Clackmannan Triumph

I love the village of Clackmannan, where I was born and first learned to love Robert Burns, and I will take this opportunity to give a little of Burns lore relating to my home village.

In October 1787 Robert Burns rode from Harvieston, through Dollar, over The Vicar's Bridge, to Blairingone, on, passing Forestmill and Linmill to Clackmannan, up what is now Cattlemarket, Main Street and High Street, to Clackmannan Tower, where he visited Mrs Catherine Bruce, who conferred on Burns a "knighthood" using the sword of King Robert the Bruce.

The photograph above shows children from my old school in Clackmannan, who participated in a county-wide competition for performances of Burns verse and song, and I am delighted to boast that Victoria, above on my left, was declared the overall winner in P6/7 for her "Address to the Toothache". The others singing, and reciting Auld Lang Syne and To a Mouse etc. were all quite excellent in the face of strong competition. My original Club in Clackmannan had an annual trophy for Burns competition in the school, sadly the club is no more, and it is most gratifying to see the work goes on under the enthusiastic leadership of Headteacher Brian McLaren and his staff.

The county competition was under the auspices of Alloa Burns Club, whose origins go back to the earliest days of organised Burns appreciation, in fact growing from a gentleman's literary society much earlier than that. They are to be strongly commended for the great enterprise they pursue, instilling a love of Burns in our future generations.

A Captive Audience

Monday 9th February, I attended a most wonderful dinner, near Hurlford by Kilmarnock. I had been asked to act as Chairman for the function, and propose the Immortal Memory, and I took along two Bowhill stalwarts, Kev Thomson and Dougie Abercrombie to provide a few songs and poems. The dinner comprised beautiful cock a leekie soup, and mountains of the best haggis neeps and tatties I have enjoyed in a long time all served in great humour by some of the residents.
The entertainment had begun of course with Dougie giving a dramatic Address to the Haggis setting the tone for a good night, and Father Eddie McGhee gave the Selkirk Grace to the reverential company, but now we were into the main programme, and I could not have had a better duo than Kev and Dougie to provide a great and varied first spot which really got the company cheered. I did not want to dull the mood so kept my Immortal Memory both cursory and brief, before Father Eddie rose again to give a superb rendering of Tam O' Shanter, and then I handed back to Dougie and Kev for another big selection. The event finished of course with thanks all round before we rose for Auld Lang Syne, and the residents had to file off to their quarters shortly after nine, I think they all had a good time, they raised a bit of money for Yorkhill Children's Hospital and we thoroughly enjoyed the experience, I will long remember my Burns Supper at Her Majesty's Prison, Kilmarnock.

The future talent

I have had the very good fortune over the last week or so to see some of the really great work Clubs and Associations carry out in promoting interest in Burns in our children and young adults.
On Thursday 29th January I was at Alloway for a Burns Supper for all the local schools Burns Clubs organised by the matriach of all things Burnsian in and around Ayr, Margaret Morrall. It was a showpiece of the work they put in over the piece with songs, poems and the usual speeches from the kids and of course Margaret, A memorable event only made possible by the funding efforts of the Morralls.
Last Friday, 30th January I was a guest of Grampian Association of Burns Clubs, at their major Gala dinner to mark the 250th anniversary, and more of that great event elsewhere. The diners were entertained throughout by a wonderful gathering of very talented youngsters, singing, reciting verses, and playing beautiful tunes. This was the cream of Grampian youth demonstrating their skills in Burns, and a great credit to the work by the Association in their schools development under the guidance of Helena Anderson-Wright and her colleagues.

One week later, Friday 7th February, I had the joy of attending the Annual Schools Concert of Bridgeton Burns Club, who since 1870, have worked in schools, initially around Bridgeton but growing to cover the whole of the East End of Glasgow, from the Cathedral to Cambuslang, this year attracting a participation of over 1100 kids of all ages in their various wonderful competitions, and on Friday a programme of 40 groups and individuals entertained a packed theatre. Bridgeton Club have to be heartily congratulated for their superb organisation of this gigantic undertaking, and they have every reason to be very proud of the talent they nurture in Glasgow's East End. I heard some of the best singing ever at a kids Burns night, and some very expert musicians, the enthusiasm of the choirs was quite infectious, and the various styles of verse recital left me blown away. This legendary Club have built a phenomenal tradition of learning and performing Burns for children in their "patch" which very few other Clubs could even dream of, they do a very great service to East Glasgow and the whole Burns world.

More excellence yesterday as I was in Dumfries for the Southern Scottish Counties Burns Association regional Burns competitions. A very high general standard with several absolutely great performers over all the disciplines of recitation, singing, instrumental and bagpipes. The slick organisation of the SSCBA had everything running very smoothly and provided great entertainment to all who looked in. Winners of these comps go forward to the Federation national events later in the spring, and I look forward to seeing and hearing more from this very talented and enthusiastic region.

The night drave on wi' sangs and clatter

As I have a chance to draw breath during a very busy season of Burns celebrations I will take the opportunity to bl0g on one of the main functions I have been to this year;- The Homecoming Burns Supper, held in Alloway on Saturday 24th running on into the anniversary of Burns birth in the 25th January.

This spectacular event was held in Alloway at the Brig O' Doon Hotel, hosted by our First Minister Alex Salmond, with everything done in a grand style and to the highest degree. This was the formal launch of the homecoming, but it was very much focused on celebrating Robert Burns, albeit in a fresh 21st century style removed from what has become "traditional" in Burns Suppers. Normal formalities were set aside, and interspersing the courses of a superb dinner, , we were entertained to a marvellous tableau of Burns life and works along with wonderful songs and music from some of Scotland's finest talents. Burns life was encapsulated in the script from John Murtagh, who also directed and played a variety of roles, supporting a great portrayal of Burns by Iain Robertson, with further quality support from Ryan Fletcher, a beautiful bevy of lasses who took roles from the Mauchline belles to other loves of Burns life, with Siobhan Redmond playing Maria Riddell. This all punctuated with wonderful songs, favourites and a few lesser known, from some of Scotland's best young musicians and singers, Karen Matheson, Sandi Thom, Karine Polwart, Rachel Sermani, Roddy Hart, James Grant, with Peter Clarke on fiddle.

The audience comprised a collection of the well known in Scottish cultural life, with a number of us from the Federation and local Burns Clubs mixed in, all thoroughly enjoying this spectacular, from the aperitif whisky cocktails, through the excellent dinner, all the entertainment, with Alex Salmond in his element delivering a couple of short speeches punctuating the evening with his tributes to Burns and the ambitions for the rest of the Homecoming celebrations.

We paused briefly mid-evening to venture outside and view the Brig, with lights portraying Tam pursued to the keystane by Nannie, a fire portrait of the Bard, and spectacular fireworks, all also enjoyed by a huge crowd attracted to Alloway to see these spectacles.

There are a number of video clips of this fantastic dinner on the Homecoming website, http://homecomingscotland2009.com/news/burns_supper_highlights.html

I never tire of looking at them, the memories of this night will be with me long after 2009.