Club News
Please
see tab above - 'Homecoming - Scotland 2009'
for all our Homecoming Events
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Sad
News
We
are sad to tell you of the death of our long
time member, friend and crony, Fergie McCartney
on 25th August 2010.
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Successful Car Treasure Hunt
on 14th
August run by Maurice McKendrick and Malcolm
Noble
On
Saturday 14th August some 35 Members, wives
and friends took part in a well organised Treasure
Hunt around Mauchline followed by a meal and
chatter in The Fairburn in Mauchline. How
much participants enjoyed it was proved by
the happy and cheerful banter before and during
the meal. The joint was buzzing! Malcolm
received a resounding 'yes' from all present
when he asked if the Members would support
similar informal get-togethers so look out
for some novel ideas from Team Malcolm and
Maurice. A very hearty thanks to them both
for all the work involved in organising the
Treasure Hunt and Congratulations on a job
well done.
Malcolm Announces the Winner
John
Sutherland's winning team with organisors
Maurice McKendrick (Top left) and Malcolm
Noble (bottom left)
Clark Milliken
receives the Wooden Spoon
Clark seems pleased
Malcolm opens the envelope containing
the winning name in the 'name the calf' Competition.
Can't find the winning
calf name on this sheet Maurice
Look who's won the £20
It's Margery
Howe
President Hugh Brown thanks everyone.
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Billy
Sharpe hands over the Chain of Office to 2010/11
President Hugh Brown
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Latest Club Project
Our
Latest Project has just started and this will
see us trying to mark all the famous Mauchline
places with plates on the buildings -or near
where the buildings were in Burns' time -
together with updating the markers in the
Kirkyard. Like all of our Projects, this will
take some
time but Ian Lyell and Andy Bell have made
a good start in getting permission from the
various Property owners where it is proposed
to situate the plaques. A list of these proposed
sites follows:-
Planned
Sites for Information Plaques
Site Plaque
at:-
Nanse
Tinnock's Sma' Inn
1 Castle Street
Dr
McKenzie's House and Surgery
2 Castle Street
1
st Home of Burns and Jean Armour
4 Castle Street
Site
of Ronald's Ballroom (1 st Meeting Plkace
of Burns & Jean Armour)
Kirkyard Wall,
Castle Street
Site
of Morton's Inn – ( Home of Christina, a Mauchline
Belle.)
Church Hall, Castle Street
Abbot
Hunter's Tower (A Cistercian Foundation)
Bleaching
Green (2 nd Meeting Place of Burns & Jean
Armour)
Castle
Street
Site of Brownlea House, (Home of Mary Morrison)
Castle Street
Site of Elbow Tavern (Meeting Place for Burns
& 'Highland' Mary Campbell)
The Knowe
Dr
McKenzie's 1 st House & Surgery
1 The Cross
Home
of Miss Markland (a Mauchline Belle)
3 The Cross
Site
of the Earl of Elgin's Property ‘The Place'
Library, 2 The Cross
1685
5 Covenanters said to have been hanged from
upper floor
1 Kilmarnock Road
Site of James Smith's Shop (Sister a Mauchline
Belle)
Gable, 1 High Street
Home of
John Richmond (Lawyer and friend of Burns)
3 High Street
Site
of Armour Home and Birthplace of Jean
Cowgate/Curlingstone
Place
Home
of Robert Morison, Cabinet Maker (Address
to the Haggis begun here)
Beechgrove Cottage, The
Cowgate
Site
of Ann Orr's Ale House (Young Men's Society
Meeting Place)
Princes' Street/Cowgate
Site
of the Sun Inn (Miss Miller, a Mauchline Belle)
Gable,1 Loudoun Street
Site
of the Holy Fair
Parish Church Gate,
Loudoun Street
Poosie
Nansie's (Scene of the Jolly Beggars' Cantata)
21 Loudoun
Street
Whiteford
Arms/Johnny Doo's Tavern (Meeting Place of
the Court of Equity)
25 Loudoun
Street
Home
of Gavin Hamilton, (Lawyer, Landlord and friend
of Burns)
Loudoun Street
McClelland's
Inn (Venue of Burns' Reading Society)
Loudoun Street
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Handout
for Footsteps of Burns Border Tour 27th and
28th March 2010
Robert
Burns completed his Border Tour between May
5th and June 1st 1787. When you take into
account all the places he visited and distance
travelled, which included the North of England
(next year perhaps) it was no mean feat considering
he was on horseback.
