURNS CLUB Anniversary Dinner Report: On 25th January, 1956, in the Inn, Uplawmoor, for the first time in the history of the Club, a member proposed the "Immortal Memory," viz., the President, Mr. C. C. Brown (1955-56). E. A. MCQUEEN, Hon. Secretary. 753: WESTMORLAND ST. ANDREW SOCIETY Anniversary Dinner Report: On the 25th January, 1956, Mr. Cessford, of Liverpool, proposed the "Immortal Memory." M. MORTON, Hon. Sect·etary. BURNS CLUB NOTES 153

755: BLYTH AND DISTRICT CALEDONIAN SOCIETY Dates and Place of Club Meetings: Our meetings take place once a month, from September to March, in the Star and Garter Hotel, Blyth. Anniversary Dinner Report: The "Immortal Memory" \yas proposed by Dr. Montgomerie of Sunderland. A St. Andrew's Night Dinner was held during the session. (Mrs.) D. D. CARMICHAEL, Hon. SeC/·etary.

757: DOUGLAS ST. BRIDE'S BURNS CLUB Dates and Place of Club Meetings: The Commercial Hotel, Douglas. Anniversary Dinner Report: Mr. Mercer Prentice proposed the "Immortal Memory." A Dinner was held in the Commercial Hotel, Douglas, on 28th April, 1956, to which Newarthill and Annbank Burns Clubs were invited. JAMES J. C. MARTIN, Hon. Secretary. 758: BATH AND DISTRICT CALEDONIAN SOCIETY Dates and Place of Club Meetings: Various dates at No. 10 Portland Place, Bath. Anniversary Dinner Report: On the 25th January, 1956, the "Immortal Memory" was given by R. B. Carnegie, Esq. (Devon County Surveyor). E. M. BETHELL, Hon. Secretary. 762: TANNOCHSIDE MOSSGIEL BURNS CLUB Dates and Place of Club Meetings: Third Monday of each month in the Tannochside Social Club Rooms. Recess in summer. Anniversary Dinner Report: The "Immortal Memory" was proposed by Mr. J. McVicar, of Annbank, on 20th January, 1956. Ladies' Night held on 16th April, 1956; Mystery Tour on 31st May, 1956; and Annual Day Drive on 25th August, 1956, to Leven. JOHN H. GOWAN, Hon. Secretary. 763: WAKEFIELD CALEDONIAN SOCIETY Dates and Place of Club Meetings: Monthly at the Great Bull Hotel, Wakefield. Other events as arranged. Anniversary Dinner Report: The "Immortal Memory" was given by Rev. John Bowman, M.A., B.D.(Glas.), D.Phil.(Oxon.). (Mrs.) K. WADSWORTH, Hon. Secretary. 154 BURNS CLUB NOTES

766: GLENCOE AND DISTRICT BURNS CLUB Dates and Place of Club Meetings: Glencoe Hotel. Anniversary Dinner Report: On the 20th January, 1956, Mr. Mathieson, Argyll County Convener, proposed the "Immortal Memory." The Annual Club Dance will be held on 2nd November, 1956. DONALD MAcMASTER, Hon. Secretary. 768: AUCHTERDERRAN JOLLY BEGGARS' BURNS CLUB Dates and Place of Club Meetings: Bowhill No. I Gothenburg, first Saturday of each month from October to March at 6.30 p.m. Anniversary Dinner Report: On 21st January, 1956, Mr. E. Sinclair proposed the "Immortal Memory." Our Annual Drive went to Ayr on 3rd June, 1956. JAMES HERD, Hon. Secretary. 771: THE CALEDONIAN SOCIETY, KARACHI Dates and Place of Club Meetings: The A.G.M. of Society was held in Reading Room of the Sind Club on 28th February, 1956. The Festival of St. Andrew's Day, 1955, was celebrated by a Banquet and Ball held on 30th November. The Guest of Honour was H.E. Major-General Iskander Mirza, C.I.E., O.B.E., Governor-General of Pakistan, and Her Excellency Begum Iskander Mirza also attended. The other guests of the Society were H.E. Sir Alexander Symon, K.C.M.G., O.B.E., High Com­ missioner for the United Kingdom, and Lady Symon; H.E. Major-General W. J. Cawthorn, C.B., C.I.E., C.B.E., High Commissioner for Australia; H.E. Mr. S. Morley Scott, High Commissioner for Canada; the Rt. Hon. The Lord DeL'Isle and Dudley, V.C., U.K. Secretary of State for Air, and Lady DeL'Isle and Dudley; the Rev. John A. Kells, minister, St. Andrew's Church, Karachi, and Mrs. Kells. It is with deep regret that we record the deaths of no less than three of our members during 1955. Mr. J. H. Adams and Mr. J. H. Hosie died in Karachi as a result of accidents, and Mr. W. M. Noble died whilst on leave in the United Kingdom following ;:. lengthy spell of serious illness. R. REID, Hon. Secretary. 772: THE PRESTWICK BURNS CLUB Dates and Place of Club Meetings: First Tuesday of each month, from October to April (inclusive), at the Royal Hotel, Prestwick. BURNS CLUB NOTES 155 Anniversary Dinner Report: On the 25th January, 1956, the "Immortal Memory" was proposed by Mr. Andrew S. M'Culloch. St. Andrew's Night Concert was held on 30th November, 1955. Profits from the concert reached a total of £34, this sum being used for the provision of prizes and awards in competitions for school children on themes pertaining to the Works of Robert Burns and to Scottish literature in general. J. H. McDONALD, Hon. Secretar~} 775: HARTLE POOLS CALEDONIAN SOCIETY Dates and Place of Club Meetings: Grand Hotel, West Hartle­ pool, bi-monthly. Anniversary Dinner Report: On 25th January, 1956, Dr. John MacCormick, LL.D., proposed the "Immortal Memory." In recognition of twenty-five years' service as piper to the Society, Mr. Charles Mitchell was presented with a Westminster chiming clock. New Year Dance was held on 2nd January, 1956, and a St. Andrew's Dance on 30th November, 1955. Discussion Group meetings and Reel Classes are now in full swing. CHARLES S. LEE, Hon. Secretary. 780: ISLE OF MAN CALEDONIAN SOCIETY Dates and Place of Club Meetings: Monthly at Sefton Hotel or Castle Mona Hotel, Douglas. Anniversary Dinner Report: On the 25th January, 1956, the "Immortal Memory" was proposed by Lord Sempill. The Loyal toast was proposed by the Lieutenant-Governor of the Isle of Man, and His Honour, the First Deemster of the Island, Sir William P. Cowley, C.B.E., was also present. A Hallowe'en Party, Christmas Party, St. Andrew's Night Dinner, New Year's Night Dance and a Summer Picnic were among the season's activities. N. McDONALD, Hon. Secretary 781: OCHILVIEW BURNS CLUB Anniversary Dinner Report: On the 24th January, 1956, the "Immortal Memory" was given by Mr. J. P. Richards, Glasgow. D. S. MELDRUM, Hon. Secretary. 782: BERGEN BURNS CLUB Anniversary Dinner Report: The Club held its first Burns Supper as a member of the Burns Federation on 25th January, BURNS CLUB NOTES 1956. The menu was traditionally Scottish and the haggis was borne in, in time-honoured style, by Sverre Ekrem, to the tune of the bagpipes, and addressed by Mrs. Nellie Kristiansen (Dumfries). The "Immortal Memory" was proposed by the Club's President, William Baird (Darvel). (Mrs.) NELLIE KRISTIANSEN, Hon. Secretary.

(Mrs. Kristiansen has sent me a copy of "Tam 0' Shanter" in Norwegian. It has been translated by Hartvig Kiran and is, in the opinion of the members of the Bergen Club, a very good translation in the language of the country dialects-the old Norwegian.-EDIToR, Burns Chronicle.)

783: HUDDERSFIELD AND DISTRICT SCOTTISH SOCIETY Dates and Place of Club Meetings: First Thursday of every month (and when necessary) in Albion Hotel, Buxton Road. H uddersfield. Anniversary Dinner Report: On the 25th January, 1956, the "Immortal Memory" was proposed by A. S. Martin, Esq., B.Sc., Ph.D., A.R.I.C., of Huddersfield. A St. Andrew's Dinner and Dance, Hogmanay Supper and Dance, Hallowe'en Party, Whist Drives and Scottish Country Dancing Classes were all held during the year. We have also an organised Outing to the Manchester Highland Games. L. ANDERSON, Hon. Secretary. 785: JOY-SULLIVAN MASONIC BURNS CLUB Anniversary Dinner Report: On 28th January, 1956, owing to the sudden illness of the principal speaker, Mr. G. A. M'Nicoll, the Club called on Mr. R. Lynn at a few hours' notice to propose the "Immortal Memory." D. BELL, Hon. Secretary. 789: AINTREE BURNS CLUB Dates and Place of Club Meetings: Club meetings are held on the last Thursday in every month at Lynwood Hall, Orrell Park, Liverpool, with the exception of St. Andrew's Night and Burns Night. Our St. Andrew's Night was held on 29th November, and our Burns Night will be held on 24th January, 1957. (Miss) I. HARRIS, Hon. Secretary. BURNS CLUB NOTES 157

792: SCOTTISH DANCING AND SOCIAL CLUB OF ADELAIDE (REGD.) Dates and Place of Club Meetings: Every Saturday evening, except first Saturday in each month, at Rechabite Hall, Grote Street, Adelaide, S.A. A. R. MACDONALD, Han. Secretary. 795: LONGCROFT, BONNYBRIDGE AND DISTRICT BURNS CLUB Dates and Place of Club Meetings: Masonic Arms, Longcroft. on Friday nearest to 25th of each month, from October to April. Anniversary Dinner Report: The "Immortal Memory" was proposed by Festus Moffat, Esq., O.B.E., J.P., F.S.A.A. (Hon. Sheriff-Substitute, Stirlingshire). We also held a St. Andrew's Night Dinner Dance and Concert. JAMES McDoUGALL, Han. Secretary. 796: GATESHEAD AND DISTRICT ST. ANDREW'S SOCIETY Dates and Place of Club Meetings: Once monthly in the Co-operative Hall, Whitehall Road, Gateshead-on-Tyne, County Durham. ANDREW A. BLACK, Han. Secretary. LIST OF THE 352 BURNS CLUBS AND SCOTTISH SOCIETIES ON THE ROLL OF THE BURNS .... FEDERATION, 1956 VI 00 (Corrected to 31st October. 1956)

No. Name Inst. Fed. Members Presiaent Secretary o Kilmarnock Burns Club 1808 1885 200 John Ireland Robert McCall, 71 Burnfoot Place, Kilmarnock.

