Robert BurnsLimited World Federation Limited www.rbwf.org.uk 1968 The digital conversion of this Burns Chronicle was sponsored by Mac Irvin 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 " t I ·. i . ROBERT BURNS CHRONICLE 1968 l I l J l l•, THE BURNS FEDERATION I KILMARNOCK ! j Price 7s. 6d.-Paper bound: 12s. 6d.--Cloth bound: Price to Non-Members IOs.-Paper bound: 15s.--Cloth bound. I~ ' d 1,- 'BURNS CHRONICLE' ADVERTISER What was whisl<v lil<e when Clippers raced 100 years ago? Clear.Clean.Brilliant. Like Cutty Sarktoday. It's Scotch as' ~;;. it used to be ... before they ~"c· darkened it. From Scotland's An independent brand, Cutty Sark Scotch Whisky is one of Britain's biggest exports. Now much easier to get here. BURNS CHRONICLE i I i '1 '1 L_I BURNS CHRONICLE AND CLUB DIRECTORY INSTITUTED 1891 PUBLISHED ANNUALLY THIRD SERIES: VOLUME XVII THE BURNS FEDERATION KILMARNOCK 1968 PRINTED IN GREAT BRITAIN BY WILLIAM HODGE AND CO., LTD., GLASGOW LIST OF CONTENTS PAGE Junior Burns Chronicle Children's Own Section John McVie, O.B.E., M.S.M., 1888-1967 22 A Burns Letter by R. D. Jackson 30 The Swinton Portrait 33 Scottish Literature, 1920-1967, by Hugh MacDiarmid 34 The Letters of Jean Armour Burns by Alex. MacMillan.. 42 Bums and Jean Armour on the Stage, A New Play 46 Tam o' Shanter's Horn 47 Mrs. Helen Armstrong. Was She A Daughter Of Burns? 51 The Date of Bums's Funeral 53 'One Morning We Walked In Eglinton Woods' 54 The Scots Readers 55 Book Reviews 56 Attendances at Burns House, Dumfries 63 Obituaries 64 The Burns Federation- (a) List of Hon. Presidents, Hon. Vice-Presidents, Executive Committee, Office-bearers and District Representatives, Sub-committees, Auditors and Associate Members . 67 (b) List of Past Presidents 72 List of Places at which the Annual Conferences of the Council have been held 73 (c) Constitution and Rules 74 (d) List of Districts 79 (e) Minutes of the Annual Conference, 1967, incor- porating the Hon. Secretary's Report, Financial Statement, Burns Chronicle and School Competition reports .. 87 (f) Club Reports 106 (g) Numerical List of Clubs on the Roll 144 (h) Alphabetical List of Clubs on the Roll 173 ILLUSTRATIONS Dr. J. I. Taylor, President, Bums Federation frontispiece John McVie, O.B.E., M.S.M., 1888-1967 facing page 1 Kilmarnock Club's Chain of Office facing page 106 EDITORIAL NOTE The Burns Federation does not accept responsibility for statements made or opinions expressed in the Burns Chronicle. Writers are responsible for articles signed by them: the Editor undertakes responsibility for the Junior Burns Chronicle and 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. NEWBIGGING, TWEEDSMUIR, BIGGAR, LANARKSIIlRE. Dr. J. I. TAYLOR President, Burns Federation JOHN McYJE, O.B.E., M.S.M. 1888-1967 JUNIOR BURNS CHRONICLE A 2 JUNIOR BURNS CHRONICLE 'I wish I could find a lass that would lo'e me as weel's my dog!' So Burns is reputed to have said when his dog followed him into Morton's tavern in Mauchline and ruined a reel that was in progress. As a young man, he was seldom seen without this particular dog at his heel and, throughout his life, he had a number of other dogs. His description of Luath in 'The Twa Dogs' is well-fitted to that of the working Border Collie today. He was a gash an' faithfu' tyke, As ever lap a sheugh or dyke. His honest, sonsie, bawsn't face, Ay gat him friends in ilka place; His breast was white, his towzie back, Weel clad wi' coat o' glossy black; His gawsie tail, wi' upward curl, Hung owre his hurdies wi' a swirl. Even so, we know a great deal more about the dogs that belonged to another great Scotsman, Sir Walter Scott. William Chambers, who, with his brother Robert, founded the publishing house ofW. and R. Chambers in Edinburgh, gave a delightful account of Sir Walter's pets in his book, Stories of Remark­ able Persons. Here it is, as fresh and vivid as the day upon which the book appeared in 1887. SIR WALTER SCOTT AND HIS DOGS by WILLIAM CHAMBERS One of my pleasant recollections is that of seeing Sir Walter Scott out on a stroll with his dogs; the scene being in the neighbourhood of Abbotsford, JUNIOR BURNS CHRONICLE 3 in the summer of 1824, while as yet the gloom of misfortune had not clouded the mind of the great man. There he was limping gaily along with his pet companions amidst the rural scenes which he had toiled to secure and loved so dearly. Scott's fondness for animals has perhaps never been sufficiently acknowledged. It