Our
first trip to the Borders was on 24 th March
2007 and we will inevitably retrace some of
our steps to places already visited. However,
if like me, you never seem to tire of the
Border countryside.
Leaving
Mauchline we head towards Biggar and Blyth
Bridge onto the A701 to Leadburn where we
join the A6094 to Roslynn Chapel an architectural
gem. Though there is no mention of Burns visiting
Roslynn it is well worth taking the time to
see it for ourselves. We will have a guided
tour here.
Leaving
Roslynn we head along the A6094 to Bonnyrigg,
turn right on the A68 through Dalkeith then
left onto the A6093 to Pencaitland and Haddington.
It's here in Haddington we will meet up with
members of Grants Braes Burns Club at the
Tyneside Hotel where we take lunch. After
our meal, members of the Grants Braes Burns
Club will show us the Burns related sites
around the town. The club took its name from
the house (now demolished) where Gilbert,
his family and mother lived. After our tour
we bid farewell to our hosts (and day trippers)
and continue south on the next leg of our
journey.
Grants
Braes Meets Mauchline
Our Posy at Burns'
Mother's Grave in Bolton Kirkyard.
Mauchline, Grants Braes and entertainers
Aislynn Faulkner and Careen Scott at Bolton
Kirkyard,
where above grave is.
Grants Braes successful Project Built Cairn,
walk and parking etc where Burns' mother's
house was situated.
We
head south east on the A1 to Dunbar as Burns
called it “a neat little town”.
It was here on 22 nd May that he dined with
the Provost and called on Miss Clark, a maiden
in the Scotch phrase, “guid enough but
no' brent new”. She wanted to see what
a rare show an author was; and to let him
know that, though Dunbar was but a little
town yet, it was not destitute of people of
parts. Dunbar is of course better known for
its fine brewery which produces among others,
Belhaven Best.
It
is not possible for us to follow exactly Burns'
route as he criss-crossed this region on his
travels. On the 21 st may he arrived at Peasebridge
and dined with George Sherriff – “a crashing
bore, talkative and conceited” – Sherriff,
suddenly called away on business, left Burns
alone the rest of the evening with his sister
Nancy. Fortunately, brother George arrived
home just in time. Next morning as Burns was
saddling up, to his astonishment, Nancy appeared
“as fine as hands could make her”,
in cream-coloured riding clothes,
hat and feather” to accompany him to
Dunbar. In a letter to his friend Ainslie
he described the journey.
In
the words of the Highlandman when he saw the
Devil on Shanter-Hill in the shape of five
swine – “My hair stood and my pintle stood
and I swat and trembled” – Nothing
could prevail with her, no distant insinuation,
no broad hint would make her give over her
purpose (to make a sweetheart of me among
her relations); at last, vexed , disgusted
and enraged, I pretended a fire-haste and
rode so hard she was almost shaken to pieces
on old Jolly and to my great joy, she found
it convenient to stop at an uncles house by
the way. I refused to call with her, and so
we quarrelled and parted.
I
think at last, Robert may have met his match!
Flirtation with pretty women, as he often
declared, was just his kind of sport, but
every now and then it backfired.
The
next leg of our tour takes us to Dunglass
where Burns was invited to dine with Mr Hood
but had to refuse due to illness.
Thursday
24 th May – Mr Kerr and I set out to dine
at Mr Hood's on our way to England – I am
taken extremely ill with feverish symptoms,
and take a servant of Mr Hood's to watch me
all night – embittering remorse scares my
fancy at the gloomy forebodings of death.
I am determined to live for the future in
such a manner as not to be scared at the approach
of death – I am sure I could meet him with
indifference, but for ‘The Something'
beyond the grave – Mr Hood agrees
to accompany us to England if we will wait
him till Sunday.
