DUNEDIN BURNS CLUB.

Otago Daily Times, Issue 11402, 20 April 1899, Page 6

DUNEDIN BURNS CLUB.

The monthly meeting :of ■ the Dunedin Burns Club was held in the Church1 Hall last night, there being; as usual, a very large attendance. Dr Gordon Macdpriald,. who presided, in the course of a brief speech, mentioned that that was the first meeting' of the club Bince the annual meeting, and expressed a hope that during the coming year the members would endeavour to make the club a greater success than it had been in the past. Mrs Colville 'subsequently sang ',' Lochnagar;" and was heartily applaudetl. Mr P. Carolin gave a spirited rendering, of " The Battle of Stirling," and, being encored, responded by singing "The Irish*emigrant," which was also well received. Miss Shepherd sang, in a pleasing manner, " Comin' thro' the, rye," and " Somebody," the last mentioned being given in response to an encore. Mr W. Mills recited "The death bridge of the Tay," which was received in the same way as Miss Shepherd's first contribution. tfThe 'choir,' under the conductorship of MrTR.' Francis, sang three part songs, their beat effort being " Cam' ye by Athol." The accompaniments throughout the evening were played by Miss E. Wright. , ' ■; • . ' i • : Mr A. Wilson, who. gave an address during ! the evening, said in this cily and in the Burns ( Club there had been so much careful and I affectionate appreciation of Burns that they could easily dispense with any. panegyric of his. He was not one of' those who characterised poets by superlatives—by saying, for instance of Burns that, he was the greatest of lyric poets. A man' who said that must have a wide acquaintance with lyric poets; and even if his knowledge were complete his comparison would •be good for nothing. A man ■ could not say of poets,' as of'potatoes, that this was one of, the greatest;: and that the next greatest. But what, they .were chiefly concerned to know and feel was that Burns was a mighty poet, who had greatly impressed generations of men.—(Applause.) That was all they wanted to know. How he did this was a secondary matter. •■;Tliey met there once a month, he understood'—lie would not say to worship1 Burns,; but to do 'him reverence, though he thought that the'zeal'of some devotees would almost justify him in using the word worship. They met there once a month, drawn and held together by the magnetism of the poet's great name. To be perfectly frank with them, he could not honestly j say that their poet, -merely as a power in literatuVe, was enough to account altogether for the great enthusiasm that obtained in this city for the cult of Burns. He was not quarrelling with them on account of the frequency of, their meetings or the fervency of their homage; he was pimply explaining a fact to himself by saying that Burns was not only a poet, • but tiie prophet and high priest of their nationality. What he,, thought brought them there month after, month was their nationality. The feeling of, nationality was more.or less strong in all nations, but with the Scotch it was a passion. That it was that led Seotchmeri'the world over to forgather on every pretext and to remind each other of the fact that' they sprang from the samei soil.—(Hear, hear.) Who was the head of this nationality ? Who touched its sanctities with the most devout feeling? Who most irresistibly reproduced its humour, and satirised, its foibles? Why, who else but Burns. There had been greater men than Burns—greater intellects, higher souls, even tenderer hearts; but he (the speaker) did not think' of any other writer of whom it could be said with truth that he himself was his country. Burns was Scotland, the land of their love and allegiance. They, therefore, did well to honour. Burns, who had so much honoured them. But why did they take so little note of other. Scotchmen, such as Bruce, Wallace, and Scott? Why did they not sometimes shift their festival to the 15th of August, and honour the man whom Burns himself would have been the first to honour? Why? Because he had not written songs that could be sung. Mr Wilson proceeded to refer to his recent-trip Home and stated that he did not visit the Burns country, his chief sojourn bpjng in the Scott country, and while he was in Edinburgh he was not allowed to forget Scott during any one of his waking moments. — The fly . lays four times each summer, and 80 eggs each time. The descendants of one female fly in a single season may number 2,080,320. , Ethel R. Benjamin, barrister and solicitor, Albert Buildings, Princes street, Dunedin (opposite C.P.0.), lias trust moneys to 'lend on annrnved aeouritv,—Advt, '