I The Burns Club of London 1868 1885 200 David Fulton A. F. Robertson, C.A., 13 Kensington Court, London, W.8 2 Alexandria Burns Club - 1884 1885 John Barton, 126 Middleton Street, Akxandria, Dunbartonshire 3 Tam o' Shant(:r Burns Club - 1858 1885 127 Peter Laing W. McFarlane, 41 Cumlodden Drive, Glas­ gow, N.W. 4 Calland(:r Burns Club - 1877 1885 40 S. T. Connell Sam S. T. Kennett, 3 North Church Street, Callander 7 Thistl(: Burns Club - 1882 1884 50 Walter Myron John C. Allan, 13 Eglinton Street, Glasgow, C·S 9 Royalty Burns Club 1882 1886 146 A. K.Hardie William McMinn, 5 St. Vincent Place, Glas­ gow, C.I IO Dumbarton Burns Club - 1859 1886 96 Arthur Wilson J. A. Campbell Brown, Hillcrest, Oxhill Road, Dumbarton II Chesterfield and District Cale­ Mrs. M. Nicholson, 3 Goldwell Hous(:, donian Association 1886 1886 396 Mrs. A. T. Yoomans 29 Ashgate Road, Chesterfield 14 Dundee Burns Club - 1860 1886 40 E. M(:akin Harry Taylor, Dundee Burns Club, 37 Union Str(:(:t, Dundee 15 Belfast Burns Association - 1886 1886 345 William Duncan Edward R. Forgrave, F.T.C.L., 62 Wellington Park, Belfast 17 Nottingham Scottish Association 1871 1886 723 Prof(:ssor C. G. C. Ch(:sters Mrs. J. G. Watson, I Pelham Av(:nuc, Sher­ wood Rise, Nottingham 20 Airdri(: Burns Club 1885 r886 170 G. R. Hanson R. Bicknell, 10 Castle Quadrant, Airdrie No. Namt: Inst. Ft:d. Members President St:Crt:tary 2I Greenock Burns Club . 1801 1886 176 Malcolm M. Reid William Christie, 50 Brisbane Street, Greenock 22 Edinburgh Burns Club 1848 1886 85 C. J. Cousland, F.R.s.E., Archibald Grant, 19 Warriston Gardens, A.R.P.S. Edinburgh, 4 33 Glasgow Haggis Club 1872 1886 98 James Hempseed J. Lawrence Grant, C.A., 131 West Regent Street, Glasgow, C.2. 35 Dairy (Ayrshire) Burns Club 1825 1887 70 Cameron Fullarton Douglass G. Gordon, Solicitor, Dairy, Ayrshire 36 Rosebery Burns Club - 1885 1887 138 James Robertson Abey Irvine, 114 Maryhill Road,Glasgow,N.W. 37 Dollar Burns Club 1887 1887 Peter Mitchell, Station Road, Dollar 40 Aberdeen Burns Club - 1872 1889 150 Charles C. Easton, Miss Ethel Hall, 3 St. Mary's Place, Aberdeen F.S.A.(Scot.) 42 Strathearn Burns Club 1889 1890 120 Frank Doull, "Braemore," Burrell Street, Crieff 45 Cumnock Burns Club 1887 1891 100 William Connell R. D. Hunter, Solicitor. Cumnock 48 Paisley Burns Club 1805 1891 36 Daniel Ure Alex. Cochran", 14 Stonefield Avenue, Paisley 49 Bridgeton Burns Club - 1870 1891 1700 William Morrison Robert Donaldson, 4 Forbes Street, Glasgow, S.E. 50 Stirling Burns Club - - 1886 1892 no JohnC. Adam W. I. McCracken, 80 Port Street, Stirling 53 Govan Fairfield Burns Club 1886 1892 30 William Lochans Mrs. Emily Lochans, 10 Cronberry Quadrant, Glasgow, S.W.2 55 Derby Scottish Association and Burns Club 1890 1893 805 J. M. Rorrison Miss A. W. Wylie, 450 Kedleston Road, Allestree, Derby; I. P. Cooper, 6 Leopold Street, Derby (Joint Secretaries) 59 Gourock Jolly Beggars Burns Club 1893 1893 90 Allan K. Davidson Lachlan A. Osborne, 5 McCallum Crescent, .. Gourock V\ \0 62 Cupar Burns Club - 1893 1893 145 Ex-Provost H. J. Smith J. G.Rutherford, National Bank, Cupar No. Name Inst. Fed. Members President Secretary :; 68 Sandyford (Glasgow) Burns Club 1893 1894 600 William McFarlane Samuel W. Love, The British Linen Bank, o 515 Sauchiehall Street, Glasgow, C.3 69 Dunedin Burns Club, inc.- 1861 1894 800 W. J. Oliver James Caldwell, J.P., 3 Onslow Street, St. Kilda, Dunedin, New Zealand 71 Carlisle Burns Club - - 1889 1895 45 Robert Dixon J. Jordan, 28 Dene Crescent, Stanwix, Carlisle 72 Partick Burns Club - - 1885 1895 90 Ralph S. Stark Brown, W. S. Adams, 81 Bath Street, Glasgow, C.2 74 National Burns Memorial and M.e., J.P., LL.B. Cottage Homes, Mauchline - 1888 1895 Col. A. D.Maclnnes Shaw, David J. S. Harvey, B.L., 65 Renfield Street, D.S.O., J.P., D.L. Glasgow, C.2 76 Brechin Burns Club - - 1894 1896 80 James R. Raitt David Young, 19 Eastbank, Brechin 82 Arbroath Burns Club - 1888 1896 90 Bailie E. B. MacIntosh, Alex. W. Aitken, Commercial Bank of Scotland C.A. Ltd., Arbroath 85 Dunfermline United Burns Club 1812 1896 80 W. A. Thexton, J.P. T. Spowart, M.A., n6 Dewar Street, Dunfermline 86 Winsome Willie Burns Club 1856 1896 50 James Muir William Waugh, 14 Nan's Terrace, Old Cumnock 89 Sunderland Burns Club - 1897 1897 104 J. H. L. Dalgleish John D. McBain, 33 Humbledon Park, Sunderland 91 Shettleston Burns Club 1897 1897 80 W. P. Kinnaird R. Wright, 391 Amulree Street, Glasgow, E.2 95 Bolton Burns Club 1881 r897 112 David Maitland Beagrie G. Mackay, "Rosslyn," II5 Newearth Road, Walkden, Lanes. 112 Dumfries Burns Howff Club 1889 r899 64 T. Shannon David Miller, 64 Rosefield Road, Dumfries 120 Bristol Caledonian Society - - 1820 1900 522 David Crombie (Interim) J. Burgess-Parker, Cabot House, 2 Berkeley Square, Bristol. 121 Hamilton Junior Burns Club - 1886 1901 35 D. McCulloch (sen.) C. S. McNaughton, 45 Argyle Buildings, Burn­ bank, Hamilton. 124 The Ninety Burns Club 18go 1902 90 D. McCallum Hay C. McVittie, 20 Hailes Avenue, Edinburgh, 11 t" No. Name Ins!. Fed. Membas President Secretary 126 Falkirk Burns Club - 1866 1902 200 Festus Moffat, O.B.E., David F. Moffat, C.A., 138 High Street, J.P., F.S.A.A. Falkirk 133 Newarthill Burns Club 1903 1904 24 Alexander Maxwell Jas. B. Mathew, 23 Loanhead Crescent, Newarthill 139 National Burns Club - 1904 1904 100 Adam Smith Ian D. Copland, C.A., 48 West Regent Street, Glasgow, C.2 149 Elgin Burns Club 1905 1905 75 Robert McGill, J.P. C. B. Wilker, Bank Bldgs., 1 IO High Street, Elgin 152 The Hamilton Burns Club- 1877 1906 154 Lockhart W. Hutson John Jackson, 54 Cadzow Street, Hamilton 153 Scottish Burns Club - 1903 1906 400 Rev. Robert Paterson, B.D. 1. Kevan McDowall, 202 Bath Street, Glasgow, C.2 158 Darlingtoll Burns Association - 1906 1906 236 W. R. Vickerton John A. Lawson, Schoolhouse, The Fairway, Darlington 167 Birmingham and Midland Scot- Graham Bell, 50 Chantry Road, Moseley, tish Society - - 1888 1908 778 R. G. Robertson Birmingham, 13 169 Glasgow and District Burns Andrew Stenhouse, M.A., LL.B., 104 West Association - 1907 1908 24 Clubs Allan S. Meikle Campbell Street, Glasgow, C.2 173 Irvine Burns Club 1826 1908 460 Hugh C. Munro William Phillips, M.A., 93 Dundonald Road, Troon, Ayrshire 183 Londonderry Burns Club and Caledonian Society - 1907 1909 100 Rev. N. F. Orr, B.A., B.D. J. Gilmour, 31 Princes Street, Londondc-rry 184 Blairadam Shanter Burns Club - 1907 1909 30 Robert M. Cook Thomas C. Anderson, Rowan Cottage, 194 Main Street, Kelty, Fife 187 Galashiels Burns Club A. E. B. Fitzimmons, National Bank of Scotland, Ltd., Galashiels ~ 190 Port Glasgow Burns Club - 1910 1910 3'5 George McWalters Duncan MacGugan, 128 Drumfrocher Road, Greenock .... No. Name Inst. Fed. Members President Secret4ry S'192 Ayrshire Association of Burns James E. Shaw, I Central Avenue, Kilbirnie, Clubs - 1908 1910 35 Clubs Alex. Macmillan, M.A. Ayrshire