was with him a kind of second nature and appears to have been implanted when as a child he was sent on a visit to the house of his grandfather, Robert Scott, at Sandyknowe, in the neighbourhood of Dryburgh. Here, amidst flocks of sheep and lambs, talked to and fondled by shepherds and ewe-milkers, and revelling with collies, he was impressed with a degree of affectionate feeling for animals which lasted through life. At a subsequent visit to Sandyknowe, when his grandfather had passed away and the farm operations were administered by 'Uncle Thomas', he was provided with a Shetland pony to ride upon. The pony was little larger than many a Newfoundland dog. It walked freely into the house, and was regularly fed from the boy's hand. He soon learned to ride the little pony well, and often alarmed 'Aunt Jenny' by cantering over the rough places in the neighbour­ hood. Such were the beginnings of Scott's inter­ course with animals. Growing up, there was something extraordinary in his attachment to his dogs, his horses, his ponies, and his cats; all of which were treated by him, each in its own sphere, as agreeable companions, and which were attached to him in return. There may have been something feudal and poetic in this kindly association with humble adherents, but there was also much of simple good-heartedness. Scott added not a little to the happiness of his existence by this genial intercourse with his domestic pets. From Lock­ hart's Memoirs of Sir Walter, and other works, we 4 JUNIOR BURNS CHRONICLE have occasionally bright glimpses of the great man's familiarity with his four-footed favourites. We can see that Scott did not, as is too often the case, treat them capriciously, as creatures to be made of at one time, and spoken to harshly when not in the vein for amusement. On the contrary, they were elevated to the position of friends. They possessed rights to be respected, feelings which it would be ·scandalous to outrage. At all times he had a soothing word, and a kind pat, for every one of them. And that, surely, is the proper way to behave towards the beings who are dependent on us. Among Sir Walter's favourite dogs we first hear of Camp, a large bull-terrier, that was taken with. him when visiting the Ellises for a week at Sunning­ hill in 1803. Mr. and Mrs. Ellis having cordially sympathised in his fondness for this animal, Scott, at parting, promised to send one of Camp's progeny in the course of the season to Sunninghill. As an officer in a troop of yeomanry cavalry, Scott proved a good horseman, and we are led to know that he was much attached to the animal which he rode. In a letter to a friend written at this period (1803), he says: 'I have, too, a hereditary attach­ ment to the animal-not, I flatter myself, of the common jockey cast, but because I regard him as the kindest and most generous of the subordinate animals. I hardly even except the dogs; at least, they are usually so much better treated, that compassion for the steed should be thrown into the scale when we weigh their comparative merits.' For several years Camp was the constant parlour dog. He was handsome, intelligent, and fierce, but gentle as a lamb among the children. At the same time, there were two greyhounds, Douglas and Percy, which were kept in the country for coursing. Scott kept one window of his study open, whatever -- JUNIOR BURNS CHRONICLE 5 might be the state of the weather, that Douglas and Percy might leap out and in as the fancy moved them. He always talked to Camp as if he under­ stood what was said-and the animal certainly did understand not a little of it; in particular, it seemed as if he perfectly comprehended on all occasions that his master considered him a sensible and steady friend; the greyhounds, as volatile young creatures whose freaks must be borne with. William Laidlaw, the friend and amanuensis of Scott, mentions in the Abbots.ford Notanda a remarkable instance of Camp's fidelity and atten­ tion. It was on the occasion of a party visiting a wild cataract in Dumfriesshire, known as the Gray Mare's Tail. There was a rocky chasm to be ascended, up which Scott made his way with difficulty on account of his lameness. 'Camp attended anxiously on his master; and when the latter came to a difficult part of the rock, Camp would jump down, look up to his master's face, then spring up, lick his master's hand and cheek, jump down again, and look upwards, as if to shew him the way and encourage him.