The
following morning he had breakfast at Skateraw
with Mr Lee, “ a farmer of great note
and an excellent, hospitable, social fellow
– compatible at dinner – my revd acquaintance
, Dr. Bowmaker, a revd, rattling, rattling,
drunken old fellow – two sea Lieutenants,
a Mr D Lee, a cousin of the landlord's, a
fellow whose looks are of that kind which
deceived me in a gentleman of Kelso, and has
often deceived me; a goodly, handsome figure
and face which incline one to give them credit
for parts which they have not… Mr Lee detains
me till next morning”.
Friday
18 th May – Via Manderston, Chirnside, Foulden,
Eddrington, Mordington and Halidon Hill to
Berwick – an Idle town, bit rudely picturesque
– meet lord Errol in walking round the walls
– His Lordship's flattering notice of me (Burns
always loved a lord) – Dine with Mr Clunzie,
Merchant. – nothing particular in company
or conversation – come up over a bold shore
and over a wild country via Burnmouth to Eyemouth
– sup and sleep at Mr Grieve's.
At
last, going in the same direction as Burns,
albeit for a short distance and not in the
same order.
EYEMOUTH
Saturday
18 th May – spend the day at Mr Grieve's –
made a Royal Arch Mason at St Ebbe's Lodge
– Mr William Grieve, the eldest brother, a
joyous warm-hearted, jolly, clever fellow
– takes a hearty glass and sings a good song
– Mr Robert Grieve, his brother and partner
in trade a good fellow but says little – Mr
James Carmichael, schoolmaster, of the partie
an agreeable fellow – take a sail after dinner
– fishing of all kinds pays tithes at Eyemouth.
Eyemouth Plaque commemorating
Burns joining the 'Royal Arch'.
The
Eyemouth Lodge considered Burns a very distinguished
visitor indeed. They did not even charge him
the usual fee, and the cutlery and utensils
he used at the
‘repast'
have been kept to this day. The minute for
19 th may reads:
At
a general encampment held this day, the following
brethren were made Royal Arch masons, viz:
Robert Burns from the Lodge of St James, Tarbolton,
Ayrshire and Robert Ainslie, from the Lodge
of St Luke's, Edinburgh…Robert Ainslie paid
one guinea admission dues…Robert Burns admit.
Gratis.
Mauchline
Burns Club and Eyemouth Masons and Burns Club
Members in Masonic Lodge
Our
overnight accommodation in Eyemouth is the
‘eye sleep inn' where we
will shower and change (optional) before going
into town to the Ship Inn for dinner and hopefully
meeting with some of the Eyemouth Burns Club
members for a tour of the Burns related sites
and some harmony. It is twin bedded rooms
with two exceptions (already booked), so please
choose your roommates carefully!
After
breakfast on Sunday, again at the Ship Inn
we head for Duns.
Friday
16th May – Dined at Duns with the Farmers
Club – Company – impossible to do them justice
– Rev Mr Smith, a famous punster and Mr Meikle,
a celebrated Mechanic and inventor of the
threshing-mill – lie again at Berrywell (home
of Robert Ainslie)
On
arriving at the Ainslie home at Berrywell
he found Rachel waiting for him. There was
no one else at home and Burns found himself
alone with her in the house. He was enchanted
with her. ‘Miss Ainslie' – the amiable,
sweet, the sensible, the good humoured,
the sweet Miss Ainslie, all alone at Berrywell…
' The two had dinner together – ‘how
well-bred, how frank, how good she is'. There
was no banter, no flirtation here, although
he did note later, ‘I could grasp her
with rapture on a bed of straw'. Burns
was at his gentlemanly best. There was no
sport to be had with his best friend's sister.
This was no ‘piece'. Rachel Ainslie was in
a different class altogether from Nancy Sherriff.
He went on ‘ Charming Rachel! May thy
bosom never be wrung by the evils of this
life of sorrows, or by the villainy of this
world's sons'. His prayer was answered.
She was only nineteen at this time, and although
she lived long, she never married and preferred
to live quite happily at home.