197 Winnipeg Burns Club - 1910 1911 60 Wm. A. Martin A. D. Adamson, Ste. 38-Redwood Apts., Winnipeg, Man., Canada 198 Gorebridge Twenty-five Jolly Beggars Burns Club - 1906 19II 45 Thos. Junis Richard Young, 23 Hillside Crescent, Gore­ 199 Newbattle and District Burns bridge. Club - 1910 19II 65 Thomas Weighand David Carson, II Third Street, Newtongrange

207 Cambuslang Wingate Burns Club 1908 1912 30 Adam Humphries Mrs. J. Clark, 30 Burn Terrace, Eastfield, Cambuslang 209 Greenock St. John's Burns Club 1909 1912 John Ferguson John Bain, 2 York Road, Greenock 212 Portobello Burns Club - 1892 1913 96 Alexander MJcFariane, William H. Garvie, 7 Straiton Place, Porto­ M.A. bello 217 Eskdale Burns Club - 1886 1913 101 George Jeffrey Mrs. J. S. Pool, 28 High Street, Langholm 220 Burns Club of St. Louis - 1904 1913 30 L. M. Stewart William Charles, 411 North Seventh Street, St. Louis, I, M.O., U.S.A. 226 Dumfries Burns Club- - 1820 1913 157 N. A. W. Dinwiddie A. W. Finlayson, Carzield, Dumfries 236 Whitehaven Burns Club - 1914 1914 100 Dr. John Gilmour John Davidson, 9 Edgehill Terrace, White­ haven 237 Uddingston Masonic Burns Club 1914 1914 30 Joseph Polson Arthur Downie, 89 Woodlands Crescent, Bothwell 238 Burns Club of Atlanta 1896 1914 67 Professor W. R. Metcalfe Robert Macdonald, 1024 Los Angeles Avenue, Atlanta, N.E., Ga., U.S.A. 239 H"lwick Burns Club - - 1878 1914 440 David C. Scott Thomas Hunter, Albert Bridge, Hawick 242 M()ntrose Burns Club - - 19Q8 1915 123 Provost J. Butchart R. V. Fairweather, 53 Baltic Street, Montrose 244 Dalmuir and Clydebank Bums 1916 80 Robert Jamieson Hugh Wood, 35 Overtoun Road, Clydebank Club 1914 No. Name Inst. Fed. Memb~rs President Secretary 252 Alloway Burns Club - - 1908 1918 80 Rev. H. C. Donaldson Frands P. Welsh, Schoolhouse, Alloway, Ayr 262 Fifeshire Burns Association 1919 1919 18 Clubs Mrs. N. McHale Thomas C. Anderson, Rowan Cottage, 194 Main Street, Kelty, Fife 263 Glasgow Masonic Burns CluD - 1919 1919 923 Fred. C. Jordan Andrew T. Gordon, 24 Prospecthill Drive, Glasgow, S.2 271 Trenton Burns Club - 1919 1920 20 Wm.Murray Neil A. Waugh, 21 Island Road, Levittown, Penna., U.S.A. 274 Troon Burns Club 1920 1920 155 James G. Hutcheson T. Montgomery Brown, 36 West Portland Street, Troon 275 Ayr Burns Club - 1886 1920 160 D. McCreadie, John Gray, 135 Whitletts Road, Ayr B.Sc., F.R.I.C. 282 The Burns Bowling Association 1898 1920 29 Clubs N. M. Harrison John B. Bodie, J.P., 124 St. Vincent Street, Glasgow, C.2

~o 283 Sinclairtown Burns Club -- 1920 1920 .) James M. Grant John D. Bease, 1 Dysart Road, Kirkcaldy 284 Philadelphia North-Eastern Burns Alex. Macdonald, 4203 E. Barnett Street, Club - 1896 1921 55 Campbell Goudie Philadelphia, 35, Pa., U.S.A. 288 Beith Caledonia Burns Club - 19II 1921 39 B. Doyle John Blue, 6 Muirpark Terrace, Beith, Ayrshire 292 Grahamston Burns Club -- 1920 1921 50 Wm. P. Turnbull Walter Gowans, 16 Thistle Street, Falkirk 293 Newcraighall District Poosie Wm. Blair, 56 Niddrie Marischal Crescent, Nansie Burns Club - 1921 1921 40 Robert Porteous Edinburgh, 9 295 The Burns House Club Limited 1920 1921 128 RobertW. R. Wilson John Grant, C.A., 65 Renfield Street, Glasgow, C.2 296 Walsall Burns Club -- 1900 1922 110 William F. McKie Dr. D. M. Macmillan, 5 Queen's Road, Walsall 303 Victoria St. Andrew's and Cale- Miss Georgina Mackay, 1360 McKair Street, donian Society - 1872 1922 190 David Hill Victoria, B.C., Canada 307 Edinburgh Ayrshire Association 1914 1922 220 Miss E. M. Symington Wm. K. MacAleese, 17 Craigentinny Crescent, Edinburgh, 7 ! 309 Annan Burns Club 1910 1923 90 Provost John McNeish K. G. Sutherland, Solicitor, Royal Bank Buildings, Annan No. Name lnst. Fed. Members President Secretary ~ 310 Mauchline Burns Club 1923 1923 200 Andrew C. Macpherson, William Bee, M.P.S., 5 Loudoun Street, ~ M.A. Mauchline 314 Scottish Burns Club, Edinburgh 1920 1923 67 Chas. Watt James W. Elder, 22 Craigmount Park, Edin­ burgh,12 320 Troy Burns Club - 1903 1924 135 Neil W. Laird Howard D. Whinnery, 560 Fourth Avenue, North, Troy, New York, U.S.A. 323 Kirkcudbright Burns Club -- 1918 1924 75 David Dunlop John Graham, Fernlea, Kirkcudbright 326 Bingry Jolly Beggars Ladies Burns Mrs. Henry Davidson, 10 Kirkland Park, Club - 1921 1924 37 Mrs. W. Letham Ballingry, Lochore, Fife 329 Newark and District Caledonian Society - - 1923 1924 150 James R. Henderson W. M. R. Henderson, 27 Lombard St., Newark 331 Robert Burns Society of Buffalo Robert Potts, 619 Englewood Avenue, Ken­ (N.Y.) - 1913 1925 75 James Calder more, -23, New York, U.S.A. 336 Peter head Burns Club - 1826 1925 120 William Russell Robert Neish, 2 Rose Street, Peterhead 341 Leith Burns Club 1826 1925 89 Ernest W. Brown, B.E.M. C. A. Cruikshank, 6 Hope Street, Leith, Edinburgh, 6. 344 Ladysmith (B.C.) Burns Club - 1905 1925 74 W. M. Hallihan David D. Morrison, 305 White Street, Lady. smith, British Columbia, Canada 345 Denbeath and District Burns Club 1925 1925 30 James Bennett T. Ballantyne, 7 Donaldson Road, Methilhill, Leven 346 Oakbank Mossgiel Burns Club - 1923 1925 72 Robert M. Jamieson R. Hammet, 14 Linhouse Drive, East Calder, Midlothian 348 Newton Jean Armour Burns Mrs. A. Kennedy, 92 Langcroft Drive, Half­ Club - 1924 1925 36 Mrs. W. Clark way, Cambuslang 350 Markinch Burns Club - 1899 1925 156 T. M. Armstrong T. M. Armstrong, 7 Hill Terrace, Markinch, Fife 354 Royal Clan, Order of Scottish William Slater, 100 Boylston Street, Boston, 16, Clans - 1878 1926 15,932 William Reid Massachusetts, U.S.A. 355 Calcutta Burns Club - 1926 1926 140 T. W. Mitchell R. H. Duguid, c/o Messrs. Duncan Bros. & Co. Ltd., 31 Netaji Subhas Road, Calcutta No. Nam~ /nst. F~d. Members President S~etllry 356 Burnbank and District Masonic Joseph Stannage, 20 High Blantyre Road, Burns Club - - 1926 1926 60 Hamilton Jamieson Burnbank, Hamilton 360 Lochee Burns Club John H. Strachan, 41 Napier St., Lochee, Dundee 363 Barrow St. Andrew's Society 1878 1926 15° W. J. Liddle W. Eccles, Fishers Buildings, Strand, Barrow 365 Catrine Burns Club - 1925 1926 53 Alex. Steele James Y. Roxburgh, 28 John Street, Catrine, Mauchline, Ayrshire 366 Liverpool Burns Club- - 192 4 1926 3°0 Dr. Isobel Ord MacAlister Hamish H. Rae, 9 Park View, Waterloo, Liverpool, 22 372 Baillieston Jean Armour Burns Club - 1926 1927 42 Mrs. P. Burt Mrs. J. Haddow, 23 South Scott St., Baillieston 377 Kilbirnie Rosebery Burns Club - 1906 1927 66 Osborne McQueen James E. Shaw, I Central Avenue, Kilbirnie 378 Edinburgh District Burns Clubs' Fred J. Belford, M.A., F.E.I.S., 3 Park Grove, Association 1925 1927 IOClubs W. J. King Gillies Liberton, Edinburgh, 9 379 The Hartlepools Burns Club - 1926 1927 48 R. Stubbs Wm. S. Allen, 24 Oakland Avenue, West Hartlepool 380 Falkirk Cross Keys Burns Club 1926 1927 60 John Orman John Orman, 3 Mariner Road, Camelon, Falkirk 381 Greater New York Robert Burns Mrs. Alexander McCall, 539 Bayridge, Park· Club 1927 1927 50 Wm. McAlpine way, Brooklyn, New York, U.s.A. 387 Mary Campbell Burns Club Mrs. A. Rennie, 21 Gilbertfield Road, Half­ (Cambuslang) - 1927 1927 30 Mrs. Mary Thomson way, Cambuslang 388 Kyle Ladies' Burns Club - - 192 5 192 7 46 Mrs. Alex. Neilson Mrs. Jeanie Anderson, 200 Springhill Road, Shotts, Lanarkshire 390 Meikle Earnock Jolly Beggars Burns Club - - 1924 1928 32 John Happle Andrew H. Gillespie, 14B Annsfield Road, Eddlewood ~ 392 WhifHet Burns Club - 1920 1928 James H. Logan, "Glen lea," Victoria Place, Ul Airdrie .... No. Nam~ hlSt. F~d. M~mbers Pru;d~nt S~cr~tary ~ Coatbridge 393 Annan Ladies' Burns Club­ 1928 1928 150 Mrs. W. Bell Mrs. G. James, 15 Moat Road, Annan 398 Colinton Burns Club - 1907 1928 70 James A. Swann, J.P. John Millar, J.P., "Torduff," 198 Colinton Road, Edinburgh, 11 399 St. Ringans Burns Club - 1920 1928 Robert Reynolds John Ferry, 14 Milton Gardens, Whins of Milton, Stirling

