IMMORTAL MEMORYBURNS NIGHTSARRIA BURNS SOCIETY - BARCELONA Many great Scots have contributed to the torrid history of our dear wee country. King William 1st – The Lion – who gave birth to that symbol of fighting do or die spirit, the Lion Rampant and which remained the battle standard of Scottish kings since his time. There’s William Wallace, who rose and led a poor nation against oppression and Robert the Bruce, who believed in and achieved independence. To the brilliant inventors and intellectuals of an enlightened 18th and 19th century Scotland, whose achievements empowered an unprecedented advancement of mankind – we owe a debt of gratitude. They are too numerous to mention. There is of course but one great Scot who rises above them all! Robert Burns, born in Alloway, the son of a humble farm labourer from Kincardinshire. Robert Burns’ unique quality as poet, songwriter and observer is that he was universally embraced by humanity, as he himself embraced humanity. There can be no greater honour for a Scotsman therefore, than to deliver the “Immortal Memory”. I feel deeply proud to have this privilege and wish that in this august and dignified company, you will all share with me the journey through this man’s life and appreciate the depth of genius of Scotland’s greatest son. This commitment however is not easy to fulfil – President Abraham Lincoln, who was well-known for his appreciation of Burns, wrote the following note dated January 24th 1865, after being asked by a Mr. Williamson (a Scot then tutoring Lincoln’s children): “I cannot frame a toast to Burns. I can say nothing worthy of his generous heart and transcendent genius. Thinking of what he has said, I cannot say anything worth saying”. Where do I go from here, after that comment? As I delved deeper into the archives, it became apparent that one can research Burns till “a’ the seas gang dry”! A recurring theme that I discovered – and my experience is that Burns never ceases to amaze in his range of influence – was this connection with matters American. Interesting, given the imminent, pending changes in the Whitehouse hierarchy and the possibility that the United States of America will soon have it’s first woman President. As a poet, Burns’ best known attributes are perhaps his awareness, sensibility and emotions. He loved life, nature and women. Many women!! In 2008 we gather here in Catalunya (another dear wee country) to celebrate the passing of 212 years since his untimely death. Burns was a young man at the time of the American war of independence in 1776 and the fall of the Bastille in 1789. He was acutely aware of these monumental global changes, but in his heart he was a Scotsman who cared about Scotland. You don’t deserve to have me sing the following song, but listen to these words taken from “My heart’s in the Highlands! “Farewell to the highlands, farewell to the north He spared no person who transgressed him and no institution – and challenged them all: ..all received the rapier cut of his pen. Before all that though – did I mention the lassies? Burn’s love of nature is manifest in his propensity to chase the birdies. While the nobles of the time were seeking them on the links, our Robert was to be found in the company of the skirted version. “A red, red rose” has passed into our contemporary times Valentine’s Day legend: “O, my luve’s like a red, red rose, Robert Burns was also a deeply religious man, who loved his extended family. However, against the church, he delivered, amongst many other protests, his blasting “Welcome to a bastard wean” to demonstrate his contempt for pulpit attitudes and his commitment to - and love of, his children: Welcome, my bonie, sweet , wee dochter! To the politicians of Scotland he penned no better, his rant in “Parcel of rogues in a nation”, was a less than subtle stab at the corrupt Act of Union of 1707, and subsequent developments: “Fareweel to a’ our Scottish fame, “The Author’s Earnest Cry and Prayer” equally echoed the woes of many a Scotsman. Burns stimulated debate on the rights of man and liberty, which in Scotland had been written down in The Declaration of Arbroath in 1320, and subsequently extended the call to include rights and recognition of women. What a terrible indictment then that it was as late as 1918 when women (over the age of 30, I might add) were “privileged” to vote in that mother of Parliaments – the British House of Commons (or Muckle House in the Burns’ vernacular), and that full equality with their male counterparts was grudgingly granted ten years later, in 1928. But it wasn’t only the rights of men and women that Burns fought for, animals too were recognised for their worth and contribution , decades ahead of the introduction of modern animal welfare groups. “To a mouse”, surely provides one of Burns’ most prolific insights towards the interdependency of all God’s creatures for the welfare of the planet and concludes - after observations on turning her up in a nest with his plough - as follows: “But Mousie, thou art no thy lane, Still thou art blest, compared wi’ me! John Steinbeck, the renowned American author, honoured Burns greatly in contemporary literature through his own dealings with the poor and oppressed. Mark Calney’s work “Robert Burns & the idea of the American Revolution” explores the relationship Burns had with Benjamin Franklin, during his frequent trips to Scotland and the network of republican (r – lower case!) circles both moved in. What would the great man be thinking now in his Poets corner in the sky? It is for me then a great privilege indeed tonight to propose the most honoured toast to a universal humanitarian genius. Sarria Burns Society, Barcelona, January 2008 |