He
went to the local church in Duns with the
family on the Sunday morning and found himself
sitting with Rachel. She couldn't find in
her bible the text the minister, Mr Bowmaker,
had given out, which was on sinners. While
she was looking through the pages, Burns scribbled
the following in his notebook and passed it
to her:
Fair
maid, ye needna take the hint,
Nor
idle texts persue,
‘Twas
guilty sinners that he meant,
Not
angels such as you!
Burns
never lost his admiration for her, but he
always kept his distance, an unusual stance
for him. She was a friend. Strangely, he never
‘ made a song upon her'. Perhaps,
for the first time on the tour, Burns was
able to be himself with a woman.
While
at the Ainslie home he found packets of original
poetry sent to him by Londoner Symon Gray
who wanted Burns' honest opinion. Burns duly
replied to the first package: ‘ Simon
Gray you're dull today'.
And
to the second: ‘ Dullness, wit redoubted
sway, has seized the wits of Symon Gray'.
And
when a third bulky parcel arrived:
‘Dear
Symon Gray, the other day,
When
you sent me some rhyme,
I
could not then just ascertain,
Its
worth for want of time.
But
now today, good Master Gray,
I've
read it o'er and o'er,
Tried
all my skill, but find I'm still,
Just
where I was before.
We
auld wifes' minions gie our opinions,
Solicited
or no',
Then,
of its fau'ts my honest thoughts,
I'll
give - and here they go.
Such
Damn'd bombast no time that's past,
Will
show, or time to come,
So
Symon, dear, your song I'll tear,
And
with it, wipe my bum.
Nothing
further was ever heard from Symon Gray.
Taking
the A6112 we head for Coldstream, the entry
in his journal is short and sweet. “ Monday
7 th May – Coldstream – went over into England”.
No more than four words for a significant
invasion. After all Robert Burns had never
stepped on foreign soil, he had never been
out of Scotland before. Ainslie told James
Hogg more than fifty years later that on this
single occasion Burns had knelt down and invoked
a blessing on Scotland, quoting his own work.
He and Ainslie returned to Coldstream and
spent the night there. While at Coldstream
Burns crossed the “ Glorious River Tweed”
and had tea with Mr Brydon. The Coldstream
gaurds, though not raised here, took there
name in memory of marching through here to
defeat Richard Cromwell and place Charles
11 on the throne.
The
Journal continues:
“Tuesday
8th May – Breakfasted at Kelso – fine bridge
over the Tweed – enchanting view and prospects
on both sides of the river, particularly the
Scotch side – visit ruins of Roxburgh Castle
– a bush growing where James 2 nd was accidentally
killed by the bursting of a cannon – bad roads
– magnificent farm houses and fine lands not
above 16 shillings a Scots acre – came up
the Jed to Jedburgh to lie and wish myself
goodnight”.
Passing
through Kelso as we head for Jedburgh we should
get a glimpse of Floors Castle a Georgian
structure with 19 th century turrets and domes.
“Wednesday
9 th May – Breakfast with Mr Fair – who is
blind but the first man of business as a Writer
in the town. Mrs Fair, a crazy, talkative
slattern and her sister (Miss Lookup) an old
maid, get into an argument about the relief
minister.
Burns
was glad to escape the two women by going
two miles out of town to attend an auction
of land. He met a Captain Rutherford, an ex-soldier,
who had been in America with the British Army
and had been captured by the Chippewah Indians.
Burns happily accepted his invitation to dine
and was immediately captivated by the daughter.
“Miss
Rutherford a beautiful girl, but to far gone
woman to expose so much of a fine, swelling
bosom…
He
met Mrs Fair and Miss Lookup, the sparring
sisters, the following day when he and Ainslie
were asked to join the ladies in an afternoon
walking party to the Love-lane. The acquaintance
did not improve on either side. This was because
all Burns' attention was given to Miss Isabella
Lindsay, a pretty girl, fond of laughing and
fun, but the other ladies, Miss Lookup in
particular, were keeping a wary eye on them
both. Shaking himself free of Mrs Fair and
Miss Lookup with some difficulty, he
“somehow
or other got hold of Miss Lindsay's arm –
my heart thawed into melting pleasure after
being so long frozen up in the Greenland Bay
of indifference amid the noise and nonsense
of Edinburgh. The poet is a point and a half
of being damnably in love.