403 Fraserburgh Burns Club 1928 1928 100 Clumine Cheyne A. S. Kelman, Saltoun Chambers, Fraser­ burgh 405 Caledonian Society of Sheffield - 1822 1929 960 Dr. E. G. Rhind W. Campbell Heselwood, 4 Whiteley Wood Road, Sheffield, 11 406 Dublin Benevolent Society of St. Andrew - - 1831 1929 220 Wm. Davidson Wm. Gray, 84 Furry Park, Clontarf, Dublin

413 St. Andrew Society of San W m. R. Carswell, 333 Kearny Street, San Francisco - 1863 1929 Meader Fletcher Francisco, 8, California, U.S.A. 417 Burnley and District Caledonian Society - - 1924 1929 160 K.Brown Mrs. Freda M. Ker, 163a Manchester Road, Burnley 421 Arrochar and Tarbet Burns Club 1929 1929 80 Sam MacCrorie, J.P. Alex. Small, SChoolhouse, Arrochar 426 Sauchie Burns Club -- 1929 1929 70 DavidGow William A. L. Paterson, 18 Duncanson Ave., Alloa 427 Gorebridge Glencairn Burns Club 1928 1929 24 Joseph French Alex. Duncan, 52 Barley Knowe Crescent, Arniston, Midlothian 430 Gourock Burns Club -- 1887 1929 100 James C. Simpson Hamilton Lyons, 48 Hamilton Street, Greenock 432 Winchburgh Lea Rig Burns Club 1928 1930 150 John Black Adam Paterson, 165 Millgate, Winchburgh, West Lothian 435 Ayr Tam o' Shanter Burns Club 1906 1930 50 Henry Baxter W. G. Thomson, 1 Kirkpon, Ayr No. Name Insl. Fed. Members Pruidenl Secretary 436 Walney Jolly Beggars Ladies Mrs. E. Fenton, 30 Dunoon Street, Barrow-in· Club ----- 1929 1930 128 Mrs. Lilian Kershaw Furness 437 Dumfries Ladies' Burns Club 1930 1930 100 Miss Callander Mrs. Margt. Bell, 52 Aldermanhill Road, Dumfries 439 Barnsley and District Scottish C. L. Sutherland, Woodleigh, Alverthorpe, Society - - 1930 1930 70 Charles L. Sutherland Wakefield 444 Swansea and West Wales Cale- Alexr. K. Miller, "Highfield," 14 Eversley donian Society - 1921 1931 150 D. A. Sutherland Road, Sketty, Swansea 446 Herefordshire Burns Club - 19IO 1931 68 Dr. J. R. Bulman George Laing, 104 Three Elms Road, Hereford 452 Auchterderran Bonnie Jean Burns Mrs. John Herd, 278 Carden Castle Park, Club - 1929 1931 20 Mrs. James Herd Cardenden, Fife 453 North-Eastern Burns Club of Elizabeth Hunter, 1238 West Allegheny Ave., Philadelphia Ladies' Auxiliary 1927 1931 Philadelphia, 33, U.S.A. 454 Rotherham and District Scottish Association - 1924 1931 280 William McCormick James Brown, 73 Far Lane, Rotherham Hamilton 458 Stonehaven (Fatherland) Burns Club - 1926 1932 188 A. Scrimgeour Mrs. J. Edmonston, 25 High Street, Stonehaven 461 Leicester Caledonian Society - 1877 1932 400 Donald Cumming Walter Easton, 134 High Street, Earl Shinton, Leicester 462 Cheltenham Scottish Society 1930 1932 160 James Graham Edgar F. Young, 4 Imperial Sq., Cheltenham 0.- 467 Gilbertfield Highland Mary 1932 50 Mrs. Margaret Mrs. Janet Porte, 6 Mill Road, Halfway, '1 Ladies Burns Club - 1932 Anderson Cambuslang No. Name Inst. Fed. Members President Secretary ~ 469 Denny Cross Burns Club - 1932 1932 43 Thomas Bryson Thomas Fergus, 30 Allan Crescent, Dunipace, by Denny 470 St. Giles Burns Club - 1923 1932 185 Roderick Maclean G. E. Wallace, Dunard, Grant Street, Elgin

472 Renfrewshire Association of Burns Clubs - 1929 1932 7 Clubs William L. Morren William Christie, 50 Brisbane Street, Greenock 476 Border Cities Burns Club - 1932 1933 140 Peter Macintosh John G. Saunders, 819 Argyle Road, Windsor, Ontario, Canada 478 Bonnie Donn Ladies' Burns Club 1933 1933 30 Mrs. N. McHale Mrs. Thomas Penman, 80 Station Road, Kelty, Fife 479 Queen of the South Ladies' Burns Club - 1932 1933 140 Mrs. A. Watts Mrs. M. Coulson, 52 Friars Venne!, Dumfries 492 Harrow and District Caledonian Society - - 1928 1934 900 A. A. M. Fisher Wm. A. Cuthbertson, II6 Imperial Drive, Harrow, Middx.

493 Akron Burns Cronies- 1934 1934 20 James Meiklejohn Mrs. John Dewar, 2104 18th Street, S.W. Akron 14, Ohio, U.S.A. 494 Motherwell United Services Burns Club 1934 Geoffrey Plumb, 56 Airbles Road, Motherwell 496 The Auld Hoose Burns Club - 1931 1934 So James F. Johnston Andrew F. Kinninmonth, 22 Grange Road, Burntisland 497 St. Andrew Burns Club (Well- Miss B. Clark, P.O. Box 1049, Wellington, ington, N.Z.) - 1934 1934 13° A.E.Milne New Zealand No. Name Inst. Fed. Members President Secretary 498 Flint Burns Club - - 1934 1934 65 James Robertson Jos. M. Graham, 2617 Sloan Street, Flint, 4, Michigan, U.S.A. 500 New Cumnock Burns Club - 1923 1934 85 William Crearie Allan Davidson, 51 Glenafton Drive, New Cumnock, Ayrshire 501 Galt Burns Club - 1935 J. McCann, 43 Rich Avenue, Galt, Ontario, Canada 503 Dunblane Burns Club 1923 1935 45 James A. Fraser Arch. P. Lamont, Commercial Bank of Scotland Ltd., Dunblane 510 I.C.!. Grangemouth Burns Club 1935 1935 300 Dr. W. G. Reid I. M. Halkett, c/o I.C.I. Grangemouth Recreation Club, Earl's Road, Grangemouth 5II Perth (West Australia) Burns Club 1935 1935 Mrs. Jessie Morton, 101 3rd Avenue, Mount Lawley, Perth, Western Australia 518 Ye Auld Cronies Masonic Burns Club (Cleveland, Ohio) 1935 1936 10 M.Armour W. G. McColl, 3800 Woodridge Road, Cleveland Hgts., 21, Ohio, U.S.A. 520 Uddingston Lochlie Ladies' Burns Mrs. Isobel Downie, 89 Woodlands Crescent, Club - 1935 1936 50 Mrs. C. D. MacIntosh Bothwell, Lanarkshire 521 Waratah-Mayfield Burns Club - 1935 1936 II5 Angus Smith, J.P. G. McTavish, c/o 199 Gosford Road, Adams· town, Newcastle, N.S.W., Australia 523 Highland Society of New South Society Headquarters, 145A George Street, Wales 1877 1936 1050 Lt."Col. A. C. Murchison, Sydney, N.S.W., Australia M.C. 525 Flint Jolly Beggars Burns Club - 1935 1937 22 David Dunsire John R. Hurry, 9271 Neff Road, R.R.l, Clio, Michigan, U.S.A . ... 526 Dykehead Tam 0' Shanter Burns ~ Club - 1935 1937 24 Duncan Smith John c:. Weir, 75 Wilson Road, Allanton, Shotts ..., No. Name Inst. &d. Members President Secretary '1 o 528 Loughborough Scottish Assoc. - 1930 1937 104 D. M. Lawson, C.A. Mrs. M. McGhie, "Braemar," Grove Road, Loughborough 530 Southern Scottish Counties Burns Association - 1937 1937 19 Clubs H. G. McKerrow Mrs. M. Coulson, 52 Friars Vennel, Dumfries 534 Bedlington and District Burns J. R. Welton, "Lynton," 8 West Riggs, Bed­ Club - 1937 1937 60 James Keenan lington, Northumberland

535 Plymouth and District Cale- donian Society - 192 7 1937 150 Dr. T. Gass A. G. McCrae, 238 Fort Austin Avenue, Crownhill, Plymouth

536 Whithorn and District Burns Club 1937 1937 John H. Mackie, M.P. R. G. S. Alexander, W.S., 58 George Street, Whithorn

543 Abbey Craig Burns Club - - 1935 1938 95 A. J. Gourlay A. Marshall, 20 Vorlich Place, Wester Corn­ ton, Stirling 545 Parramatta and District Burns Club (New South Wales) - 1934 1938 J. Russell R. F. Mackintosh, 95 Phillip Street, Parramatta, N.S.W. 548 Leeds Caledonian Society - 1894 1938 694 Em. Prof. W. P. Milne, W. W. McKinlay, 4 East Moor Road, Leeds, M.A., D.Sc., LL.D. 8 549 Bothwell Bonnie Lesley Ladies' Burns Club - - 1937 1938 30 Mrs. Mary Cain Mrs. Dunsmore, 17 Castle Square, Bothwell, Lanarkshire 551 Scarborough Caledonian Society 1934 T938 300 Archibald MacAnhur A. Y. Smith, L.D.S., The Mount Hotel, Cliff Bridge Terrace, Scarborough No. Name Inst. Fed. Monbers Pre.

