November 2020
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‘The Vision’ The Robert Burns World Federation Newsletter Issue 47 November 2020 I have decided to give the newsletter the title of ‘The Vision’ as a nod to Burns’s poem of that name in which he bemoans the lack of recognition for poets from his native Ayrshire. His vision involves the appearance the muse Coila. However, the critic David Daiches remarked that ‘the poet does not quite know what to do with her when he brought her in.’ In composing this edition of the newsletter, I felt much the same as I didn’t know what I was going to do about the lack of copy which normally flows in unsolicited from around the world. Fortunately, my colleagues on the Board came up trumps and offered various leads for suitable material. It is a pleasure to report on a very successful Tamfest which explored Burns’s famous poem Tam o’ Shanter in great depth. The importance of music in relation to Burns also comes across strongly with a couple of articles highlighting his continuing influence on contemporary performers. Editor In this Issue: Page Halloween - Profile of President Marc Sherland 1-2 - A New Tartan for the Federation 2 Amang the bonie winding banks, - Lesley McDonald elected at President of LABC 2 Where Doon rins, wimpling, clear; - Tamfest 2020 3 - Simon Lamb Performance Poet 3 Where Bruce ance ruled the martial ranks, - Singer Lauren McQuistin 4-5 An’ shook his Carrick spear; - Heritage Item, Burns’s Mother’s Well 5 Some merry, friendly, country-folks - 200 Club 6 - New Burns Selection for Every Day 6 Together did convene, - St Andrew’s Day Lecture 6 To burns their nits, an’ pou their stocks, - Volunteers for Ellisland 7 An’ haud their Hallowe’en - Habbie Poetry Competition 8 - Federation Yule Concert 9 Fu’ blythe that night. - Obituary Jim Minns 9 - Dictionary of Scots Language 9 - Musical Landscape of Burns’s Edinburgh 10-11 - News From Isle of Arran Distillery 12 by Robert Burns - 1785 Profile of the President, Marc Sherland Marc became a Burnsian by accident, well not quite true, he has always been a Burns enthusiast, but not a formal member of a Burns Club until 2016, when he was cajoled by then President, Calum Cormack to join the Cumbernauld and District Burns Club. He says of the incident, “Calum is a big fella. ‘Barnhouse door’ is the term that comes to mind, not the kind of person you say no to. On the third time he asked me to join, he put the membership form in front of me and told me to fill it in. I wasn’t going to argue.” That Marc had gone on to other things in the Burns movement is probably an understatement. He is currently Senior Vice President of three Burns organisations as well as providing secretarial support for a number of clubs. Registered Office: 3A John Dickie Street, Kilmarnock, Ayrshire, Newsletter Editor -Mike Duguid (Literature Convenor) Scotland, KA1 1HW. Company Registration No 196895 Scottish Charity No SC029099 e-mail: [email protected] Email [email protected] Tel: 01557 Tel 01563 572469 Website address: www.rbwf.org.uk 860040 To unsubscribe please email [email protected] Newsletter Page 2 of 12 President’s Profile (Cont’d) Born in Kent in 1956, Marc moved to Scotland when he was two years old. He is self-employed and has been since 1990, though if you find him staring at your jewellery don’t be too alarmed, he is probably appraising it as he started out as an assistant manager in ‘H Samuel’ the well-known high street jeweller. Marc ran an entertainment business for many years and was a DJ, who provided karaoke and MCs to many Scottish venues. He is also a performance poet, writer and folklorist, with stories, poems and factual articles in print and was both founder of the Federation of Writers (Scotland) and later the President of the Scottish Association of Writers. In 2019 he designed three early learning packs on Robert Burns and the Scottish Leid for use in Schools, during Schools Competitions and for Burns Clubs. These will be available from the RBWF website in the near future. A New Tartan for the Federation President Marc Sherland has already been busy and has designed a new tartan to be called the Robert Burns World Federation Tartan. The tartan swatch below was produced by Ken Mac Donald, Deacon of the Weavers, from the legend Marc created and the pattern has already been certified by the Scottish Register of Tartans: 1. red representing the blood of humankind, which unites us all and to which Burns great song ‘A Man’s A Man’ is dedicated and which was sung to open the Scottish parliament. 2. pale blue representing the pale blue skies, under which Burns toiled as a farmer, and which is reflected in the lochs and rivers of Scotland. 