Just
as Isabella and Burns were getting better
acquainted, Miss Lookup fell upon them reproachfully
and abused the girl particularly for her flirtatiousness.
Burns had to restrain himself from cursing
her to her face as an interfering old virgin.
After
breakfast the following morning, Burns took
the opportunity of walking with Isabella down
the garden of a friends house. He discovered
that his bosom “ is as tinder as ever…I
find Miss Lindsay would soon play the devil
with me”. He goes on: “After some
little chit-chat of the tender kind, I presented
her with a proof-print of my Nob which
she accepted with something more
than tender gratitude. She told me many little
stories which Miss L had related concerning
her and me, with prolonging pleasure – God
bless her. Was waited on by the Magistrates
and presented with the freedom of the Burgh”.
One
has the feeling he would rather have had the
freedom of Miss Isabella Lindsay! It is typical
of the man that he devotes a paragraph to
chit-chat after breakfast and one line to
a prestigious honour.
Leaving
Jedburgh we head for Melrose and have the
opportunity to visit Dryburgh and Melrose
Abbeys and take in the famous Scott's view.
Depending on time we will have an afternoon
break in Melrose before moving on to the Elphinstone
hotel in Biggar for dinner.
Three Mauchline Worthies take a rest
in Melrose.
Saying
farewell to Biggar we wend our weary way home
to our respective abodes after having an enjoyable
and informative weekend.
Written
and Researched by Andrew Cooper
Secretary
Mauchline
Burns Club
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p.s.
Comments by Past President Jim Davidson who
was following our 'lost' minibus in a car:-
The
Journey (an Epistle to the Coalfield Bus.)
Twas
on upon a Saturday
that
Mauchline Burns Club went out to play
They
journeyed here, they journeyed there,
they
journeyed bloody everywhere
along
country lanes and closed aff roads
while
breaking every highway code
and
catching bus drivers unawares
when
counting up his last bus fares
past
barricades and wooded glens
where
roads collapse and journey's end
aroon
the country they did look
to
find the road they should have took
but
twa pair souls were following on
and
they began to wail and moan
their
patience it was sorely tried
and
their fuel tank was almost dried
and
as they went their separate ways
to
journey East on that fine day
the
two friends thought they's had their say
but
here they come the other way
The
End
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Mauchline Burns
Club's International Haggis Addresser, Andrew
Cooper addresses
the
Haggis
at the Homecoming windup Party in the Oran
Mhor Glasgow in February 2010.
Our Own
2010 Burns Supper
Held in the Fairburn Hotel, Mauchline on 25th
January
Officials,
Speakers and Guests
Programme & Menu 2010
Vice
President Hugh Brown, Entertainer Linton MacMillan
and Committee Member Maurice McKendrick
Linton MacMillan and Ian
Muir
Linton MacMillan,
John Murdoch Press Photographer, and Andrew
Cooper
Club President
Billy Sharpe and Vice President Hugh Brown
lay our wreath at Burns Statue Square
on 25th January 2010.
Latest Newsletter
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Could we do it?
Yes we could.
Mauchline
Burns Club are proud to announce that (further
to official confirmation from Guinness
World
Records) we now hold the World record for
the biggest haggis ever cooked at 1234 pounds,
some
534 pounds above the previous record.
Seen
below, left to right, are Mauchline Burns
Club members Fergie McCartney, Peter Scally
(who
masterminded the cooking) and Jim Davidson
The biggest haggis the world
has ever seen was cooked in Mauchline and
it was a half-ton
highlight
of the Mauchline Holy Fair.
This
great chieftain was truly the greatest of
all time - a massive 1234 pounds.
That's
534 pounds more than the previous record,
so the Mauchline record
should stand for
years
to come.
Slow
cooking of the haggis began two days before
the Holy Fair.
It
was cooked in a specially made giant stainless
steel tank and no-one could be sure of what
would
happen. Would the haggis burst open
and provide the largest tank of haggis soup
the
world
has ever seen? And, even if it held, would
such a monster cook right through?
Would
it even survive being lifted out of the tank?
