ROBERT BURNS.

Press, Volume LXIII, Issue 18917, 4 February 1927, Page 13

ROBERT BURNS.

TO THr COITOR OP THE FKISS. Sir. -In Wednesday's issue- of y° ,,r paper the Rev. Norman WcUtcr suites that In: was surprised that no Scot had replied to the article specially contributed hv '-Anglifii*" on the colebration of the birthday of Kobert HumsAs a member of the Caledonian Society, ] 'had u letter of remonstrance written which I intended forwarding to you on Monday, but I held it over for revising, and consequently tho fie v. Mr Webster nets in first blow. On reading the abusive effusion of "Augliens ' Iroin his s«jll"-crcftod liipli court of juJKment, 1 fell inclined to nndcrlino tho "cus," for a more insulting letter i" regard to Scots has ne\er been accepted for publication in Tub Piiem than the one signed "Anglkus." 1 dot.t kiw« wliv soino Englishmen aro so loikl oi slinging mud at Scots, lor 1 have been a inciiitcr of both the Scottish Oucwty and tho Caledonian Society tor a number of veins and liato never heard ait} member criticise the actions of iMiglislimen in regard" to national festivals <" insult Irishmen who havo the connig<-' of their convictions and celebrate ..t Patrick's Dav in their own luslnsm without asking permission iroin anyoue. Your correspondent says: ''ln" Si-ols currv their hero-worship a htt!<tun far: thev have m> plastered thenhard with laurels that they have lost sight of him." If "Augheus" had studied anv of the biographical sketches contained" m any publication or Lie poet's works he must admit that theauthor* clothed tho Scottish poet «n anything but Heavenly garment*; on the contrary, no poet on enrth has had his poor oarthlv failings so much held up to judgment as Kobert Hums; and in spending many happy hours poring over his works, the .Scot finds plenty of dross, but passes that by in the joy of finding the puro gold nnd gems that lie within.

Your self-appointed judge thou states dial. " Tlio Cottar's Saturday Night,' which is olio of tho worst poems Burns wrote, certainly shows a deep rcveroneo for tho simple piety of the peasant, but it does not prove, or even suggest, thai Hums was a religious man." From an Englishman's point of view that might be so. but not from a Scot's. No man void of deep religious feeling couM have 1)011110(1 the words: "Then kneeling down to Heaven's Eternal King," ',' r "Together hymning their Creator's praise." To charge Hums with doing .so is to charge him with being a blatant hyporrilo and profane portrayer of Scottish homo life. To understand tho poem you must first understand the Scot's love nnJ respect for his homo life. Tho Scots ndoro this pnem, and I have yet to learn that they take a .-iccondary position to the English in regard to practical appreciation. "Anglicus" then states that Mr Philip Guedalla concludes that a mind with no faith it can cling to realises what such a faith moans to others, and rcspoets it. Respect is one thing, but conviction is another, and Hums had something deeper than respect when he wrote to a young friend that "When on life we're tempest-driven, And conscience but u canker, A correspondence, fixed 'n Heav'n Is suro a noblo anchorP

"Anglicus" then smites tho Caledoniaiw on tho check with an iron ham] when ho says that there is no good reason why tho .Scots should provoke us to drag up tho details of tho poet's life, except that they are not content to worship Jiim as u poet, but must have him as a perfect man. Tliis is drivel, and an insult to every self-respecting Scot! Burns a perfect maul 1 have heard the Scots called a lot of hard names, but for being downright fools, never! In his next paragraph '•Anglicus" gives himself nway with a vengeance. He says: "Had Burns begun lifo in an English village and not written in a pseudo-Scots dialect borrowed from Allan Ramsay and his predecessors, ho would have ranked far higher than ho does now." Just so. I presume "Anglicus"' was bom in an English village, nml laments the fact that even the Man of Gallilee was not born in an English village. And ;o say that Burns borrowed his dialect from Hanisay is a blow beneath tho belt, for if he studied the poet's own words he would soon find out that he owed his wonderful knowledge of the "homely western jingle" to his "revered grannie" and several old women who dearly loved to fill his young and comprehensive mind with stories told in tho dialect. It was his wonderful knowledge and application of this dialect that so endeared him in the hearts of tho people of Scotland, who in those days eagerly spout their hard-earned money in purchasing copies of his verses.

In his last sentence your correspondent excels himself, absolutely, when he says: "It is a pity to drag him down from Olympus, deck him out with tartan and heather, and enthrone hint ns a minor deity." Tartan and lieather! Oh. ye Gods: Who ever heard of a Scot associating Burns witli tartan. Why, man alive. Burns was a Lowlander, not a Highlander. "Anglicus has got mixed up with Sir Walter Scott and Khoderick Dhu-or was it a mixture of "Rhoderick Dim ' and "GJenlivct?" As for heather, well, we might justly He excused if we weave it into a wreath with which to decorate Scotland's immortal Bard-Lobert Burns! ~ .... I3v :, stra.'i-e coincidence. Mr Editor, von'v. ill i„,ticc iliat in a paragraph prowling the tirade from the pen of -Anglicus." under the title of Jwo line- * ; llurns also does not Mate. His tL'l »"ni"s touches the Elizabethans •=.;']- n„ ( i the n fifteenth and ?wem! th Icn'turios on the other." ZZ people appreciate real 3 emus.Your... c'.c DONALD SON. February 3rd, 102..