3. gold representing the gold of the chain of office, the highest coin of the land and the reminder that gold is but the 'guinea stamp’ and rank but a name. It is also for the golden grain of harvest. 4. green representing Nature which so inspired Robert Burns in his poetry and life. 5. black representing the ink he used to write with. 6. white representing the pages he wrote upon. New President for Lanarkshire Association of Burns Clubs (LABC) At Lanarkshire Association’s recent AGM and first virtual meeting, Lesley McDonald (RBWF Education Convener) was elected as President. Lesley thanked her predecessor Eric Budgell (President of Larkhall) for his assistance and support. Marc Sherland (RBWF President) was appointed Vice President. She says, “Like all clubs and associations, we are looking forward to meeting face to face once again, when that happens is anyone’s guess.” Newsletter Page 3 of 12 Tamfest 2020 Tamfest started in 2015 as Ayrshire’s premier family Halloween festival, but prompted by the Covid lockdown the organisers took the opportunity to make it a global event. Rooted in heritage, and inspired by the poem Tam o’ Shanter, Tamfest has grown into an enchanting experience for all ages. Each year a line from the epic poem is chosen as the sub-theme to keep the festival fresh and offer new insight into the characters and explore the story of the Tam o’ Shanter. Events during the early part of October included three talks. The first In and Out of Tam o’ Shanter was delivered by RBWF Past President Jim Thomson based on his excellent book of the same name. A video can be seen at: https://youtu.be/fkIhUykVa5Q The second, Tam o’ Shanter; A Tale of its First Publication was delivered by Bill Dawson and the video is at: https://youtu.be/imCmeeTlWhA The third, Supernatural Burns was delivered by RBWF President Marc Sherland with video: https://youtu.be/CnixbOvt0us. Another enjoyable event ‘Glorious Tam,’ was an international competition for the best recitation through use of Zoom. Judged by RBWF Senior Vice President, Henry Cairney; Polly Beck, Speech & Drama Specialist; and, Jackie Higgins, Senior Vice President of Dumfries Ladies Burns Club No1. The contestants were: David Brown, Ron Pratt, Simon Lamb, Andy Harrower, Jim Osborne. The winner was Andy Harrower from Medicine Hat Burns Club, Canada (pictured right) and runner up David Brown from Langbank near Greenock. Congratulations to every participant. Video of the event: https://youtu.be/DKuLeimnpgA Involving RBWF, Burns clubs, associations and societies across the globe. Social Media played a major role as did the online Tamfest portal which is at the website: www.tamfest.co.uk. Simon Lamb’s Poetry Aimed at Youngsters One of the contestants in the ‘Tam the Glorious’ competition was Simon Lamb, a very talented poet and performer, who has created a poem “On Poet’s Path”, originally recorded for the Robert Burns Birthplace Museum, which addresses the path which leads from the Birthplace museum to Burns Cottage. The poem can be found being recited by Simon at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aqYAZPrg1GI and is well worth a listen. Simon says of the experience "It was a pleasure and an honour to write and record. I am always looking for ways to bring poetry alive and making it vibrant and relevant to younger audiences." Another, more recent, poem on a Burns theme is his Mat o’ Shanter which puts a beautifully crafted modern spin on the tale of Tam o’ Shanter and can be seen at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Svj5KxEiwxI. Further poems can be seen on his website: https://www.simonlambcreative.co.uk/about Newsletter Page 4 of 12 Music Seminar Planned for the New Year On Friday, January 29, 2021 at 1.15-2pm Dr Katherine Campbell and Dr Emily Lyle will give a joint, illustrated seminar to launch their book, Robert Burns and the Discovery and Re-Creation of Scottish Song, published by Musica Scotica. This will form part of the Celtic and Scottish Studies lunchtime seminar series at the University of Edinburgh. The seminar will take place on Zoom. For further details and to obtain the Zoom link, please contact Dr Neill Martin, <[email protected]> All welcome. I Sing Burns Songs too……. As Secretary of the Caledonian Society and a Past President of the Burns Club of London (No 1 on the Federation Roll), I have been fortunate to come into contact with many young professional Scots in London who are plying their trade as professional singers and musicians. Their talent, skill and enthusiasm are amazing. Life before Covid was so good for these young folks who have in the palm of their hands the ability to communicate, find friends, find accommodation and navigate all over the world.