564 Winsome Willie Burns Club - 1939 1939 25 Peter Clark, sen. John G. Hendry, 49 Broom Crescent, Ochil­ tree, Ayrshire 566 Scottish Society and Burns Club Arohibald Ferguson, Solicitor, 16 O'Connel of Australia - - 1939 1939 100 Alex. Johnstone Street, Sydney, N.S.W., Australia 570 The Scottish Clans Association D. Campbell Thomson, Benachie, 35 Med­ .... of London, Ltd. -- 1898 1939 Donald S. MacPhee way Gardens, Wembley, Middlesex '::! 571 Edmonton Burns Club - 1918 1939 33 Donald J. Avison Harnish Gillespie, u648, 95A Street, Edmon­ ton, Alberta, Canada No. Name Inst. Fed. Members President Secretary .:; 572 Chester Caledonian Association - 1884 1939 120 • Charles Mathieson W. R. Chalmers, Deveronside, Bray Road, N Chester 575 Windsor (Ontario) Jean Armour Mrs. Bella Tough, 2437 Arthur Road, Sand E, Burns Club - - 1939 1940 47 Mrs. Marian Forsyth Windsor, Ontario, Canada 576 Fort Matilda Burns Club - 1934 1940 JOO Donald Stewart R. E. Cunningham, Elbar, 19 Madeira Street, Greenock 577 Dalserf and Clydesdale Burns George Spiers, 12 Douglas Drive, Ashgill. Club 1939 1940 30 John Smith Larkhall 578 Lanarkshire Association of Burns Mrs. M. Rennie, 21 Gilbertfield Road, Half­ Clubs - 1924 1942 30 Clubs Adam C. Humphries way, Cambuslang. 579 Bathgate Tam 0' Shanter Burns James Logan, 19 Standhill, Bathgate, West Club ----- 1940 1942 80 Thomas Tait Lothian 580 Cumbrae Burns Club -- 1896 1942 Ian James Hamilton, John Welch, Bank House, Millport M.A.,C.A. :;81 Cumbernauld and District Burns Club - 1943 1943 50 Thomas Stewart Daniel Millar, 15 Baronhill, Cumbernauld 582 Higginsneuk Burns Club - 1942 1943 30 George Jenkins William Simpson, c/o 5 Roughlands Cres., Carron shore, Falkirk 584 Corby Burns Club - 1942 1943 24 Wm. McShane James Wilson, 68 Whitworth Avenue, Corby, Northants ')85 Queen's Park Bowling Club Clarinda Burns Circle - 1930 1943 185 Rev. J. J. Philp, M.A. Wm. Blackwood, 51 King's Park Road, Glasgow, S'4 ')87 Budhill and Springboig Burns John Seym(\ur, 61 Springboig Avenue, Club - 1943 1943 45 Andrew Wilkie Glasgow, E.2 589 Solway Burns Club - - 1921 1944 00 Ex-Provost T. Dykes O. J. Gibbs, "Auchlt:wan," Landheads, Annan ')92 Benwhat Burns l lub 194 1 1944 80 J:lmes Hill Robert Brown, 17 Dalcairney Road, Dalmell­ inglon, Ayr No. Name Inst. Ped. Members President Secretary 593 Barrmill Jolly Beggars Burns Robert R. Fairley, M.A., B.Sc., Spier's School, Club - 1944 1944 60 John McGregor Beith, Ayrshire 594 The Burns Club of Cuyahoga Archibald W. Dow, 121:: Argonne Road, County, Cleveland, Ohio 1934 1944 99 David Ferguson South Euclid, Cleveland, 21, Ohio, U.S.A. 596 Glaisnock Burns Club - 1944 1944 50 Thos. Lindsay Adam McKinlay, 34 Holland Crescent, Dum­ brochan, Cumnock 598 Forth Jolly Beggars Burns Club. 1944 1944 25 Robert Robb James Douglas, 21 Manse Road, Forth, Lanark 606 Roekingham Burns Club -- 1944 1945 24 Wm. T. Montgomery, J.P. F. A. Hyde, 2 West Glebe Road, Corby, Northants 612 Torrance Masonic Social and Fred C. Jordan, Lochfauld Farm, Lambhill, Burns Club - - 1928 1945 !lo Bro. James Stark Glasgow, N.W. 616 Kirkconnel and Sanquhar Burns William McClanachan, 3 Glenaylmer Road, Club - 1917 1945 50 William Black Kelloholm, Kirkconnel 617 Reading and District Caledonian 1946 200 R.D.Hodge C. H. Fawcett, White Gayne, Crowthorne Association - 1906 Road, Bracknell, Berks. 618 Altrincham and Sale Caledonian T. C. Lochhead, Devisdale House, St. Mar­ Society - - 1945 1946 42 5 Dr. Jenny D. Craig garet's Road, Altrincham 620 The Muirhead Burns Club J942 1946 150 Alexander Thomwn John H. Jarvie, 1 South Marshall Street, Grangemouth 621 Scottish Aviation Burns Club - 1945 1946 35 James Parker Richard J. Fowler, Scottish Aviation, Ltd., Prestwick Airport; Prestwick 622 Coylton Burns Club - - 1946 1946 96 D. G. Smith, M.A. Wm. Paterson, 77 Gallowhill Quadrant, Joppa, Coylton, Ayr 623 Kilwinning Burns Club - 1945 1946 45 David Dickie F. Thomson, 92 Corsehill, Kilwinning 2 624 Burns Club of Oban - - 1946 1946 A. H. Davidson, M.B.E. James Ferguson, Royal Bank of Scotland, Oban No. Name lnst. Fed. Members President Secretary ..::; 625 Lockerbie Burns Club 1946 70 John Mackie A. K. McTavish, Clydesdale Bank House, .j:> Lockerbie 626 Moffat and District Burns Club - 1945 1946 90 Bailie A. G. Fingland Mrs. M. Campbell, "St. Nicholas," Ballplay Road, Moffat 627 Kinross Jolly Beggars Burns Club 1889 1946 100 Lt.-Col. W. Briggs D. R. Young, Solicitor, Kinross Constable 629 Sanquhar Burns Club - 1945 1946 50 William Black A. B. Peden, 24 Glendyne Place, Sanquhar 630 Coalsnaughton Burns Club - - 1945 1946 50 Donald McDonald Alex. C. Cook, 4 School Terrace, Coals­ naughton 631 Pencaitland and Ormiston Burns Henry Voy, Farm Cottages, Pencaitland, Club - 1935 1945 East Lothian 632 Symington Burns Club - 1946 1946 82 Thomas Anderson Mrs. Jean Anderson, 21 Cuthbert Place, Kil­ marnock 635 Jean Armour Burns Club, Tranent 1946 1946 20 James Neill Robert Watters, 26 Northfield East, Tranent, East Lothian 636 Gisborne Burns Club, New Mrs. A. R. Wood, 112 Sheehan Street, Zealand - - 1938 1946 95 Wm. B. Turbitt Gisborne, New Zealand 637 Larkhall Applebank Burns Club· 1942 1946 32 Hugh Inglis John Campbell, 25 Millheugh, LarkhalI, Lanarkshire 641 Rosewell Burns Club- - 1946 1947 40 R. Cochrane, Jun. R. Brown, 5 Prestonhall Crescent, Rosewell, Midlothian 642 Rutherglen Burns Club - 1946 1947 67 R. S. McMillan R. S. McMillan, 153 Hamilton Road,Rutherglen

646 The Clear Winding Devon Alva Burns Club - - 1946 1947 30 JllmeiHay Mrs. G. S. WHion, 23 Braehead, Alva No. Name Inst. Fed. Members President Seeretary 648 Carron Bridge Cronies Burns Club, Kilsyth - 1941 1947 A. Fisher, 47 Kingston Flats, Kilsyth 651 Dalkeith Plough Burns . Club - 1947 1947 J. Mackie, 20 Taylor Place, Dalkeith (Treasurer)

