LAND OF SONG

Dominion, Volume 23, Issue 104, 27 January 1930, Page 9

LAND OF SONG

POETRY IN SCOTTISH CHARACTER

FAME OF BURNS The poetical trait in the Scottish character was the subject of an address by Mr. R. H. Nimmo, Chief of the Wellington Caledonian Society on the occasion of the latest Burns celebration day (January 25), and which was broadcast by Radio Station 2YA from the Wellingtotn Caledonian Hall. “It used to be a standing joke in the West of Scotland to aver that every native of Paisley was born a poet,” said Mr. Nimmo, “and judging by the number of poets that Paisley has given to the world there was certainly some justification for the remark. But perhaps the poetic wealth of Paisley was due to a better appreciation of ‘guld black prent’ than their neighbours, and they used it more freely, while the poets of other places were content to circulate their literary efforts in manuscript or to repeat them at social gatherings. Dundee, for Instance, has been the home of a large array of poets, good, bad, and indifferent, from the time the Wedderburns wrote their ‘Guld and Godly Ballates,’ until George Gilflllan passed to rest. Aberdeen has furnished a regiment of rhymsters, so has Forfar, so has Leith, so have Edinburgh and Glasgow, while Ayr can boast of one poet among her contingent who is worth, in himself, a whole legion.

Outlet in Poetry.

“Scotland has well been called the ‘Land of Song.’ Almost every battlefield, river, loch, glen, town, or village had had its story or its praises chanted in rhyme, and even the smallest clachan had, or once had its own particular poet, who hdd made it the theme of some of his verses. The imaginative, thoughtful temperament of the people finds its best outlet in poetry, and this, when it does not make its presence seen in the shape of rhyme, is felt in the graceful ease with which the Doric falls into rhythm. Some of the words in common use in Scotland are in themselves expressive of the highest poetic sentiment, and such a phrase as ‘Auld Lang Syne’ Conveys to the listener, who is acquainted with its full and untranslatable meaning, a complete and perfect poem. “The grand feature of Scottish poetry is that it is intensely practical. It tells of real hills, valleys, lakes and rivers, instead of the hills of Parnassus or of classic story, and of real personages—men and women—instead of mythological gods and goddesses, heroes and heroines. . . . The progress of the printing press introduced very widely a new order of writers and the old idols of the people were reverently laid away. Since then, Scottish poetry has taken its cue from Robert Burns, who, above all others, excelled in a knowledge of the Scottish heart and delineated the thoughts, aspirations, joys, and sorrows of the people as no man before or since has done, and from Sir Walter Scott, whose charm as a descriptive writer of Scottish scenery and a chronicler of Scottish historical legendary lore has never been equalled. The one was the poet of the people and the future, the other of the country and the past. Conjointly they have reigned and are likely to continue ever to reign as the high priests of Scottish song.

Bums No Scoffer.

“Burns has been denounced as a scoffer, an irreligious libertine, and even an atheist, but such charges have been made by persons who had no real knowledge of his character or sentiments. From his earliest boyhood until he passed away in f? 96 at Dumfries, Burns was a firm believer in the supreme omnipotence and goodness of God and a continual thinker on religious matters. A perusal of his correspondence amply confirms this. He was by no means orthodox in his views;' his thoughts often probed deep down into the mystery of things; he caricatured with bitter pen the extravagances of those who sheltered their own weaknesses and shortcomings under the cloak of religion; he ridiculed much of the teachings and theological quarrels of his day; he detested Calvinism, but he was a firm "believer in an everlasting, wise, just and merciful God.” “The fame, memory and teachings of Burns,” concluded the speaker, “have not been in reality helped in any degree by the enthusiasm which has been expended on the anniversary. The usual shrewdness of the Scot in this investment is completely at fault. What is the good of men and women meeting once a year simply to tell each other that Burns was a great man, that he wrote a number of poems, which the world will not let die; that he elevated labour and wrote stirring words in favour of freedom and that his life was in itself one of the most interesting and solemn poems of which the world has knowledge? How much better would it be were these meetings made the sources to spread a thorough understanding of the political bearings of Burns’s teachings among the people, bringing home to them a knowledge of the power they possess, of their inherent rights and of the wrongs which still harass them. Could these meetings not be used to hurry on that glorious time when the brotherhood of man will be a reality instead of a dream, and when Burns’s song of “A Man’s a Man for a’ That,” will be the accepted anthem of the world? Surely the hero worship of Burns could be made something real, something practical and in every way worthy of his memory and of the heritage he bequeathed to all posterity.”