DUNEDIN BURNS CLUB.

Otago Witness, Issue 2811, 26 August 1908, Page 12

DUNEDIN BURNS CLUB.

A SIR WALTER SCOTT NIGHT. The monthly meeting of the Burns Club, held in the Art Gallery Hall on the 19th inst., was specially designed to honour the memory of Six Walter Scott, and the bulk of the items an a well-arranged programme were Scott's compositions. The President of the club (Mr R. Sandilande) presided, and Messrs D. MiPherson and A. Bain also occupied seats on the platform. The choir, under the leadership of Mr A. Braik, contributed some part songs during the evening in an excellent manner, and, as usual, the .concert programme was lengthened somewhat by encored items. After a well-played selection by the Dunedin Garrison Band, The Ghainnan said they had met that night to celebrate the 13Yth birthday of Sir Walter * Scott. He ' did not think he would err if he said that among Scottish writers there were three who stood preeminent — namely, Robert Burns (born in 1759), Walter _ Scott (born in 1771), and Thomas Carlyle (born in 1795). It was interesting to know that all these famous men were Dora m hxi& &&m-& italf-ee-ntury, and they might be taken as the great representatives of Scotland in the field of literature. There was no name that could rank with them. Some recent writers had worthily maintained the heritage of Fame on whioh they had entered, but they had not been adjudged, a"s far as he knew, a place among the great masters. Stevenson, Barrie, Crockett, and lan MacLaren were excellent writers, but they were dieciples — very eminent disciples, — not masters. Although Burns, Scott, and Carlyle all belonged to one race, or, so to epeak,- to one | family, they had a ma,rked individuality. One thing was certain and undisputed : They were all true Scotsmen — true to the backbone. They were all nurslin-gs of tbe soil and climate, of the social environment, of the prejudices and passions of the race to which they belonged, nay, they might say of the hereditary blood feuds of the race that had now all passed into other fields of strife. Burns and Carlyle sprang from the peasantry of their native land, and they were both proud of their ancestry. Of his mother Carlyle says, in his own emphatic manner : " She was a woman of tile fairest descent — that of the pious, the iust, and the wise — of the fairest descent, although she was born, and died, a peasant woman." Of Burns' s mother they knew little, but all they knew led to the belief that from her he inherited his mosj; brilliant gifts. Their fathers were men of i sturdy, independent character — types of ! patient toil, moral courage, and solid J worth-; tpyes which were yet no uncommon j virtues of the peasant class of Scotland. As for the upbringing of Burns and Carlyle, it was alike- in its etera frugality. Their education taxed their parents — there was no free education in those days, — but it was a tax the parents paid as though they were 1 gestowing a gife without price. Thus, widely as the hoys differed when they grew up to tbe men, they might be said to have had the same advantages under the parental roof. Scott, on the other hand, enjoyed every advantage in the matter of education. His father was a writer to the Signet in Edinburgh, and both his father and mother traced their pedigree to Border families of ' distinction. Scott enjoyed, therefore, every ■ advantage in the matter of education, | although it cannot be said that what he learned at 6chool contributed in any degree as an aid to his native genius. As a matter of fact, they knew that Scott saw Burns, of which they had evidence by the beautiful picture lately presented to their Art Gallery- Scott gave the account of it in one of his books. That .narrative was a precious relic of the past, and told them more of the physical features and montal characteristics of Burns than all the portraits they possessed. Carlyle never «aw Burns, although he saw Scott, but he has written the finest tribute to his genius that exists. He hoped his hearers had all lead, or would havo an opportunity of reading, Ccrlyle'a essay on Burns. It was a noble work — worthy of Burns and worthy of Carlyle. Of th^se thr&o famous Scotsmen it could truthfully be said: Burns has done for Scottish sons what Scott and Carlyle havo dope for Scottish hietory — nn?de it > known and renowned in every portion of the trlobr 1 , and had " auld Scotland" never produced any other names of rote than Ht°=? tlvee. born in the ln-t half of the ric;hT<?ontli ccnturv. tV>«v -,ific amply riont to honour and glorify her Through all time Mr A T?ain, in a brif>f tra^ 1 rapidly the career of Sir Waltci Sco'i

from his birth to the end of his illustrious career, dwelling particularly upon scenes and incidents connected with Scott's birthplace and the prophecy of Burns concerning the literary future of the great Scottish /writer. The musical programme included a violin solo, "Mazurka de concert" (Mussin), by Miss M. ' Sa-ndilands, which was a wellexecuted piece of instrumentation- displaying careful bowing and adroit finger manipulation, and fully deserved the recall accorded to it. A Highland fling by Miss Ethel Carter, a little lady of few summers, was also a meritorious performance. "Jenny's bawbee," by Miss- Liddell, " Blue bonnets," by Mr Stuart Thonrson, and "Bonnie Dundee," by Mr D. Telfer, were among the other popular items on the programme that were honoured with encores. Other favourite items w§re a part song, " Macgregor's gathering," b^*the choir, and " The bonnie blink o' Mary's e'e," also by the choir; "Mary of Argyle," Mr D. Russell j "Jock o' Hazeldean," Miss Jean Crawley; and "Gae bring tae me a pint x>£ wine," Mr T. M'Dowell. Some double quartets by male voices were also included in the programme, and Mrs Monkman-Dempster contributed in her well-known manner two eolos, " Hush thee, my baby" and "Ay© Maria." At the conclusion of the concert propramme a most enjoyable dance, lasting up till midnight and a little beyond, was held in the hall