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.
3 comments:
Dear Bill, I was doing a search for Clackmannan Main Street on google (it's my birthday and I was feeling nostalgic!) and to my amazement I came upon your blog and learned of your presidency! Congratulations - I do remember you being a keen Burns man when I would hear reports of the Clackmannan Burns club from my dad! Our respective families have known one another for a long time and you and I have spent a fair number of years thegither at the BB and suchlike. Typically, as I got (get) older I would value Burns more and more and a few years ago I did a project bringing together my world of the Scottish fiddle with Burns' love of fiddle tunes. I made a CD called "Tunes from the Life and Land of Robert Burns" based primarily on the work of James C Dick. Dick created an amazing body of work re-connecting Burns' songs with the actual tunes chosen by Burns. I spent many, many months (years) on this project, delving into all the 18th century fiddle collections and Johnstone's "Scots Musical Museum" as well as the Dick in order to come up with instrumental renditions of the tunes as they might have been heard in Burns' time, played by fiddle, keyboard and cello. I was so consumed by this project and Burns' insights into the music (and everything else!) that at one point I thought I might never be able to extricate myself from my Burnsian quest! Anyway, just a wee note of acknowledgement from another Clackmannan loon and Burns admirer. Please drop me a line if you get this and all the best to you and family! Best, Alasdair Fraser
PS see http://www.culburnie.com/albums/AlasdairFraser/legacyvol2.htm for more info on the CD project
Alasdair Fraser (mail@alasdairfraser.com)
PO Box 219
Nevada City, CA 95959
Mr. Dawson, Mr. Fraser;
My father-in-law, Rex Bruce, stated he visited Lady Cathrine Bruce's grave near the Tower in 1991. I cannot find any verification of the Lady's burial place. Is it, in fact, near Clackmannan Tower? I hate to think my wife and I missed visiting the Lady in 2006, our only trip to Clackmannan to date.
Colonel John W. Tilford
johntilford@comcast.net
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