653 Glasgow Ex-Service Teachers' Robert Neville, 27 Lothian Drive, Clarkston, Burns Club - - 1946 1947 110 W. R. Francis, Glasgow D.F.C., M.A. 654 The Yew Tree Burns Club - 1946 1947 32 James MacDonald Alex. Brown, 4 Tynemount Avenue, Ormiston, East Lothian 655 Kennoway Jolly Beggars Burns Lewis C. Waddell, New Road, Kennoway, Club - 1946 1947 54 Rev. Wm. R. Smart, B.D. Fife 656 Dundonald Jean Armour Ladies' Mrs. James Murdoch, 3S Denfield Gardens, Burns Club - - 1947 1947 Carden den, Fife 659 Dundee Burns Society - 1896 1947 !O7 Douglas Small Mrs. L. M. Small, 4 Church Street, Broughty Ferry, Dundee 660 Langholm Ladies' Burns Club - 1947 1947 50 Miss I. I. Ewart Mrs. R. W. Irving, Warbla Cottage, Langholm 661 Leamington and Warwick Cale- A. Kellass, "Rosethene," 1 19 Learn Terrace, donian Society - 1947 1947 Leamington Spa 663 Bournemouth and District Cale- T. P. Saunderson, 2 Grand Avenue Chambers, donian Society - 1907 1947 260 W.Niven Grand Avenue, Southbourne, Bournemouth 664 The West Kilbride Burns Club - 1947 1947 175 Robert H. Barnett, J.P. Norman Bruce, "Morven," West Kilbride, Ayrshire 665 Gartmorn Ladies' Burns Grub - 1947 1948 33 Miss E. Stein Mrs. E. Dawson, II Beechwood, Sauchie, Alloa 666 Valley of Doon Ladies' Burns Mrs. G. Young, 23 Auchenroy Crescent, .... Club - 1948 1948 Dalmellington, Ayrshire ~ 667 Thornton and District Tam 0' James Colville, 7 Hawthorn Terrace, Thorn­ Shanter Burns Club - 1902 1948 65 John Kinnear ton, Fife No. Name Irut. Fed. Members President Secretary .... 669 Coatbridge Home Guard Burns ~ Club 1948 1948 30 T. Blinton W. Higgins, 4 Albany Street, Coatbridge 670 Strath, Isle of Skye Burns Club, 1948 50 C. A.A.Douglas-Hamilton M. E. R. Soper, The Pier, Kyleakin, Skye, Skye - 1948 Kyle, Ross-shire 671 St. Andrew's Cronies Burns Club 1947 1949 155 William Lockhart John R. Milligan, 12 Kilrig Ave., Kilwinning 673 Auchterderran Highland Mary Mrs. M. Mathieson, 19, lIth Street, Cardenden, Burns Club - - 1936 1948 40 Mrs. Elizabeth Baxter Fife 674 Manchester and Salford Cale- A. D. Crossgrove, 63 Cringle Road, Levens­ donian Association 1890 1948 280 T. M. M. Menzies hulme, Manchester, 19 675 The Federated Caledonian Society J. W. L. Knox, 29 Bon Accord House, 19 of Southern Africa 1948 Harrison Street, Johannesburg, South Africa 679 Tullibody and Cambus Burns Mrs. W. G. Stewart, South View, Tullibody, Club - 1948 1948 100 Wm.Durman Clackmannanshire 680 Thistle Burns Club, Saltcoats - 1946 1948 22 John Nicol James Goodall, IO St. Lawrence Place, Saltcoats 681 The Cronies Burns Club, Kil- Thomas McDill, 39 North Hamilton Street, marnock - 1948 1948 38 James Muir Kilmarnock 683 Stratford-upon-Avon and District Mrs. E. M. Somerville, 97 Albany Road, Caledonian Society - 1947 1948 120 James Philp, Ph.D. Stratford-on-Avon 686 Banchory Burns and Social Club 1947 1948 1('0 Alexander Anderson Alexander Anderson, 74 High St., Banchory 688 Kirkcaldy Poosie Nansie Ladies' Burns Club - 1939 1949 Mrs. Ella Wishart, 151 Links St., Kirkcaldy 689 Prince Rupert Burns Club - 1949 1949 45 James Andrew John W. Morrison, P.O. Box 264, Prince Rupert Island, B.C., Canada 690 Pirnhall Burns Club - - 1949 1949 50 John McClumpha John Davidson, 94 Randolph Crescent, Bannockburn 691 Inverness Burns Club- 1949 1949 81 CAllone! Alex. Cullen, Colin R. MacKenzie, Balnain Cottage, Canal O.B.E., F.R.I.B.A., Road, Inverness F.R.I.C.S., F.R.S.E., M.T.P.!. No. Name Insl. Fed. Memhers President Secretary t( ~3 Masonic Burns Club, Kirkcud- bright - - 1949 1949 99 Peter Elliott Hugh Little, 16 Mersecroft, Kirkcudbright ~5 Kilmaronock Burns Club (Dun- William Porter, Badshalloch Cottage, bartonshire) - - 1949 1949 130 Rev. W. F. Wills, M.A. Gartocharn, Alexandria, Dunbartonshire 6¢ Whitley Bay and District Society of St. Andrew 1930 1949 319 John Milne Harry S. Kerr, 97 Links Ave., Whitley Bay ~8 Turriff Burns Club - 1920 1949 70 Colvin S. Philip John G. Lawson, Wayside, BalmeIlie Road, Turriff 699 Choppington Burns Club - 1948 1949 58 David Moody Jack Lake, 23 Routledge's Bldgs., Barrington, Northumberland 700 Hamilton Jubilee Burns Club - 1946 1949 40 Thomas Long Quintin Y. McQuater, "Jubilee," Baillie's Cause­ way/ Hamilton 701 The Detroit Burns Club - - 1912 1949 91 Malcolm Mc1\ivc:n Sam R. Dickey, 4700 Curtis Avenue, Dearborn, Michigan, U.S.A. 702 Greenock Foundry Masonic Assoc. 1945 1949 130 Alex. Nesbitt John Hendry, 6 Lyle Street, Greenock

706 North Lindsey Scots Society - 1927 1949 236 T. Carson J. D. Burns, 65 Peveril Avenue, Scunthorpe, Lines. 707 Malvern Scots Club - 1945 1949 126 Dr. R. A. Smith Mrs. A. M. Gent, Cairnfield, 194 West Malvern Road, Malvern, Worcs. 710 Burns Litera,) Society of Toronto 1896 1950 21 J.Morgan Duncan McCowan, 33 Hartley Avenue, Toronto, Canada 7II The Victorian Scottish Union - 1905 1950 James Yorston J. Mitchell, Clayton Road, Clayton, Victoria, Australia 712 North and West Melbourne J. A. Dyall, 45 Davies Street, East Bruns­ ... Scottish Society 1950 E. Watts wick, N.IO, Victoria, Australia '" 715 Irvine Eglillton Burns Club - 1950 1950 80 Ex·Provost A. Green James Smith, 31 McKinley Crescent, Irvine ... No. Name Inst. Fed. Membn-s President Secretary ~ 716 Royal Caledonian Society of Henry C. A. Houston, Manchester Unity Melbourne - 1856 1950 E.McPhee Buildings, Swanston Street, Melbourne, Australia :a8 The St. Andrew Society of York 1894 1950 ,,68 Dr. Allan MacDonald, H. Hutchison, ,,8 Beech Grove, Acomb, M.A., B.Sc., Ph.D. York 719 Chelmsford and District Scottish Donald W. Cobb, Pipers, Galley End, near Society - - 1934 1950 "50 Alexander C. Skinner Galleywood, Chelmsford 7"0 Retford and District Caledonian Mrs. D. 1. Walker, 37 Harewood Avenue, Society - - 1949 1950 70 Mrs. W. R. Watson Retford, Notts. 7"1 The Plymouth Burns Club -- 1948 1950 150 Miss Margaret Rowan Miss Margaret G. Rowan, 37 Browning Road, Milehouse, Plymouth 7"" Bridlin~n and District Cale- A. B. Mitchell, M.A., 62 South Marine Drive, doruan Society --- 1949 1950 100 George Clark Bridlington, E. Yorks. 723 Strathpefler Burns Club - 19"0 1950 77 John McLintock, William S. Fairholm, B.E.M., Ardival Ter­ M.A., LL.B. race, Strathpeffer, Ross-shire 7"5 Ben Cleuch Burns Club - 1936 1950 50 D. J. Macklin T. C. Caproni, 58 Hamilton Street, Tillicoultry, Clackmannanshire 7,,6 Melbourne Burns Club - 1950 1951 James T. Picken Mrs. S. G. Baillie, 38 Gordon Street, Balwyn, Victoria, Australia 7"7 The St. Andrew Society of Den- Hans Schroder, Norre Farimagsgade 65, Copen­ mark - 1948 1951 "46 Allan Blanner hagen K., Denmark 7,,8 Bachelors' Club Committee, Tar- bolton - 1951 1951 I3 Robert Jack, M.A. Charles H. Garven, 16 Westport, Tarbolton 730 Wigtown Burns Club - 1910 1951 65 Gordon Samuel Henry Andrew McAdam, 17 Bank Street, Wigtown 733 Aberdeen Burns Study Circle - 1951 1951 James Revie R. H. Watson, The Cottage, "71 GeofFc Street, Aberdeen No. Name Ind. Fed. Membn-s President Secrelary 735 Barnard Castle and District Buml J. B. MeV. Dunbar, 67 Galgate, Barnard Club - 1950 1951 78 A. M. Harvey Castie, Co. Durham Z736 Maltby and District Caledonian Mrs. C. S. Marshall, Morrison Avenue, Maltby, ScKiety - - 1951 1951 90 John C. Sampson near Rotherham 739 Whyalla Men's Burns Club 1947 1951 25 James F. Wilkins P. G. Opie, 5 Gay Street, Whyalla, South Australia 740 Thorntree Mystic Burns Club - 1949 1952 65 William Allan David Ostier, 71 North Grange Avenue, Prestonpans, East Lothian 741 Plean Bums Club - 1952 1952 50 Andrew Young Thomas Duncan, II2 Red Row, Plean, Stirlingshire 742 The Scots ScKiety of St. Andrew, Norwich ---- 1830 1952 54 Dr. H. G. Smith A. M. Swan, 41 Catton Grove Road, Norwich 743 The Romford Scottish Association 1931 1952 264 Miss Heather Gray A. Anderson, 129 Mawney Road, Romford, Essex 744 Durham and District Caledonian Ald. J. R. W. Rae, "Dunaverty," Elver Moor, Society - - 1950 1952 123 H.C.Ross Durham 745 Northumberland and Durham J. S. Gall, 145 Osborne Road, Jesmond, Caledonian Society -- 1924 1952 800 1. A. McKay Newcastle-<>n-Tyne, 2 746 Grimsby and District Caledonian ScKiety - - 1906 1952 200 Miss E. McCallum, M.A. Mrs. R. B. Watson, 46a Lambert Road, Grimsby 747 Tranent "40" Burns Club -- 1950 1952 40 D.Ross. Adam Peden, 5 Morrison Avenue, Tranent, East Lothian 748 Ouplaymuir Bums Club - 1952 1953 30 C.C.Brown E. A. McQueen, Rus Cottage, Uplawmoor, Renfrewshire