Mauchline
Burns Club member Peter Scally, an ex-army
cook, was in charge of the process and
he
watched over the haggis like an expectant
father. By the morning of the Holy fair,
the haggis
showed
a small split on top and Peter feared it might
also be splitting at the
bottom.
But
his nerves were calmed when liquid was drained
from the bottom of the tank - and it was clear.
The
bag survived cooking and lifting and was duly
cut open and addressed in the traditional
way
by
Mauchline Burns Club's Andrew Cooper (see
below) before free samples were passed round
the
crowd.
The
great event took place on the Bleaching Green,
where Burns met wife-to-be, Mauchline girl,
Jean
Armour.
Witnesses
of the record attempt included Chris McCarthy,
managing director of old - established
butchers
McKechnie Jess of Greenock who provided the
haggis.
Others
were Provost Stephanie Young of East Ayrshire
and Torquil MacLeod, Director of
Homecoming
Scotland.
Mauchline
Burns Club are grateful to the many people
who helped enthusiastically to create
this
World Record. Official Certificate below:-
Mauchline
Burns Club's International Haggis Addresser,
Andrew Cooper, addresses the half ton haggis
with
a 'knife' worthy of it's size.
____________________________________________________________________________
The
Mauchline
Burns Club West Highland Tour 2009
In The Footsteps of
Robert
Burns own West Highland Tour, June 1787
Here I am –
that is all I can tell you of that unaccountable
being –myself.
What
I am doing, no mortal can tell; what I am
thinking,
I
myself cannot tell;
What
I am usually saying is not worth saying.
Burns
wrote an autobiographical letter to Dr John
Moore in London. “To divert my spirits
a little in this miserable fog of Ennui, I
have taken a whim to give you a history of
MYSELF. He ends his letter – “ P.S.
- I shall be in Edinburgh about the
latter end of July”. In Fact he did not
make it until 7 th August. Where did he go?
The trail peters out around this time. It
was as if Burns had gone to ground. His life
was in turmoil, Jean had returned from Paisley;
Mary Campbell had died of the fever in Dunoon
while nursing her brother. Much of what Burns
did during that “lost” time is pure conjecture
as most of the notes made by his companion
Dr John Grierson were lost in the Glasgow
flood of 1831. However some notes remain and
from these and Burns later letters, some idea
of there itinerary can be deduced.
There
are many theories about the route taken on
his West Highland Tour, though what I have
gleaned from John Cairney's book, I think
our journey is the most plausible.
We
do know for a fact, that on June 19 th he
went from Mauchline to Kilmarnock and from
there to Glasgow. It was a busy bustling place
and Burns might have been attracted by its
very energy, but it was a place he went to
in order to get somewhere else, in this case
it was to get to the West Highlands. He put
up in the Black Bull Inn in Argyle Street,
Where Marks and Spencers now stands. Here
he met up with Captain Richards from Irvine.
They must have had a good night of it. “
One of the happiest occasions of my life”
Burns later recalled. Burns neglected
to visit James Candlish – “the earliest
friend except by my own brother that I have
on earth” – who was then resident in
the town. Instead he called on John Smith
the bookseller and secured an order for 50
copies of his book. After that good mornings
work, he pointed Jenny Geddes north by north
west and rode out of the city towards Greenock,
in the company of a Glasgow man and fellow
mason, Dr. George Grierson, who had subscribed
for no less than 36 copies of Burns book.
Instead
of travelling to Glasgow, we will take the
scenic route for our first part of the tour,
going by Ardrossan, Largs and Wemyss Bay,
ports to the
ferries which ply their trade to our “local”
islands of Arran, Cumbrae and Rothesay. Now
heading for Gourock we will board our ferry
for Dunoon but not before meeting some one
from Greenock Burns Club and visiting the
grave of “Highland Mary Campbell”.
I'm
sure for Burns, this was a journey of contemplation,
thinking not only of his past but of the future
that lay ahead for him. I wonder if he thought
about those lines in his poem “To a Mouse”
But oh! I backward
cast my e'e
On prospects drear!
An' forward though I canna see
I dread an' fear!
