OLDEST BURNS CLUB.

Otago Daily Times, Issue 19759, 9 April 1926, Page 11

OLDEST BURNS CLUB.

FIRST MINUTE BOOK. EARLY MEETINGS AT GREENOCK. Whatever may be the faults and failings of present-day Burns dubs, a look into the origin and early history of the oldest organisation formed ir honour of Scotia's famous bard emphasises the impression that his hero-worshippera of nearly six score and five years ago were inspired with much of Burns’s own patriotism and fired with his determination to keep burning national fervour and national characteristics by something more than a fleeting study of the living poetry which the Ayrshire ploughman bequeathed as a rich and lasting legacy to tbe sons of men (writes “A.E." in the Weekly Scotsman). .To 4 pioneer band of Greenock soers ana admirers is due ‘.he distinction of detecting the possibility of taking fullest advantage of this noble inheritance, and, acting upon it, thev set the example to all the world by instituting the first Burns Club; for whomever the English language is spoken, one finds groups of men who gather to honour the “immortal memory." Five years only elapsed from the death of Burns ere the “mother Burns Club of the world” came into life. Formed on July 21, 1801, with the devout intention of promoting an ardent love for the works of the poet, the Greenock Club has all along sought to foster and encourage this object. Striking evidence of this is illustrated hy its institution of bursaries, and prizes for reciting the poems and singing the songs of Burns shortly after its inauguration, and since that time it has achieved much in » like direction. Moreover, it has brought to its annual celebration a long list of distinguished men who have paid their tribute of praise to the worth and work of our national bard, amongst these being Sir James Sivewright, Professors Masson, Blackie, _ Jones, Bradley, and Dixon, Sir J. M. Barrie, and. Drs Wallace, Macmillan, and Munro. Messra Andrew Lang, “lan Maclaren,” Ttjomaa Sutherland, and others. THE CLUB’S MINUTE BOOK. • It is a far cry back to the opening year of the last century, yet with a far-sighted-ness which seems to have been characteristic of all the doings of these Greenockians, the earliest minute book of the club has been preserved, and consequently it is possible to bridge the wide gulf between the present and the past, and to form some idea of the feelings and the convictions which found expression in their earliest meetings. It does not require much prophetic Insight to conclude that the old Excise book, owned by the poet himself, and in which are written the minutes of the club during Its first 10 years of existence, is a very valuable asset. “This book.” according to the Inscription which it bears, “was found In the house of the late Mr Robert Burns at his demise, and presented to the Burns Club of Greenock by Adam Pearson, Esq., of his Majesty’s Excise, Edinburgh. 1801.” Strange as it may seem, the original members of the Greenock Club held their first anniversary dinner on January 29, 1802, in tbe belief that the 29th was the date of Burns's birth. On the face of It, the misconception did not reveal an Intimate acquaintance with Burns’s “There was a lad born In Kyle,” in which the exact day Is stated; and the mistake was not found out i ill the next year (1903), when a special pilgrimage of enthusiasts took place to Ayr, and on an examination of the parish register of births being made, the natal day of the Var<i was proved beyond question to be the 25th, and the Greenock celebration was ever afterwards held on the proper date. THE COMPOSER OP THE TUNE " KILMARNOCK." One of the Greenock pioneers In the Burns movement was Mr Neil Dougal, welt known In his day as a local poet and musician, and the composer of the wellknown Psalm tune, "Kilmarnock.” At the first meeting of the club Mr Dougal recited a poem which he had written shortly after Burns's death. The patriotic fervour of hla verse may be judged from the following sample:— Rise, Scotia, rise! and loudly claim To record his immortal name. That place within the Beuk o’ Time His merits plead ; Insist on’t baudly, ne'er think shame, O' him that deid. > Mr Dougal was not, it would appear, the only poet in the club, for it was recorded that at its first anniversary dinner Mr John Wright, in proposing the toast of the evening from the chair, read an ode to the “Immortal memory.” ’ At the earliest festivals it is also noteworthy that the drinking of the toast was received In silence, and this is the custom among Burns Clubs at the present day. But the “immortal memory” was not always pledged in this manner. In the minutes of the annual chnnei in 1806 it is stated that after the orator of the evening had proposed the memory of the national poet, “in language eloquent, pathetic, and choice, the toast was drunk amidst impressive silence, with the customary nine Impressive waves of the hand.” No explanation is given as to the reason for these “nine Impressive waves of the hand.” and their significance haa passed away with their performance 120 years ago. By-and-by the toast came to be honoured with hearty cheers, for one finds in the records of the 1848 dinner that the chairman “objected to the toast being drunk in solemn silence, so It was received with ringing cheers.”