Reflections from the President of the Robert Burns World Federation
‘I’m gaun tae Mauchline Holy Fair To spend an hour in daffin Gin you’ll go there, you rankl’d pair We will get famous laughin’ At them this day’ Tae Mauchline Holy Fair I did go and spent a good part of it laughing with friends. The Holy Fair is a colourful and spectacular occasion. […]
Moira and I have just returned from a trip to the USA. Burns is weel kent and popular in this massive country. Burns was a great admirer of George Washington for whom he wrote ‘An Ode For General Washington’s Birthday’. Washington to Burns was the epitomy of liberty, strength and freedom for the individual. I […]
‘Again rejoicing Nature sees, Her robe aasume its virtual hues, Her leafy locks wave in the breeze, All freshly steep’d in morning dews.’ A few lines from ‘Composed in spring’, 1786. I resisted the temptation to add a few lines from ‘Ode to spring’ which appears in the Merry Muses. As I write the […]
We end February with ‘winds baith snell and keen’. As I write this month’s blog, we find the country in the midst of a weather front which has been described by the press as ‘the beast from the east’. Snow falls and lies in Kirkcudbright, something very unusual and very rare. I write to […]
There was a Lad was born in Kyle The lad we know as Robert Burns was indeed born in Kyle and as the gossip or midwife astutely observed, ‘This waly boy will be nae coof’. Celebration have gone on throughout January and will no doubt continue into February. This time of year allows us […]
Burns Day Message So here we are again folks, over 250 years since Robert Burns’ birthday we are still celebrating his life. All over the world in every hour of every day around this time, people will be celebrating the life of the ‘Lad wha was born in Kyle’. Burns memory is enduring and […]
‘The blude red rose at Yule may blaw, The simmer lilies bloom in snaw, The frost may freeze the deepest sea, But an’ auld man shall never daunton me. (To Daunton Me 1787) There is very little reference to Yuletide or Christmas in Burns writings, not surprisingly given the stance of the Kirk post […]
‘The wintry west extends his blast, And hail and rain does blaw, Or the stormy north sends driving forth The blinding sleet and snaw Wild-tumbling brown, the burn comes down, And roars frae bank tae brae; And bird and beast in covert rest, And pass their heartless day. Winter; A Dirge reminds me of […]
‘Some merry, friendly countra’ folk Together did convene To burn their nits, an’ pou their stocks An haud their Hallow’een Fu’ blithe that night Hallow’een is here, October has flown past as quickly as September did! My year in office will be over in a blink if this pace continues. I have been surprised […]
The President’s Lot is indeed a happy one! Since Conference, I have been incredibly busy at home and abroad. A word about Conference first. May I thank everyone from the Burns’ World and beyond for the messages of congratulation and support in my appointment as President of The Robert Burns Federation. Goodwill and friendship were […]