Before
leaving this part of the country, although
not Burns related, we should perhaps mention
some of Greenock's more notable inhabitants.
(Burns actually sailed from Greenock and not
Gourock). William (Captain) Kidd the nefarious
privateer was born in Greenock in 1645 and
died in London in 1701. Most famous son was
James Watt who invented the separate condenser
for the steam engine. His name is perpetuated
by the fact that the unit of power called
the “Watt” is named after him. William Quarrier
of the famous Quarrier Homes was also born
here and “I don't believe it” so
was Richard Wilson of “ One
Foot In The Grave” fame.
From
Dunoon we take the road for Sandhead taking
a left on the B836 for Clachaigh. We then
turn right on to the A886 and left on the
A8003, which takes us via Tighnabruaich to
Portavadie, where we board the ferry for Tarbert.
According to the “saved notes” Burns and his
companion Grierson were first mentioned at
Tarbert heading north for Inverary. The only
way this could happen was by ferry to Dunoon,
cross-country to Portavadie and ferry to Tarbert.
En-route if the weather is fine, we should
reap the benefits of some fine views down
the Kyles of Bute. Once we reach Tarbert,
it is a short journey to our hotel for the
evening.
Stonefield
Castle here we come!!!
Sunday
22 nd March
On
leaving Stonefield Castle, after what I hope
was a memorable evening, please remember what
Burns said to young Andrew Aitken,
“ Aye free, aff han' your story tell,
When wi' a
bosom cronie,
But aye
keep something to yoursel,
Ye scarcely tell tae ony”.
We
head north on the A83, passing through Ardrishaig,
Lochgilphead and Auchindrain. Here there is
a Historic Farming Village, which unfortunately
does not open until April 1 st . So onto our
next stop at Inverary.
This
is a journey of grand scenery, ancient monuments
and beautiful gardens, which flourish spectacularly,
thanks to the Gulf Stream. We also pass close
by the famous Crinan Canal. The stretch of
water on our right is Loch Fyne, justly famous
for its “ fyne” array of
seafood and probably Scotland's biggest sea
loch
Burns
and Grierson arrived at the Argyle Hotel expecting
to be lodged there. Although the Duke had
subscribed to the Kilmarnock Edition and the
fact that Burns had Campbell blood in him
on his father's side was of no avail. As it
turned out, the Duke was too busy hosting
the British Fishery Society on the day they
arrived and the Inn was full of anglers. John
Fraser, the innkeeper, not recognising Burns,
turned the travellers away. Angrily, Burns
took his revenge by using his new diamond
stylus on the nearest windowpane.
Who'ere he be that sojurns here,
I pity much his case.
Unless he comes to wait
upon
The lord their god “His Grace”.
There's naething
here but Highland pride,
And highland
scab and hunger,
If providence
ha sent me here,
Twas surely in an
anger.
Needless
to say the pane was soon kicked out, but as
happens in these cases, someone always takes
a copy.
The
homeward leg of our journey once again takes
us through some amazingly spectacular scenery.
We go east now towards Strone House Gardens
and the aptly named “Rest and be thankful”.
Far below, you can see the original road and
when you had to use that one, the name was
even more apt.
If
the weather is kind we may see some of the
higher peaks (I think there may be a Munro
or two about here). Probably the most famous
here is Ben Arthur, nicknamed “The Cobbler”,
which is a must for the climbing fraternity.
The road takes us through Glen Croe on down
to Arrochar and Tarbet (no we haven't come
full circle, Its Tarbet not Tarbert). Before
reaching Arrochar we should get a view down
Loch Long which is another sea loch. From
Arrochar, he wrote to Ainslie:
“I
write you this on a tour through my country
where savage streams tumble over savage mountains
, thinly
overspread with savage flocks, which starvingly
support as savage inhabitants. My last stage
was Inverary – tomorrow night's stage, Dumbarton.
Now
going south, we travel down the bonnie banks
of Loch Lomond. Across the loch we can see
Ben Lomond, depicted in that wonderful “Epistle
to Davie”. Davie Sillar was a native of Tarbolton,
a poet and scholar and for many years, a schoolmaster
at Irvine.