.::i 751 Worcester Srots ScKiety - 1949 1953 80 Tom Bradbum Mrs. F. J. Cook, 226 Bilford Road, Worcester 16 752 Colmonell Burns Club - 1953 J. Kevan McDowall Mrs. E. Connell, Boar's Head, Colmonell, Ayrshire ... No. Name Inst. Fed. Members President Seeretary If 753 Westmorland St. Andrew Society 1938 1953 185 John Morton Mrs. M. Morton, Horncop Villa, Dockray Road, Kendal 754 Thornton Cleveleys and District Scottish Society - 1951 1953 80 Capt. W. M. F. Macfarlane, Miss I. Hepburn, Seafield, 6 Luton Road, F.R.A.S., A.I.N.A., Cleveleys, Blackpool M.I.N. 755 Blyth and District Caledonian Mrs. D. D. Carmichael, 81 Bondicar Terrace, Society - - 1950 1953 85 A. W. Baillie, M.B.E. Blyth, Northumberland 757 St. Bride's Bums Club, Douglas - 1953 1953 16 E. McLauchlin James J. C. Martin, 63 School Road, Coalburn, Lanarkshlre 758 Bath and District Caledonian D. G. R. Norris, 50 Pennlea Road, Bath Society - - 1900 1953 103 759 Sunderland and District Cale- Miss M. Williamson, c/o British Ropes Ltd., donian Society - 1950 1953 180 William H. Purdie Roker Avenue, Sunderland, Co. Durham 761 Kirkton Bonnie Jean Burns Club, John Stewart, 15 Mount Stewart Street, Carluke ~ - 1953 1953 55 W. K. Crockett, M.A. Carluke 762 Tannochside Mossgiel Bums Club 1952 1953 30 William Sharp John H. Gowan, 233 Old Edinburgh Road, Uddingston 763 Wakefield Caledonian Society - 1953 1953 208 Sir James Miller, LL.D. A. Mitchell, 335 Horbury Road, Wakefield 764 The Plateau (Northern Nigeria) I. N. Watson, c/o A.T.M.N. Ltd., P.O. Bukuru, Caledonian Society -- 1949 1953 92 D. W.Watson Northern Nigeria 765 Straiton Burns Club - - 1953 1953 24 John Henry G. R. McConnell, Black Bull Hotel, Straiton, Ayrshire 766 Glencoe and District Burns Club - 1953 1953 50 Wm. MacCutcheon D. MacMaster, Bridge-o£-Coe, Glencoe, Argyll No. Name Inst. Fed. Members President Secretary 767 Laurencekirk and District Burns Wm. H. W. Johnston, 40 High Street, Club - 1929 1953 60 William G. Morrison Laurencekirk 768 Auchterderran Jolly Beggars Burns James Herd, 70 Woodend Road, Cardenden, Club - 1912 1952 50 E. Sinclair Fife 769 Robert Bruce Burns Club -- 1953 1954 34 James Paterson Wm. Wood, 2 Castle Terrace, Clackmannan 771 Caledonian Society, Karachi, T. Climie, Scottish Union and Nationallnsur­ Pakistan - - 1939 1954 130 T. W.Cree ance Co., P.O. Box 5070, Wallace Road, Karachi 772 Prestwick Burns Club -- 1954 1954 60 John T. Henderson Norman Macdonald, 10 Allanvale Road, Prestwick, Ayrshire 773 Cumnock Cronies Bums Club - 1910 1954 80 Walter Hall John W. Gray, 8 Park Terrace, Lugar, Cum­ nock, Ayrshire 774 Gloucester and District Scottish Society - - 1949 1954 100 R. C. Henderson W. D. Paterson, 94 Taflley Avenue, Gloucester 775 The Hartlepools Caledonian Society - - 1899 1954 182 Captain Duncan M. Charles S. Lee, 19 Grantham Avenue, West Maclean Hartlepool, Co. Durham 776 The Pembrokeshire Caledonian Miss E. MeL. Clark, 127 Charles Street, Milford Society - 1948 1954 102 John Young Haven . 777 Nuneaton and District Scottish R. G. Gosden, 412 Tuttle Hill, Nuneaton, Society - - 1949 1954 180 Frank Martin Warws. 778 Glasgow Highland 1954 A. M. Campbell Duncan Macdougall, 23 Oxford Road, Renfrew 779 St. Maurice Valley Burns Club, .. Canada - - 1954 1954 Dr. R. H. Stevenson Miss Jean M. Y. Brown, c/o MacAdam, 733 00 Rue St. Andre, Shawinigan Falls, P.O., .. Canada No. Name Iml. &d. Members Pre,;d~, Secretary ;, 780 Isle of Man Caledonian Society - 1920 1955 170 W.A.Fyffe N. McDonald, "Quendale," Inner Circle, ... Douglas, Isle of Man 781 Ochil View Burns Club - 1954 1955 45 A.Ferguson David S. Meldrum, 9 Dorothy Terrace, Tilli­ coultry 782 Bergen Burns Club - 1955 1955 70 William Baird Mrs. Nellie Kristiansen, V /Holbergsalmenning 1611, Bergen, Norway 783 Huddersfield and District Scottish L. Anderson, 55 Tanfield Road, Birkby, Society - - 1954 1955 120 Robert Smith Huddersfield, Yorks. 784 Bowmont Burns Club - - 1951 1955 70 Charles Young Thomas C. Withers, 40 Inchrnead Drive, Kelso 785 Joy Sullivan (Employees) Masonic Burns Club - - 1955 1955 D. Bell, 40 Mearns Street, Greenock 786 Thistle Burns Club - 1955 1955 25 R. Rutherlord T. Foley, 9 Bridgefalls Road, Milnathort 787 Ashington and District Cal. Soc. - 1954 1955 T.J. Hughes Ronald Wood, 202 Woodburn Road, Ashing­ ton, Northumberland 788 Harlow and Dist. Cal. Socy. 1955 A. M. Shand Jas. R. Byiers, 72 Monk Hall Moors, Harlow, Essex 789 Aintree Burns Club - 1954 1955 A. Macmillan Miss 1. Harris, 4 Hillcrest Road, Gt. Crosby, Liverpool 790 Thurrock Cal. Socy. - 1955 A. Russell H. M. Heacllwood, F.I.A.I., 34 Woodview, Little Thurrock 791 Swindon and Dist. Cal. Society 1955 T. Saddler G. Cameron, "Melrose," London Street, Farrington, Berks. 792 Scottish Dancing & SOciety Club 1955 F. McCulloch A. R. Macdonald, 95 Swaine Ave., Rose Park, of Adelaide, Regd. - Adelaide, S. Australia 793 Scots Wha' Hae Burns Club 1955 R. Warner, 6 Wellpark Crescent, St. Ninian's, Stirling 794 Dunning Burns Club - 1956 John George

795 Longcroft, Bonnybridge & Dist. Burns Club -- 1956 W. McBride J. McDougall, Duncan Street, Bonnybridge No. Name Inst. Fed. Members President Secretary 796 Gateshead & Dist. St. Andrew's Socy. 1956 Thomas W. Watson Andrew A. Black, 13 Lyndhurst Grove, Low Fell, Gateshead on Tyne, Co. Durham 797 Wishaw East Cross Burns Club - 1956 Duncan McMillan James Keatt, 24 Attercliffe Ave., Netherton, Wishaw 798 Exeter and Dist. Cal. Society - 1956 S. A. Milligan, 15 Dix's Field, Exeter 799 Ballochmyle Burns Club -- 1956 William Robertson John McLachlan, 2 Corsock Street, Glasgow, E.I 800 Newbury and Dist. Cal. Socy. - 1956 William F. Miller, 45 Wendan Road, New- bury, Berks. 801 Hurley and Dist. Scottish Socy. - 1956 John Stewart W. J. Milloy, 26 St. Edmunds Road, Hurley, Atherstone, Warwcs. 802 Crosskeys' Burns and Social Club Charles Walker Tom. McDonald, 17 Dalhanna Drive, New Cumnock