While winds frae aff Ben Lomond blaw ,
And bar the doors wi' driving
snaw,
And hing us ower the ingle,
I set
me down to pass the time,
And spin a
verse or twa o' rhyme,
In
hamely westlin jingle.
Sometime
during the next day the two “ fell in
with a merry party at a Highland gentleman's
hospitable mansion ”. This was Cameron
House, on the banks of Loch Lomond, where
they danced “till the ladies left us at
three in the morning”.
Burns
described what happened afterwards in full
detail in a letter to Jamie Smith. In Brief,
Burns had a horse race with a Highlandman
and both came of their horses and lucky not
to be seriously injured. “Jenny Geddes
trode over me with such cautious reverence,
that matters were not so bad as might well
have been expected; so I came off with a few
cuts and bruises, and a thorough resolution
to be a pattern of sobriety for the future”.
Next
day, nursing their wounds – and their heads
– they came safely via Luss and Balloch to
Dumbarton.
In
Dumbarton, Burns was the guest of John McCauly,
the Town Clerk, who was no doubt instrumental
in the granting of the Freedom of the Town
to the poet, and the Burgess ticket dated
29 th June 1787 testifies to this. As you
can imagine several Kirk voices were raised
against it. It took time for Burns to be accepted
by the cloth.
The
following day, Burns made his way to Paisley.
He was seen by Dr. Taylor talking to a Mr.
Pattison in the street. Recognising Burns
from the portrait in his book, he took the
liberty of introducing himself. He invited
the Poet to his house – and Mr. Pattison came
too. They talked most of the afternoon away
and the whole family, particularly the children,
found the famous author fascinating and charming.
Mrs. Taylor however, “was struck by certain
gloominess that seemed to have possession
of his countenance …” This little domestic
scene is one of the first instances of Burns
as a public figure away from the mansions
of the gentry and the Masons' lodges.
That
“certain gloominess” still hung about him
on his return to Mossgiel.
In
his letter to Jamie Smith he writes “
I have yet fixed on nothing with respect to
the serious business of life. I am, just as
usual, a rhyming, mason-making, raking, aimless,
idle fellow. However, I shall somewhere have
a farm soon. I was going to say a wife too:
but that must never be my blessed lot…” Jean
was at this time probably carrying their child
– or children – although he was not to know
this yet.
In
his despondency a month later he wrote to
Ainslie as follows: “ I have not a friend
on earth, beside yourself, to whom I can talk
nonsense without forfeiting some degree of
his esteem. Now, to one like me, who never
cares for speaking anything but nonsense,
such a friend as you is an invaluable treasure.
I was never a rogue, but have been a fool
all my life; and, in spite of all my endeavours,
I see now plainly, that I shall never be wise…”
Such was The depth of his despair at
that time.
Our
journey almost over, nothing remains but to
retire to some hostelry for some repast and
reflect on our West Highland Tour, before
wending our way home. I hope you have all
enjoyed yourselves and are looking forward
to “In the Footsteps of Burns” 2010.
Written by Andrew Cooper,
Hon. Secretary, The Mauchline Burns Club.
All
information taken from ' On the trail
of Robert Burns' by John Cairney
______________________________________________________________
Wreathlaying at Burns
Statue Square 25th January 2009
Our
Own Wreathlaying at The National Burns Memorial,
Mauchline
25th January 2009
_______________________________________________
Mauchline Burns
Club International
Revisit the
New Scottish Monument at Flanders
in November 2008
Opening and Guest Night Tuesday 14th October
2008
Ayr
Writers Club
Singer and Clarsach Player
Shelley Clark
The
Club held it's opening night on Tuesday 14th
October when a full house of Members and Guests
were entertained by Ayr Writers Club who provided
original poetry (even one in a very hot Burns
period costume), readings and even a very
humerous Tam o' Shanter Sketch. Their talent
was huge.
We were also entertained
by singer and Clarsach player, Shelley Clark,
who mesmerised the audience with her outstanding
singing and playing. Mesmerised was the only
word which was appropriate! Burns
Club Artistic Director, Ian Lyell, was so
impressed that he booked Shelley to perform
in the Church at the 2009 Holy Fair.