.... w00 ALPHABETICAL UST OF CLUBS ON THE ROLL

NO. No. 543 Abbey Craig 7~~ BridlingtoD 40 Aberdeen 120 Bristol 733 -- Burns Study Circle 587 Budhill and Springboil7, 789 Aintree 331 Buffalo ~o Airdrie 356 Burnbank 493 Akron 417 Burnley ~ Alexandria 282 Burns Bowling Association ~52 Alloway 295 Burns House 618 Altrincham Caledonian Soc. 112 Burns Howff 309 Annan 784 Bowmont (Kelso) 393 -- Ladies 355 Calcutta 82 Arbroath 4 Callander 421 Arrochar & Tarbet ~07 Cambuslang Wingate 787 Ashington and District Cal. Soc. 71 Carlisle 238 Atlanta ]61 Carluke 557 -- Ladies 648 Carron Bridge Cronies 452 Auchterderran Bonnie Jean 562 Castle Douglas 673 -- Highland Mary 365 Catrine 768 -- Jolly Beggars 719 Chelmsford 496 Auld Hoose 462 Cheltenham 566 Australia, Scot. Soc. of 57~ Chester Caled. Assoc. 275 Ayr II Chesterfield 435 -- Tam 0' Shanter 699 Choppington 192 Ayrshire Assoc. 646 Clear Winding Devon Alva 728 Bachelors' Club (Tarbolton) 630 Coalsnaughton 769896 Ballochmyle 669 Coatbridge Home Guard Banchory 398 Colinton 735 Barnard Castle 75:11 Colmonell 439 Barnsley 584 Corby 593 Barrmill Jolly Beggars 559 Coventry 363 Barrow 622 Coylton 758 Bath and District 802 Crosskeys 579 Bathgate Tam 0' Shanter 581 Cumbernauld 534 Bedlington and District 580 Cumbrae 288 Beith 45 Cumnock 15 Belfast 773 -- Cronies 725 Ben Cleuch 62 Cupar 592 Benwhat 594 Cuyahoga County 782 Bergen 651 Dalkcith Plough 326 Bingry Ladies 167 Birmingham 244 Dalmuir and Clydebank 184 Blairadam 35 Dairy 755 Blyth and District 577 Dalserf 95 Bolton 158 Darlington 645 Bo'ness Jolly Beggars 345 Denbeath 478 Bonnie Doon Ladies 469 Denny Cross 476 Border Cities (Ont.) 55 Derby 549 Rothwell Ronnie Leslev Ladies 701 Detroit 66, Bournemouth 37 Dollar 784 Bowmont (Kelso) 556 Doncaster 76 Brechin 406 Dublin 49 Bridgeton 10 Dumbarton ALPHABETICAL LIST OF CLUBS I8S

No. n6 Dumfries Hartlepools Burns Club 437 -- Ladies No. I -- Cal. Socy. 503 Dunblane Hawick 14 Dundee Herefordshire 659 -- Burns Society Higginsneuk 656 Dundonald Jean Armour Ladies Huddersfield and District Scots 69 Dunedin N .Z. Society 85 Dunfermline Hurley and District 794 Dunning I.C.I. Grangemouth 744 Durham Caled. Soc. Inverness 5:16 -- Tam 0' Shanter Irvine :1:1 Edinburgh -- Eglinton 307 -- Ayrshire Assoc. Isle of Man 378 -- District Assoc. Jean Armour (Baillieston) 571 Edmonton -- (Newton) 149 Elgin Joy Sullivan (Employees) Masonic :117 Eskdale (Greenock) 798 Exeter and District Karachi Cal. Socy. 1:16 Falkirk Kennoway Jolly Beggars 380 -- Cross Keys Kilbirnie :16:1 Fifeshire Assoc. Kilmarnock 498 Flint -- Cronies 5:15 -- Jolly Beggars Kilmaronock (Dunbartonshire) 576 Fort Matilda Kilwinning 598 Forth Jolly Beggars Kinross Jolly Beggars 403 Fraserburgh Kirkconnel and Sanquhar 187 Galashiels Kirkcudbright 501 Galt -- Masonic 665 Gartmorn Ladies Kyle Ladies 796 Gateshead and District Ladysmith (B.C.) 467 Gilbertfield Highland Mary Lanarkshire B.C.A. 636 Gisborne, New Zealand Langholm Ladies 596 Glaisnock Larkhall Applebank 16Q Glasgow Assoc. Laurencekirk Leamington and Warwick 653 -- Ex-Serviee Teachers Leeds :163 -- Masonic Leicester 778 Glasgow Highland Leith 3 -- Tam 0' Shanter Liverpool 766 Glencoe Lochee 774 Gloucester Scottish Society Lockerbie 4:17 Gorebridge Glencairn London 198 -- Jolly Beggars -- Clans Assoc. 430 Gourock London (Ontario) 59 Gourock Jolly Beggars Londonderry 53 Govan Fairfield Longcroft, and Bonnybridge & Dist. :19:1 Grahamston Loughborough :11 Greenock Maltby 70:1 -_. Foundry Masonic Assoc. Malvern Scots Ciub 209 -- St. John's Manchester and Salford 746 Grimsby Markinch 33 Haggis Mary Campbell (Cambuslang) 152 Hamilton Mauchline 700 -- Jubilee Meikle Earnoek 121 -- Junior Melbourne 788 Harlow and District -- North and West Scots 555 Harrogate Society 492 Harrow -- Royal Caledonian Society 186 ALPHABETICAL LIST OF CLUBS

No. No.

6~6 Moffat and District ~ Strathearn 242 Montrose 7~3 Strathpcffcr 494 Motherwell United Services B9 Sunderland 6~0 MUirhead 759 Sunderland and Dist. Caledonian 139 National Society 74 National Memorial 444 Swansea 500 New Cumnock 791 Swindon and District 5~3 N.S.W. Highland Soc. 63~ Symington 381 New York 7~9 Tam o' Shanter (Anstruthcr) 3~9 Newark 76~ Tannoc:hsido 133 Newarthill 7 Thistle (Glasgow) 199 Newbattle 786 Thistle (Milnathort) 800 Newbury and District 754 Thornton Clevcleys. ~93 N ewcraighall 667 Thornton (Fife) U4 Ninety 740 Thorntrcc 563 Norfolk 790 Thurrock 706 North Lindsey Scou Society 710 Toronto 745 Northumberland and Durham 6u Torrance Malonic Caled. Soc. 635 Tranent Jean Armour 7~ Norwich SCOU Society 747 -- "4°" 17 Nottingham 271 Trenton 777 Nuneaton :174 Troon 346 Oakbank 3~0 Troy 624 Oban 679 Tullibody and Cambul 781 Ochil View 698 Turriff 748 Ouplaymuir 786 Thistle, Milnathon 48 Paisley 5~0 Uddingston Lochlie Ladies 545 Parramatta ~37 Uddingston Masonic 72 Partick 6~ Rutherglcn 776 Pembrokeshire 7~7 St. Andrew Society of Denmark 63 1 Pencaitland °71 St. Andrew'. Cronies, mine 5II Perth (West Australia) 757 St. Bride's Douglas 336 Peterhead 470 St. Giles :184 Philadelphia North-eastern ~~o St. Louis 453 -- Ladies 779 St. Maurice Valley (Canada) 690 Pirn Hall 399 St. Ringans 764 Plateau (Nigeria) 680 Saltcoats Thistle 741 Plean 413 San Francisco 7~1 Plymouth 68 Sandyford 535 Plymouth Caledonian Society 629 Sanquhar 688 Poosie Nansie Ladies, Kirkcaldy 426 Sauchie 190 Port-Glasgow I 551 Scarborough :1U Portobello 792 Scottish Dancing and Soey. Club 77~ Prestwick 314 Scottish (Edin.) 689 Prince Rupert (B.C.) 153 Scottish (Glas.) 479 Queen of the South Ladies 621 Scottish Aviation 51l0; Queen's Park Clarinda 793 Scots Wha' Hae. 617 Reading Caledonian Assoc. 40 5 Sheffield 472 Renfrewshire Assoc. 91 Shettieston 7~0 Retford 283 Sinclairtown 769 Robert Bruce (Clackmannan) 589 Solway 606 Rockingham 530 Southern Scot. Counties 743 Romford Scott. Assoc. 675 Southern Africa 36 Rosebery (Glas.) 50 Stirling 641 Rosewell 458 Stonehaven -454 Rotherham 765 Straiton 35 .. Royal Clan 683 Stratford upon Avon 9 Royalty 6]0 Strath, Isle of Skye, Kyleakin ALPHABETICAL LIST OF CLUBS 187

No. No. 666 Valley of Doon Ladies 739 Whyalla 303 Victoria St. Andrew's Soc. 730 Wigtown 711 Victorian Scottish Union 432 Winchburgh 763 Wakefield 575 Windsor (Ont.) Jean Armour 436 Walney Ladies 197 Winnipeg 2!J6 Walsall 564 Winsome Willie, Ochiltree 521 Waratah-Mayfield 86 ._- Old Cumnock 497 Wellington St. A.Ildrew 797 Wishaw East Cross 664 West Kilbride 553 Wolverhampton 753 Westmorland St. Andrew's 1 Worcester 2 Whifflet 75 39 18 Ye Auld Cronies 236 Whitehaven I 5 Yew Tree, Ormiston 5~6 Whithorn I 654 6¢ Whitley Bay and District 718 York St. Andrew Society "BURNS CHRONICLE" ADVERTISER

THE NATIONAL BURNS MEMORIAL AND COTTAGE HOMES, MAUCHLINE, AYRSHIRE. In Memory of the Poet Burns for Deserving Old People . .. That ,reatest of benevolent Institutions established In honour of Robert Burns." -91•• ,_ H",III/.

There are now twenty modern comfortable houses for _ the benefit. of deserving old folks. The site is an ideal one in the heart of the Burns Country. The Cottagers, after careful selection, occupy the houses free of rent and taxes, and, in addition, receive an annual allowance. They are chosen from all quarters. There are no irksome restrictions, they get bringing their own furniture, have their own key, and can go in and out and have their own friends visiting them as they please. Our aim is to give them, as near as practicable, their .. ain fireside" and let them enjoy the evening of their lives in qUiet comfort.

fJurthn ,.,..,.. lIN re,..,ir... wm ~ ple,"e alp 1 Su bscrlptlons will be grate(u fly acknowledged by the Hon. Secretary. Mr. DAVID J. S. HARVEY. 65 Renfield Street, Glasgow. "BURNS CHRONICLE" ADVERTISER

GOOD TEA is the most

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